Via Box Turtle Bulletin…  The Memphis Commercial Appeal has an article on the upcoming Debunking The Ex-Gay Myth events in Memphis this weekend .  It begins, heartbreakingly enough, with this testimony from Jacob Wilson, who was nineteen when he was checked in to Love In Action…

Wilson, then 19, was a part of Love In Action’s adult program, housed in a former Episcopal church in Raleigh, at the same time that a Bartlett teen was forced into since-closed LIA’s youth program, Refuge.

LIA catapulted itself into the national spotlight two years ago when the Bartlett teen wrote about his angst on his MySpace page.

…

The gay community’s outrage was instantaneous, as the saga of the then 16-year-old, whose first name is Zach, spread across the blogosphere.

Zach’s supporters protested outside of LIA, but Wilson says the men and women inside were told not to make eye contact with the protesters and not to read their signs.

After Wilson left LIA, he found out what the protesters had wanted him to know.

"These people weren’t doing it to be activists, they were doing it to show that we weren’t alone, that we were loved … It crushes me that that message was cut from us."

Crushing you was the point.  Separating you from the love of your neighbors in this life is how they do it. 

His parents promised they’d pay for his stay at LIA, but reneged when Wilson decided he would live as God made him.

…

For Wilson, the cost has been strained family relationships, mountains of credit card debt to pay off LIA’s charges and emotional damage from which he’s still healing…

I see John Smid still isn’t giving out any money-back guarantees.

Here, from Beyond Ex-Gay, is a list of scheduled events this weekend in Memphis.  If you can make it, I urge you to come and stand with the survivors.  Let them see the love they weren’t allowed to while inside.  Show them what Love In Action looks like…

• NEW!  Friday 2/22 noon Press Conference (Press only) at the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center MGLCC (892 S. Cooper). Ex-gay survivors, local leaders and experts release statements about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered community in response to Focus on the Family and Exodus promoting an inaccurate picture about LGBT people.

• Friday 2/22 12:30 – Sunday 2/24 6:00 PM The Ex-Gay Survivor Art Show at the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center MGLCC (892 S. Cooper). The show is hosted by the MGLCC & Beyond Ex-Gay and curated by Christine Bakke.

• Friday 2/22 8:00 PM Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House–How I Survived The Ex-Gay Movement, at First Congregational Church (1000 S. Cooper)

• Saturday 2/23 2:00-5:00 PM Beyond Ex-Gay Mid-South Regional Gathering, MGLCC (892 S. Cooper)

• Saturday 2/23 8:00 PM Preview of the Morgan Fox’s film This is What Love in Action Looks Like  at First Congregational Church (1000 S. Cooper)

• Sunday 2/24 10:00 AM Art, Activism and Spirit a presentation by Peterson Toscano at the Memphis Friends Meeting (917 S. Cooper)

• Sunday 2/24 2:00-6:00 Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center‘s 5th Anniversary Party at 892 Cooper 19 Years in Memphis, 5 Years in Cooper Young!

• Sunday 2/24 7:00 PM Memphis premiere of Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible, at Holy Trinity Community Church (685 S Highland Street)