The “Ex-Gay” Movement in Latin America

When the Executive Director of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, dramatically announced in January 2012 that he no longer believed there was a “cure” to homosexuality, he allegedly ended his organization’s 35-year-long effort to “convert … LGBTQ people to homosexuality.”

But the reality of the stance on “conversion therapy” across the Exodus Global Alliance’s affiliate organizations is more complicated. The “Ex-Gay” Movement in Latin America:  Therapy and Ministry in the Exodus Network, by PRA researchers Jandira Queiroz, Fernando D’Eilo, and David Maas, finds a movement that “remains united in its belief that homosexuality is a sin, but divided on whether it is ‘curable.’” The Exodus Global Alliance, the overarching network that include the U.S.-based Exodus International and other regional affiliates, continues to claim that “change is possible.” Exodus Latin America is  closely networked to smaller ministries such as Living Waters/Aguas Vivas that actively promote ex-gay “conversion therapy.” While Exodus Brazil shares a skepticism toward a psychological approach, Exodus Latin America maintains its commitment to “therapeutic methods.”

Some Latin American governments are unsympathetic to ex-gay views and have targeted conversion therapy practitioners and affiliated ministries, but the Christian Right is pushing back. In Brazil, for example, religious conservatives in the legislature are using religious liberty arguments in an effort to reverse the Federal Council of Psychology’s regulations. Even if conversion therapy efforts continue retreating, the report’s authors write that “ministries may remain important popularizers of a psychological view of the origins of “same-sex attraction” in trauma or family dysfunction and a “cure” in Jesus Christ.”

While conversion therapy faces challenges from within and without the movement, the authors suggest caution regarding the Christian Right’s ability to adapt, and the mainstream influence these antigay organizations continue to possess. As recently as 2010, Exodus Global Alliance representatives attended the Third Lausanne Congress, the world’s largest conference of evangelical leaders, leading sessions on sexuality and promoting ex-gay therapy and other harmful psychological views of homosexuality. A conference endorsed by such high-profile figures as Rick Warren and Billy Graham, it’s acceptance of Exodus gives it mainstream sanction for its views.