I thought about trying to work these details into my previous post, but for the record, I think I’ll let Peterson Toscano’s email do the talking. I want to thank him for chiming in because, as he said, it’s important that I do my best to get and keep the story accurate.
Hey EJ, how ya doin’ man? Hope all is well in your world.
I read your recent LIA post and see some inaccuracies in it that you may wish to correct. I point these out because I know loads of people read your blog and then repost. The Memphis news stations (and much of the national queer press) often get the details of the story wrong. We have a responsibility to keep the facts straight. I know you have spoken to former board members, but they may be clear about the general feeling of things, but they may have some of their facts confused over time.Primarily the history of LIA and Central Church. From what you wrote I got out of it that Central had a free “ex-gay” ministry that it replaced with LIA and then starting charging.
Actually Central had their program (Restoration?) which was a weekly support group and then they also invited LIA to come from CA to setup shop in Memphis. The two programs were always separate (and grew even more separate as time went on). John Smid had been with LIA since CA days (although he never attended the program) and came with the program from CA. They had been charging for their services at LIA for years before they ever came to Memphis.
I do not think that LIA has ever been a money making proposition.
John’s salary is not that great, and my experience with them, they are not in it for the money. Power perhaps but not money.EJ, these are the facts as I see them and from the folks I’ve spoken to who worked for LIA (including Mike Haley).
Hope this e-mail is helpful and that you know and feel that I write it because I admire and respect you and see that your voice is clear and well received.
PetersonPeterson Toscano
Theatrical Performance Activist
www.petersontoscano.com
This seems to shed only a slightly different light on things. Some of what I posed is conjectural, such as the money making aspect of Love In Action. However, it is fueled by the recent comments made by Love In Action who no longer accept people for drug and alcohol counselling. While their mission is to be an ex-gay ministry, attorneys for Love In Action are making a case about the number of clients they currently have. Less clients equals less money for the ministry or their staff.
The state pulled their ultimatum last fall after Love in Action agreed not to take any more patients needing medical treatment. But in return, Love in Action slapped the state with a lawsuit blaming Tennessee for lost clientele. “So they’re losing business, this time last year, they had 22 participants, now they have nine,” says [Attorney Nate] Kellum.
So which is it? Are they a faith-based ministry who are not concerned with finances or a treatment program that relies on paying clientel to remain open? This is a question which should be answered.
In the meantime, I’ve had a chance to communicate with D.J. Butler, the teenager who escaped from Love In Action in October of last year. I don’t want to get into details about our communication at length other than to reassure those with questions lingering: this young man has shed some very interesting light on the ministry, their practices, and his own experience there. More will follow soon, but I’ve agreed to hold off on divulging anything at this point in time.
I would like to point out a glowing inaccuracy in the way D.J.’s story was presented in the Memphis media. Going for sensationalism, a couple of the newscasts focused on the portions of their interview with D.J. that would shock. Please remember: he is still a teenager, he has been through quite an ordeal the past several months, and he is still processing his experience. Sometimes D.J., like all of us, becomes concerned that he is not communicating the details of his story well. Like anyone reading this, occasionally he gets caught up in his desire for people to understand what he went through so that they won’t have to go through it for themselves. Sometimes his memories of events are clouded over because, as anyone experiencing a post-traumatic stress disorder, he has had to block out portions of what he went through in order to remain available to speak.
The words he uses in trying to detail the events that led him to run away from Love In Action and seek emancipation from his parents are the words of a 17 year old boy who is still very frightened, distrustful, and with good reason. So much of what he is trying to express about his experience requires more than a 1.5 minute spot on the local news, but the gist of the story is the same: here is a young person who was forced to attend the program against his will by his family, he fought back, and so far he has won.
I think when people begin to see the pattern of his story emerge, his interpretations of his own experiences will prove to be disturbing to any rational, caring human being regardless of how they are presented. D.J. definitely has my attention, and he is deserving of your attention as well. We all have something to learn from what he went through.
