Bob Emrich wants to 'change' gay people. Don't let him hide behind marriage.

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11/29/2011

by Jeremy Hooper

All during Maine's Question One fight, I kept beating a certain drum in regards to the anti-equality campaign's co-head, Pastor Bob Emrich. "He supports so- 6A00D8341C503453Ef0120A76F41A3970B called 'ex-gay' therapy," I kept saying. And writing. And editing into YouTube videos. My hope was that if people realized that this prominent figure's endgame not only involved marriage inequality but also the "changing" of all gay people, folks might start to "get it." I hoped a light bulb would go on, allowing Mainers to see how personal, overreaching, and anti-scientific the opposition movement was and is.

Fast forward to 2011. Now, as Maine gears up to possibly go back to the polls and reclaim what was stolen, the very same Bob Emrich (now the chair of the Christian Civic League of Maine and also employed by the national Family Research Council) is returning to familiar territory. In a commentary where he refers to gays as "erring family members," Emrich makes his case against marriage fairness by quite plainly advocating the idea that homosexuality is something that can and should be "overcome":

"Those who want to redefine marriage want us to believe that we show love and support for homosexual family members by encouraging them to remain in their sin. Christian people will remember than [sic] true love and support helps people overcome, not surrender."
SOURCE: Christian Civic League of Maine

"Overcome" = live a false reality or a life of celibacy. Those are the expressed stakes. That is what most of our opposition leaders truly seek. And we let them get away with it, largely.

I sincerely hope that if we do go back to the ballot in 2012, pro-equality Mainers will make use of what this prominent opposition figure is handing us on a silver platter. Americans, like credible science, reject the bizarre and offensive "ex-gay" notion that underlies our organized opposition movement. All we have to do is make use of it, refusing to allow those who quite literally wish to closet all LGBT people to hide behind their more politically viable "traditional marriage" labels. If we, the ultra-clued-in, connect these dots for those not as versed in "culture war"-ese (by which I mean 99.9% if the population), I truly believe we will open new eyes.