A recent headline in USA Today recently challenged the prevailing zeitgeist announcing, "'Born this way'? It's way more complicated than that.'" Indeed, it is. Some gay activists now admit that sexuality is fluid.

"Getting America to believe that people are born gay -- that it's not something that can be chosen or ever changed -- has been central to the fight for gay rights. If someone can't help being gay any more than they can help the color of their skin, the logic goes, denying them rights is wrong. But many members of the LGBTQ community reject this narrative, saying it only benefits people who feel their sexuality and gender are fixed rather than fluid, and questioning why the dignity of gay people should rest on the notion that they were gay from their very first breath."
The Church of England this week decided at its Synod to kick the can down the road on the issue of full inclusion and acceptance of homosexuality and homosexual marriage calling for more working groups to examine the issue. The archbishops said a "radical new Christian inclusion" is needed in the church" along with "a proper 21st-century understanding of being human and being sexual".

But Alan Wilson, the bishop of Buckingham, accused his bishop colleagues of "well-meaning temporizing waffle."

At the synod, a private member's motion by LGBT activist, Jayne Ozanne, called for a full ban on helping for those with unwanted same-sex attraction.

Ms. Ozanne claims that valuable ministries like Core Issues Trust (CIT), led by Dr. Mike Davidson, are "spiritual abuse". Other ministries she is targeting include Ellel, Living Waters, Alpha and even prayer ministry offered at churches such as HTB and Soul Survivor.

As events transpired, the Synod did pass, overwhelmingly, a resolution demanding a ban on reparative therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation after hearing experiences of "spiritual abuse" in an emotional debate. The church's governing body a motion saying conversion therapy had "no place in the modern world".

Before the vote, Andrea Williams, president of Christian Concern, warned; "We must recognize Jayne Ozanne's Private Member's Motion for the deception that it is, and the existential threat that it poses."

"Love does not mean celebrating our neighbor's behavior no matter how much it offends God's Word. Love sometimes means flipping a few money changers' tables in the temple," she said.

Over the past fortnight, several items of correspondence were sent regarding Ms. Ozanne's motion, with CIT's Dermot O'Callaghan standing in defense of therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction and sending a science briefing in rebuttal of Ms. Ozanne's claims. Nonetheless, the Church of England synod voted overwhelmingly, calling for a ban.

Another argument is that some people are born gay, and isn't trying to change who you are going to be damaging - like a black person trying to be white?

Black evangelicals in America have openly repudiated this argument with the comeback, "don't confuse your sin with my skin." One is born black, no one is born gay. There is not a shred of evidence for the gene argument; the oft repeated canard 'born gay' gets repeated so often it becomes the "truth" by repetition.

Sexual orientation is not the same as race. There is no fundamental genetic basis for it. Most research and testimonies of many gay people and LGBT advocacy organizations admit that sexuality can be 'fluid'. Some people can and do change.

In the U.S. there have been virulent attacks on ex-gay ministries with the result that several have been legally closed down, including, Love Won Out, Exodus International and JONAH.

But as Michael Brown of Townhall.com noted; "the ultimate reason Exodus closed was because it lost sight of its mission, which was helping men and women deal with unwanted same-sex attraction. That's why the most important organizations that were affiliated with Exodus left before it closed. And that's why those organizations are still going strong to this day." Brown says that, ex-gay is here to stay.

"The reality is quite the opposite. It is true that some specific networks and ministries no longer exist. But it is more and more common for local churches to help individuals struggling with same-sex attraction, meaning that this is not only a specialist ministry," he says.

The New Jersey-based JONAH organization was actually run by a Jew not a Christian, and he had had enormous success over many years with those afflicted with same-sex attraction. The courts shut him down.
Other groups have come into place to fill the hole left by Exodus. One is Restored Hope Network. Restored Hope is an inter-denominational network dedicated to restoring hope to those broken by sexual and relational sin, especially those impacted by homosexuality. "We proclaim that Jesus Christ has life-changing power for all who submit to Christ as Lord; we also seek to equip His church to impart that transformation," says its mission statement.

Until his death, Joseph Nicolosi was an American clinical psychologist, founder and director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, California, and a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. He was a passionate believer in conversion therapy and saw thousands changed over the course of 35 years in counselling. Individual professional counselors and therapists have also seen great results too, and they continue to network together to help those who struggle with same-sex attraction.

There are others, including priests like Sam Allberry, an Oxford vicar, self-described as same-sex attracted, who says that, despite his attractions to men, he believed that to be a true follower of Christ then one had to be celibate, just as our Lord was. He said that his sexuality was not a matter of identity and that has become news. "Jesus Christ never married or had a romantic relationship and never had sex. If we say sex is intrinsic to human fulfillment then we say Jesus was sub-human. My church has not become a safe place for me, I was bullied at school and am now being bullied by Synod"." He said the CofE was in the process of pastorally undermining the church's official teaching.

You can see a two-minute clip of his testimony here:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/two-minute-clip-homosexuality-every-christian-should-watch

There are countless testimonies of ex-gays that never make the light of day in the media because of false and absurd charges of "hate" and "homophobia" pushed by homosexual activists. All ex-gays will tell you that they are no longer defined by their sexuality. That is who they were. It is not who they are.

But still the LGBTQ community believe they are right, even if the sad statistics on sexually transmitted diseases among the HIV/AIDS community at the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) website say otherwise.

As Brown notes, "Old myths die hard, but they do eventually die."

But a new gaystapo force has arisen that brooks no opposition, "Thou shalt be gay, like it or not."

Still and all, those people who want to end unwanted same-sex attractions will find someone out there who will gently lead them into all truth. St. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 13:8, "For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth."

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