Departing Safe Schools Czar Met with PFOX to Discuss Ex-Gays
Group Calls on Obama to Extend Same Recognition to Ex-Gays as Transgenders
Contact: Regina Griggs, PFOX
804-453-4737, pfox@pfox.org
June 8, 2011/Washington, DC-Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays
(PFOX) today thanked Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Director of
the Department of Education, for meeting with PFOX and called upon
President Obama to do the same.
Jennings recently announced he will leave the Office of Safe and
Drug Free Schools. His appointment in 2009 was controversial due to
his previous work with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN), which rejects former homosexuals. However, during
Jennings' tenure he met with PFOX, which advocates for equality and
equal access for the ex-gay community, and assured them that his
office represents students with all sexual orientations, including
those with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA). Jennings also
affirmed the right of ex-gay organizations to have equal access in
the nation's schools and agreed that former homosexuals should not
be discriminated against during outreach efforts for students with
unwanted SSA.
Kevin Jennings and Ex-Gay
Christopher Doyle embrace
"I commend Mr. Jennings for affirming that his work to combat
bullying in schools includes protection for ex-gays," commented
former homosexual Christopher Doyle, one of several PFOX Board
Members who in
February of 2010 met with Jennings and Joseph Wheeler, Attorney for
the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. Wheeler stated
that he agreed with the Washington, DC Superior Court's 2009 ruling
that ex-gays are a legally protected class. "Mr. Jennings extended a
hand of civility towards former homosexuals. Despite our different
paths, both gays and ex-gays can stand united over the ideal that no
student should be bullied because of sexual feelings, and all
organizations leading outreach efforts must be extended equal
access," commented Doyle.
In light of the Administration's recent meeting with the transgender
community, PFOX is calling on President Obama to extend the same
courtesy and meet with ex-gays. "The administration's meeting with
transgenders was a first for the White House, and it would be
historic for this administration to extend the same consideration
for ex-gays," said Doyle. "Considering the increasing ex-gay
population and the example that Jennings set, the President should
also include our voices in sexual orientation policies."
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Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays is the nation's leading
advocacy organization for former homosexuals, their families, and
individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions.