[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Can homosexuals change? A new documentary says “yes” and includes interviews with people who say they’ve made the switch.
The 48-minute video, dubbed “I Do Exist,” is intended for use as a discussion-starter in churches, schools and universities. It includes the stories of five homosexuals — three women and two men — who once were involved in homosexuality but are now heterosexual. Along the way, psychologists and psychiatrists give their thoughts as to why they believe change is possible.
The documentary, available in DVD and VHS format at www.idoexist.com, counters a series of documentaries by homosexual activists, who have had success in recent years with that format. A 1996 documentary called “It’s Elementary” sought to promote the discussion of homosexuality in public school classrooms. And this year, “One Wedding and a Revolution” gave a behind-the-scenes look at the push for same-sex “marriage” in San Francisco.
But “I Do Exist” has a much different message and answers those who say change is impossible.
“So many ex-gays are told that they don’t exist,” the documentary’s producer, Grove City College psychology professor Warren Throckmorton, told Baptist Press. “… I had a client several years ago who had gone from gay to straight who asked if I was going to write about his case, because he knew that the field didn’t accept the change process. He said, ‘If you do, tell them that I do exist.'”
The documentary’s release comes as the issue of same-sex “marriage” dominates the cultural landscape in America. Behind the push for “gay marriage” is the belief that homosexuality is natural and unchangeable.
[2]Greg Quinlan, one of the ex-homosexuals featured in the documentary, says that change wasn’t an “easy thing to do.” Now married, Quinlan credits his Christian faith for bringing him out of homosexuality.
“You can change. I changed,” Quinlan says in the documentary. “… I know that people can change. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve done it.”
Prior to coming out of homosexuality, Quinlan says he was “miserable.” At one point he approached a Christian counselor only to be told that there was “no hope” to change.
“What I was reading in the Word is not what I was hearing from this man who was supposed to be a born-again Christian counselor,” says Quinlan, who was a homosexual for nine years.
Ironically, one of the ex-homosexuals featured in the documentary, Noe Gutierrez Jr., was featured in the pro-homosexuality documentary “It’s Elementary” during his time as a homosexual.
Gutierrez says his “gay story” began in high school when he was seeking to fit in with the rest of the guys his age. He “discovered a way to connect with them emotionally” through homosexuality.
“There’s such a huge drive to define yourself when you’re growing up … you really want to know who you are and you want to be sure of that,” Gutierrez said. “… I was dying for that. I needed that.”
Eventually, Gutierrez discovered what Scripture has to say about God’s love. Gutierrez’s faith was the difference in his change.
“I can’t think of a better foundation than the Word of God and what it has to say about who you are,” Gutierrez said.
Throckmorton, who serves as an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College — a Christian school in Pennsylvania — estimates that at least 200 churches have viewed the documentary. He also knows of schools and universities — both religious and non-religious — that have watched it.
Throckmorton had written books on the subject of ex-homosexuals and had even released an audio CD.
“I had been thinking about whether or not to try and write a new book on the subject, but I really was drawn toward doing something that hadn’t been done,” he said.
Jim Kragel of Cedarville University, a Christian school in Ohio, served as the documentary’s director.
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“I Do Exist” can be purchased at www.idoexist.com.
For information about the national debate over same-sex “marriage,” visit http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage [3]