Tip of the hat for Deb for passing this along. This is surreal!
This is the Ignite Student Outreach, which has strong ties to Exodus International, an "ex-gay" "Christian" outreach. They appear to be trying to be stealthy about being an ex-gay thing. And yes, it does indeed look like the highlights in Justin's hair have highlights! But how apropos that the group is called "Ignite" Student Outreach when one of the main leaders is so flaming. (Meow!)
It gets better. Check out Justin's website. The main graphic on the 411 page has Justin with his butt in the air and his hands on his hips. Look, if one is trying to stress that one is not gay, a pose that normally is only seen in personal ads entitled "Insatiable pig bottom seeks hot men" might be a good idea. Just saying. One does rather imagine Jeff Stryker, Zak Spears and Donnie Russo lined up to take a ride. He has a page on hygiene tips (with his hand high in the air in queenly flair) and talks about make up tips. Oh, and he's riding a bale of hay in that one.
Better yet: on the 411 page, he has a typo that is pretty funny:
Find Out What His Closet Friends & Family Don't Even Know: Fetal Weight, Location Of His Sixth Toe, What Happen To His Evil Twin. Read On.
See? not closest, but "closet." As my father used to say, "I think your Freudian slip is showing."
There's a fair amount of goofy.self deprecating humor on the site, but he does rather come across as Rip Taylor and Buddy Cole's love child (who was raised in the Castro, with summers on Fire Island.) Helen Keller, after having had a lobotomy and a head cold, would get the story on this person. I would stand a better chance of passing for straight.
Deb also forwarded a link to at article by Wayne Besen:
The Campiest Summer Camp Friday, December 1st, 2006
(Scott Davis - Alan Chambers Right Hand Man)(Wayne Besens Weekly Column)I am frequently asked if the big screen comedy depicting a wacky ex-gay camp, But Im a Cheerleader, accurately reflects these conversion groups. People are surprised to learn that the hilarity and hijinx portrayed in the movie, starring drag diva RuPaul, is not farfetched from reality. Sometimes it is hard to tell if the zany movie is art imitating life or the other way around.
For example, this week we have learned that Exodus International, the largest ex-gay organization, has partnered with a Christian group, Ignite Student Outreach, to produce the campiest ex-gay camp America has ever seen. The featured speaker at the summer retreat is Justin Lookadoo, a peroxide blond who looks like punk rocker Billy Idol on crack.
If you click on Lookadoos webpage, he poses bent over while grabbing his tush. He lists among his favorite singers Ricky Martin, when he was still Latino and Michael Jackson, when he was still black.
Lookadoo and other wholesome figures will lead four summer camps this summer in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Ostensibly, they cater to all Christian youth, but if you delve below the surface, it appears to be a thinly-veiled front for ex-gay recruitment and the indoctrination of young Christian leaders.What is particularly disturbing about Ignite Student Outreach is that it does not explicitly claim to be ex-gay and focuses on close encounters with God. However, even a cursory look at their webpage reveals that it is laced with a dangerous ex-gay message, lists Exodus Youth as its only affiliate (at least until my blog publicly revealed the camp this week) and features ex-gay speakers.
Indeed, Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, is scheduled to speak at the camp, as is his hunky Exodus Youth deputy, Scott DavisThis camp appears to be a stealth strategy for Exodus to get a foothold into summer camps and mold impressionable minds. The way they are trying to accomplish this is by appearing cool, utilizing trendy graphics, innovative CDs and featuring hokey hipsters such as Lookadoo. The camp is also actively recruiting gay youths at colleges in the south through targeted e-mail campaigns. (UNC Greensboro student/activist Matt Hill Comer first reported on the camp)
While Ignite Student Outreach has lavished resources on seeming hip, has it focused the same attention on keeping out hypocrites? What measures has the camp put in place to ensure that youths are safe from predators?
Even Exodus claims no more than a 1/3-success rate and compares the transition to homosexuality as a constant struggle. In a candid moment, Chambers told me in an interview for my book, Anything But Straight, I dont think [change is] going from gay to straight. Just saying that doesnt sound like an accurate representation of what Exodus facilitates or proclaims.
Given the admitted failure rate, the inability to achieve complete transformation and the constant battle against sins of the flesh, it seems that it is exceedingly unhealthy for Exodus to be in the youth business.
We know from dealing with Catholic priests that men who try to suppress their sexuality often fail and look for easy targets to satisfy their urges - like youths in a summer camp. Given this parallel, why would a struggling ex-gay be admitted to lead a summer camp?
Indeed, Exodus has already encountered problems with leaders preying on vulnerable children. According to the Los Angeles Times, in 1998, one family sued Desert Stream, arguably Exoduss premier ministry, alleging that a minister had sexually abused a teenager while the youth was undergoing therapy to turn him straight. According to the article, the family settled its lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.
Im sorry, but this is totally unacceptable behavior for an organization that is working to get into pup tents with youth in the woods. If Exodus wants to expand into camps, they must come clean on what really happened in California and explain what actions were taken against the alleged molester. They must also reveal all other such episodes that may have occurred since this incident.There is the additional concern that Exodus will admit teens into these camps against their will. Just last week, I spoke to a distraught father whose daughter was taken from him by his ex-wife and placed in a desert bootcamp in the Southwest where she was forbidden from bathing. The father rescued her, but said he wanted to burn her clothes because they were so fetid.
While ex-gay groups promote theories that belong in comedies like But Im a Cheerleader the damage and mental abuse perpetrated by their leaders is nothing to cheer.
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