Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 09:02:14 -0400 From: Maggie Heineman Subject: FRC creates Anti-PFLAG Group << Sender: GLB-NEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (Information Repository for News of Interest to GLB* Folk) Reply-to: PMDAtropos@AOL.COM Subject: FRC Creates PFOX To Counter PFLAG (fwd) WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- "For too long, many people have come to believe that people with homosexual desires cannot change. The `once gay, always gay' fiction has persuaded more than a few Americans to support so- called `gay rights' out of a misdirected sense of compassion. But it is anything but compassionate to tell someone that have no hope of change and that they might as well indulge in sexual behavior that is unhealthy, immoral and in many cases, even fatal," Bob Knight said Thursday during a ground breaking news conference. Knight, Family Research Council Director of Cultural Studies, participated in a 9:30 a.m. news event to unveil PFOX -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (Contact: Anthony Falzarano) -- a new, national parents group that will counter the pro-homosexual PFLAG. The news event, which included former homosexuals and lesbians, also highlighted the Second Annual National Coming OUT OF Homosexuality Day. (Contact: Michael Johnston) Knight made the following comments during the news event at the National Press Club: "Over on the mall this week, the AIDS quilt is a silent and wrenching testimony to the hundreds of thousands of people struck down with premature death. The quilt also symbolizes tragic choices made by many people who were misled into believing they had no other option. How many of these sons, daughters, fathers, brothers or sisters would be alive today if they had had access to compassionate people like these around me who have been caught up in sexual or drug addiction but have broken the deadly pattern? "Today's message is very simple: No one has to be `gay.' No one should reject a family member because that family member is `gay.' But love does not require accepting behavior that is harmful. In fact, real love in action is a conscious effort to steer someone away from behavior that can hurt or even kill. It isn't always easy, but it can be done, as evidenced by the many who have. "Parents, Family and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), which is being introduced today, has been formed to aid people who have family members struggling with homosexuality. PFOX is dedicated to correcting the many distortions and increasingly abusive assertions made by homosexual activist groups against those with whom they disagree. The homosexual activist movement despises and attacks the ex-gay movement out of fear that these people are exactly who they say they are: people once in bondage to homosexuality but now freed to pursue a fuller life. But their lives are evidence of options rarely discussed by very real." NOTE: From 10-11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, former homosexuals and lesbians will join together for a time of testimonials, sharing and outreach on the West Front of the Capitol. Their efforts are timed to coincide with the AIDS Quilt. All are welcome. For more information on National Coming OUT OF Homosexuality Day: Michael Johnston, 757-872-8878; On PFOX: Anthony Falzarano, 202-371-0800 >> Maggie Heineman, maggie@critpath.org, webmaster PFLAG-Talk/TGS-PFLAG http://www.critpath.org/pflag-talk/ The Rhea Murray Website http://www.critpath.org/rhea/