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Largest Gay Conversion Group Apologizes, Disbands

by Ariana Tobin

No Supreme Court ruling on same sex-marriage today, but judgement hath passed on the oldest and largest "gay cure" group in the country: Exodus International is no longer.

The news comes in anticipation of a very public apology from president Alan Chambers's on Our America with Lisa Ling. The man who was once adamant that "Change is possible. I stand by that phrase and I live by it. The opposite of homosexuality isn't heterosexuality; it's holiness," has changed his tune to: "I understand why I am distrusted and why Exodus is hated."

He previewed the apology in a post on the website today, entitled "I Am Sorry". It is quite the mea culpa:

"There were several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions. I was afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today. They brought me tremendous shame and I hid them in the hopes they would go away. Looking back, it seems so odd that I thought I could do something to make them stop. Today, however, I accept these feelings as parts of my life that will likely always be there. The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does. As my friends do. As God does.

Never in a million years would I intentionally hurt another person. Yet, here I sit having hurt so many by failing to acknowledge the pain some affiliated with Exodus International caused, and by failing to share the whole truth about my own story. My good intentions matter very little and fail to diminish the pain and hurt others have experienced on my watch. The good that we have done at Exodus is overshadowed by all of this.

Friends and critics alike have said it’s not enough to simply change our message or website. I agree. I cannot simply move on and pretend that I have always been the friend that I long to be today."

Pieces of the organization may continue to operate under other names. But one thing's for sure: closing Exodus International "cures" us of at least one national headache.