PFOX's Exhibit Booth at CPAC

It was a hectic but successful three days for the Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) exhibit booth at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C.  We answered numerous questions from attendees and handed out factual materials about homosexuality and defense of the natural family.   

 

Members of GOProud, a gay Republican organization, steadily sent their members to our PFOX exhibit booth, so we had the chance to speak with them at length about self-determination, changing one’s sexual orientation from gay to straight, and ex-gay rights.  GOProud heard about change from the mouths of ex-gays, who related their personal stories and handed them our Can Sexual Orientation Change brochures. 

 

The representatives of GOProud, which also hosted an exhibit booth at CPAC, informed us that they oppose gay marriage because marriage is special and should only be between a man and a woman.  GOProud representatives also said they believe in ex-gay rights and equal access for former homosexuals.  We gave them our Tolerance for the Ex-Gay Community brochure. 

 

We also encountered more homosexual-identified attendees than we ever have at previous CPAC conferences.  Some were nice, some were nasty, but we welcomed them all with our information and smiles.  We had good, informative discussions.

 

We also met many tea party activists at CPAC who were interested in what we had to say.  Incidentally, our PFOX exhibit was located across from the exhibit booth of the Libertarian Party. 

 

PFOX’s exhibit booth displayed our Certificate of Appreciation from the Government of the District of Columbia.  The Certificate was issued over a year ago to PFOX’s executive director in recognition of her outstanding contributions.  PFOX was instrumental in achieving equal rights for ex-gays under the D.C. Human Rights Act with our landmark legal case.  In light of the new mayor’s commitment to “One City,” PFOX’s civil rights achievement is more important than ever.  Like the D.C. mayor, we believe in one city, one people, without division of race, class, or sexual orientation. 

 

PFOX also attended a CPAC seminar entitled “Conservative Inclusion” to hear Michael Steele speak, but Steele didn’t show up.  Instead, we met up with Grover Norquist, who heads Americans for Tax Reform.  Norquist is a strong supporter of GOProud and other gay Republican groups.  We told Norquist about the intolerance and hatred ex-gays face. 

 

CBS News interviewed PFOX’s president at CPAC.  You can see the interview at  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7338516n

 

A belated thank you to author Ann Coulter for signing one of her books to PFOX.

 

In this year’s address to CPAC, among other things, Coulter credited herself with encouraging GoProud to drop its gay marriage plank, remarked that there is something to being gay apart from sodomy, and discussed chaste gays. 

 

And as always, thanks also to Lisa De Pasquale of CPAC for her assistance with arranging our exhibit booth.  Lisa is a hard worker. 

 

Many, many thanks to our donors for making the exhibit booth possible and spreading the good news of hope and change.  We spoke to an ex-gay Catholic man (married with four kids) and inspired him to become a mentor to other younger men in his Courage group, who really need the help and support of older, experienced former homosexuals like himself.  He was very encouraged.  He was just one of the many people who came to our booth.