NEWS: Teen Sent To Gay "Treatment" Camp Against His Will

Zach, as he is known to blog-rings around the world, revealed his sexuality to his parents near the end of May. In an apparent state of bewilderment, the parents sent Zach to a program which claims to "cure" gay teens of their homosexuality. The camp, named "Refuge", is run by fundamental-Christian organization, Love in Action.

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This is not a "treatment program". It's a camp which you could describe as the same as a concentration camp in philosophy. I stumble at the fact that there are people in this day and age who despise individuality in such an extreme way as this. Here is a quote from the leader of Love in Action, John Smid:

"I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle. In a physical death you could still have a spiritual resurrection; whereas, returning to homosexuality you are yielding yourself to a spiritual death from which there is no recovery."

This is sick. No one should allow this to continue. A MySpace group was started which is meant to help people take action. The group has links and emails to many influential people around the nation who may or may not help. The link to the group is below.



Related News Links:


www.myspace.com
groups.myspace.com

[edit on 16-6-2005 by iceofspades]

[edit on 16-6-2005 by iceofspades]

I knew someone years ago who went through the exact same thing.

His description of what he went through sounded like accounts from gitmo; sleep deprivation, forced dehydration, withdrawal of access to toilet facilities, being locked in a metal cage, being forced to stand in a room for hours while preachers screamed at him, etc. This was done to him when he was about fourteen or fifteen.

It did not "cure" him of his homosexuality, it did however give him post-traumatic stress disorder and a whole host of other psychological problems that lead to his death in his early twenties.

This is sick and twisted.

I can't think of anything else to say about it, sorry for the short post.

I just joined the Free Zach MySpace group and sent a bulletin out to all my friends on there asking them to join. I really hope something can be done about this. For me it is very personal.

Well it looks like he's being sent to a "re-education" camp. I doubt it will do anything.

But I don't only blame the parents, I blame the gay culture for pushing people to come out in this fashion...IMHO he should have kept this from his parents for the time being, especially if they seemed to be unwilling to accept it.

I cannot possibly express my contempt for this statement.

Truely amazing. Blame the gay people for sticking up for themselves and gaining a sense of belonging that they probably never had in their life.

Ignorance in true form.

Sorry, but when you're a teen and you don't think your parents can handle such a statement, I don't think you should expose it. It's more protecting him than anything. Once an adult, tell them whatever....it's managing ignorance, not being ignorant.

thats just wrong, and definitly not the way to go about "curing" ur kids sexuality

Don't you think the gay community knows what they're doing? They went through it in a lot less tollerent times than what we're living in. Although I see the dark ages rearing it ugly head again.

No I don't think they know what they're doing. Making this kid a martyr for the cause is not good for him personally. Of course, I have no idea that he was persuaded by such efforts, and he could have done this all on his own. But the feeling is out there, pushed by the gay community, that you should tell everyone at any age, and while this may be good for the gay movement, it may not be good for the individual. That's all i'm saying.

Definately a good find, I've never even heard of these reeducation camps. If I may make a suggestion, though. Change the phrase ", ironically named "Refuge"," -- it adds bias to your introductory paragraph which is supposed to have none.

Keep up the good research, though!

I think this say WAY more about your agenda than it does of theirs.

I have no agenda here, believe me.

Edit:

Other than the kids well being. My advice is if your parents are some conservative fundamentalists don't go running to them telling them about your sex habits while you're a minor.

[edit on 6/16/2005 by djohnsto77]

It is truly disturbing the steps some parents will take in an attempt to "fix" something. The emotional scars something like this can potentially have on this kid could affect him for life - that is if he doesn't take it himself. He sounds so hopeless and that is so troubling to me.

But that is not to say I do not agree with some of what dj said. Why did this kid come out while still under his parent's roof and custody as a minor? People who read and responded to his blog should have offered their support, their words of encouragement, but never told him to "just come out." There are reasons we didn't tell our parents everything as teens - they have different values and ideas about "how things should be" and when we don't live up to those expectations we suffer the retribution that follows - deserved or not.

My heart goes out to this young man and I wish him the strength to endure because life is really only beginning for him


Bleys.

Yet you BLAME the gay community even though:



C'mon man, I don't even have to work at it to show your agenda. You're doing all the work.

I have to agree that choosing to come out while he was still under his parents rule was probably not the smartest move. If the parents thing they screwed up now, just wait till the poor kid has mental issues a few years down the road from their actions. While it may have been pressing on him to convey his choice of lifestyle, he should have weighed the obvious consequences of such a disclosure. Now what may have at first thought been a releif to be honest and open is now something he will probably regret for a long time, making things even more difficult for him then they already are.

Please educate me then, because you seem to be able to detect an agenda that I don't even know I have.

Homosexuality is immoral...nuff said.

It's the parents who need "re-education"..Or maybe just "education".

My brother-in-law, went through hell, faking heterosexuality, to keep his parents from Freaking out, or disowning him. Going as far as marrying and having 4 kids.

His mom, to this day, won't acknowledge the fact that he was a closet gay, who just wanted acceptance for what he was.

Instead, he led a double life, eventually dying of AIDS a few years ago.

Frankly, I believe he would still be alive, if he could have only come out.
The openess would probably have prevented some bad situations from ever happening. (Drugs, Multiple partners, etc..)