Gay Memphis Teen Sent to Ex-Gay Camp Against Will 

Oklahoma Independent Media Center, June 16 2005

If you haven't already heard about Zach.... 
He is a 16 year old young man who came out to his parents. Needless to say, it didn't go well. They decided to send him against his will to "Love in Action" a camp to "set him straight." The group won't even let him keep a journal, have facial hair, talk to his friends, or listen to Bach. Worst of all, the leader of this reform group is purported to have said that its better for a person to commit suicide than live as a homosexual. 

[...]

Love in Action, or LIA, was founded in 1973 by John Evans, who claimed to be a former homosexual, and Rev. Kent Philpott, a heterosexual. It was the first group to publicize cases of homosexuals who had allegedly been converted or learned to abstain from homosexuality or homosexual feelings, which were perceived as sinful and in violation of biblical moral code. 

After Evans' friend Jack McIntyre committed suicide out of despair concerning his inability to change, Evans left the project and denounced it as dangerous. He was quoted by the Wall Street Journal (April 21, 1993) as saying: 

"They're destroying people's lives. If you don't do their thing, you're not of God, you'll go to hell. They're living in a fantasy world." 

Shortly after founding the group, when his patients numbered six, Philpott wrote a book about his ministry called "The Third Sex?," which claimed that his patients had successfully changed their sexual orientation through prayer. 

His patients, who had not changed their orientation, confronted him, but he said it was "God's will" that the book be written. None of the men ever successfully changed their sexual orientation, and four of them, including Evans, filed suit against Philpott for misrepresenting them in the book. Rather than face the suit, Philpott had the book pulled off the market.

Love in Action's official website is located here: http://www.loveinaction.org  

Zach posted on his blog and sparked a revolution. 

There has been an enormous outpouring of love and support from the entire world from people of all faiths, orientations, and nationalities with over 700 comments on his last blog post alone. 

[...]

Read further: http://groups.myspace.com/freezach 

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