Billboards erected in support of reparative therapy in Waco, Texas are being removed following complaints from local activists.
Sponsored by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), the billboards – which appear in three Waco locations – read “Ex-gays prove change is possible.” PFOX has posted images on Facebook calling homosexuality a “dysfunction” and stating “I was born a sinner but Jesus changed my orientation.”
However, the signs will be removed at the end of October after the billboard company Swift Media was contacted by Carmen Saenz, who founded Waco Activist group Interwaco.
According to Saenz, “the people that own that company don’t want any controversy. They don’t want to fall down on either side when I explained to them what reparative therapy is…they had no idea.”
David Pickup, a licensed psychotherapist and board member of PFOX said the billboards do not aim to convert people but seek to address “unresolved emotional issues.” PFOX’s Executive Director Regina Griggs added that the group’s message is intended for people who are not happy with their same-sex attraction.
In an interview with ABC News, Griggs said:
“What we want to let people know is that there is hope if you are unhappy with your sexual orientation. There is no scientific evidence to suggest you are born that way. If you are unhappy you can change. [Our message] comes from a place of unconditional love. If we unconditionally love each other as family and friends then we don’t condition those relationships. We don’t say you can’t be my friend.”
However, Saenz believes it’s the removal of the message that really provides hope.
“My hope is that one day kids in McLennan County have that experience of you know that they are perfectly fine the way that they are,” she said.
Swift Media has said it will not renew its contract with PFOX which will meet in October to discuss whether or not to place more signs in a different area of Waco.
For reference, watch Matt Baume’s Horrible History of Ex-Gay Cures below.
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