The Fashioning of a New Persecuted Minority: Ex-gays!

Lori Heintzelman

Abstract for paper presented at
The 12th Annual American University Conference on Lavender Languages and Linguistics
Washington, DC
February 11-13, 2005

The evangelical Christian organization Exodus lists its mission as "Proclaiming to, educating, and impacting the world with the biblical truth that freedom from homosexuality is possible when Jesus is Lord of one's life" (www.exodus.to). It is strongly invested in presenting homosexual orientation as a maladaptation--rather than an inherent trait--that can be repaired. As mainstream culture comes to a greater awareness and consensus of homosexuality as a natural variation of human sexuality, those who claim an ex-gay identity--or support such a concept--find their position increasingly contested. As a result, Exodus representatives and affiliates have begun to use the language of an oppressed group to describe themselves. They speak of being "silenced" by a "gay elite", ignored by "activist judges", and barred from bringing their perspective to discourse sites such as public schools by national organizations like the NEA. Framing the discourse in such a way elicits sympathy for the "persecuted"; it also calls into question the existence of true or fixed gay/lesbian identity. Further, it helps to explain the evangelical Christian opposition to same-sex marriage--i.e. allowing gays into the institution of marriage would entrench those persons in a "maladaptive" sexuality, thus prohibiting them from pursuing "healing" and then being able to marry heterosexually "as God intended".

Data sources for examination of this topic include personal narratives (oral testimonies) delivered at past Exodus conferences, ethnographic notes taken at the Exodus 2003 national conference and affiliated Restoring the Glory 2004 local (Colorado) conference, and commentary published on Exodus's website and monthly newsletter.

Lori Hentzelman is a PhD student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado. She can be reached at Lori.Heintzelman@Colorado.EDU.

Colorado Research in Linguistics - Volume 18, Issue 1 - June 2005