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Zach Stark, the 16-year-old gay blogger who sparked a controversy after expressing his fears on the Internet of being sent to an ex-gay camp by his parents, returned home after an eight-week program.
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: ANDREW KEEGAN
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A gay Tennessee teen who gained worldwide attention after detailing his fear of being sent to an “ex-gay” camp in an Internet posting said the entire situation has been blown out of proportion, according to his latest blog.
But some gay activists who oppose the camp said the posting shows signs of intimidation.
After coming out to his parents, Zach Stark, 16, was enrolled June 6 at Refuge for a reported eight-week session at a cost of more than $4,000. The Christian facility, a branch of Love In Action located near Memphis, Tenn., specializes in converting gay youth. It receives adolescent referrals from Exodus, an organization devoted to helping gay adults become heterosexual.
Stark’s June 3 blog about coming out to his parents and his uncertainty about the upcoming retreat included suicidal thoughts, which quickly garnered widespread attention.
But in his latest blog, posted Aug. 1, Stark states that he “is annoyed towards a lot of things,” including that his blogs were taken out of perspective and Love In Action was misrepresented.
There is no mention of what transpired during the 56-day stay at Refuge by the youth from Bartlett, Tenn. Stark says that homosexuality is still a “factor” for him, but he won’t let it “run my life.” He also includes an apparent slap at gay activists who led a campaign against Love In Action.
“I refuse to deal with people who are only focused on their one-sided (biased) agendas,” Stark writes. “It isn’t fair to anyone.”
John Smid, Love In Action’s executive director, declined comment on Stark’s postings, while gay groups said they would continue to question the ex-gay program’s efforts.
Stark’s original posting led Memphis residents to form the Queer Action Coalition, which began daily demonstrations at the Love In Action offices to raise awareness of the dangers of ex-gay therapy. According to one of the groups co-founders, Morgan Fox, the protests continued for two weeks, beginning the day Stark was admitted.
“At the height of the protest we had about 80 people outside the offices,” Fox said.
Responding to the teen’s latest blog, Fox said the group has great respect for Stark.
“We have always tried to protect his identity and his rights,” he said, noting the group never divulged the teen’s last name, which was obtained by media outlets. “But we’ve always said from the beginning that this is not all about Zach.”
Since Stark’s blog, Queer Action Coalition has received numerous emails from former Love In Action clients disputing the organization’s claim of reforming gays, Fox said.
“We responded in forming QAC because it was frightening to read about a kid having to deal with this,” he said. “We absolutely will not judge Zach. What we will do is focus on the message that Love In Action promotes — a lot of people have been harmed by their claim to offer choice.”
Wayne Besen, a gay author who studies the ex-gay movement and has followed Stark’s plight, said he is certain that some type of coercion was exerted on the teen, given the wording of his latest blog.
“It’s disconcerting because the boy who blogged before entering the program has a different voice,” said Besen, author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth.”
“The boy who blogged after the program is no longer a free-spirited young man,” he added.
Besen points to several words in the latest blog as proof of intimidation.
“He [Zach] now uses right-wing buzz words like ‘agendas’ and how homosexuality is a ‘factor’ in his life,” he said.
Besen recently posted on his Web site, www.waynebesen.com, a letter by a co-founder of Love In Action criticizing the conversion program.
Former ex-gay John Evans, who co-founded Love In Action with Rev. Kent Philpott in 1973, sent the letter July 30 to Smid, the ministry’s current director.
“In the past 30 years since leaving the ‘ex-gay’ ministry I have seen nothing but shattered lives, depression, and even suicide among those connected with the ‘ex-gay’ movement,” Evans wrote.
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