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Tenn. Investigates Ex-Gay
Camp
Teen's Blog Leads to
Outcry, Charges of Abuse at Unlicensed Facility
By EARTHA MELZER | Jun 23,
2005 1:53 PM
The state of Tennessee has
begun an investigation in response to allegations of child abuse at
Love in Action, a Memphis facility that advertises homosexual
conversion therapy for adolescents, according to the state
department of health.
K. Daniele Edwards, a
spokesperson for Child Services at the Tennessee Department of
Health, confirmed an investigation is underway but declined to
comment on the details. She noted that she presumes the Love in
Action program would require licensing by the state.
 Gay
activists protested outside an unlicensed 'ex-gay' facility run by
Love In Action, which Tennessee officials are investigating to see
if teens are being mistreated.
Love in Action is not
licensed by the Tennessee Departments of Health, Mental Health,
Human Services, Child Services or Education, according to Rachel
Lassiter of Gov. Phil Bredesen's communications office.
Refuge, Love in Action's
program for adolescents, became the focus of public concern earlier
this month after a Bartlett, Tenn., teen who uses the blogger name
Zach, posted online entries that say his parents had responded to
his coming out as gay by sending him to a religious institution to
be converted to heterosexuality.
Gay activists protested outside an unlicensed
'ex-gay' facility run by Love
In Action, which Tennessee officials are investigating to see if
teens are
being mistreated.
"Emotional abuse is
difficult to prove in the state of Tennessee," said Pamela Dickey,
director of the advocacy center for Childhelp USA in Knoxville. "You
have to document that the child is undergoing depression or suicidal
ideation, that he can't sleep, or can't eat."
Officials from Love in
Action had appealed for "tolerance" of their program at a June 16
news conference.
"It is our spiritual
conviction that sexual behavior outside of heterosexual marriage is
considered wrong in the sight of God," said John Smid, the program's
director, who describes himself as "ex-gay," according to a partial
transcript of the news conference.
"This program is operated on
the will of the guardian or parent. We will work with the minor
children as long as they are not overtly distracting to their own
program or the program of others," Smid added. "If it is shown that
the client is overtly treatment resistant, we will work with the
parent towards alternative options for their care and overall
relational health."
Blogger E.J. Friedman said
that he had been corresponding with Zach via e-mail since March and
became alarmed when he saw that Zach had begun to write that his
world was coming to an end and that his parents were isolating him.
"When I saw Zach had written
in his blog, 'all I can think of is killing my mother and killing
myself' I felt that clearly something needed to be said about the
program," Friedman said.
No word from teen
Word of Zach's situation
quickly spread around the blogosphere. By press time, more than
1,000 messages of support had been posted to Zach's blog and an
online petition demanded that he be released from Love in Action.
Comedian Margaret Cho contributed a message of support.
But Zach has not posted to
his blog since the first week in June and sources contacted by the
Blade would not confirm Zach's full name. His parents also could not
be identified.
Morgan Fox, 25, who said he
was a friend of Zach's, said he believed Zach was in a two-week
Refuge program.
Meanwhile, a group called
the Queer Action Coalition has begun daily demonstrations in front
of Love in Action offices to raise awareness of the dangers of
"ex-gay" therapy.
Look for complete coverage
of this story in this Friday's print and online edition.
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