Conservatives are having field day with this one.
Exodus was somewhat involved in public policy issues for a few years between 2003 and 2008 but it hasn’t ever been and isn’t our primary goal. Some people find it beneficial to falsely characterize us as being a political organization (making us into the “bad cop” as opposed to their “good cop” approach) but the truth is… we aren’t, and never have been, a political organization much less a pawn of the supposedly nefarious “religious right.” That said, it does not mean we won’t speak out about different issues at different times that are important issues concerning our ministry, member agencies and the people we minister too.
There are a couple of angles to this story not many are paying attention to and worth blogging about.
Mr. Jennings himself confessed to badly counseling a teenager on a sexual relationship started with an older man he met in a public restroom. There are legal questions on whether the teen was fifteen or sixteen which would either make the issue one of unreported statutory rape or not. “Brewster” has come forward and said that he was sixteen. Regardless, Jennings thought he was fifteen when he wrote his book. This one incident has opened the floodgates to revelations of all kinds of activities and statements Mr. Jennings has made or been involved in. (link in previous sentence contains shocking details, click at your own discretion.)
Before all of this recent hullabaloo, he had a stunning show of intolerance on display against Christian people, in general, and those of us on a post-gay journey in particular. The following quote from his book Always My Child:
“Ex-gay messages have no place in our nation’s public schools. A line has been drawn. There is no ‘other side’ when you’re talking about lesbian, gay and bisexual students.”
Mr. Jennings can’t lock us into the school closet to keep us silent. After almost 35 years as an organization reaching a worldwide audience, there is another side being presented. We do have a lot to offer that would be of help for same sex attracted young people and create, to borrow Jennings’ term, “safe” schools where these discussions could be held truthfully without fear or intimidation. I don’t know Mr. Jennings, I am sure he is a very bright and talented man but it is my hope that one day he would move beyond the bitter self imposed line in the sand and realize the only person being walled off from well rounded dialog is himself.
The second point is that, while the world argues over what is age appropriate sex, many seem to be avoiding that a sixteen year old boy was pursued by a gay man in a public bathroom and taken home with him to have sex. It’s called homosexual ephebophilia. Whether it is legal or not … it isn’t appropriate … on a number of different levels.
Sound familiar?
The fight is not simply over whether Obama fires Jennings, or he resigns, or not. While that is something for others to consider … what about actions to prevent young people from being targeted for sex in public bathrooms? I would like to see the default option for this situation to be to call the police and not about deciding whether to use a condom or not.
My concern is that once it is decided whether Jennings stays or goes … these kids will continue to be treated as potential sexual objects and given bad advice instead of protected.
If a teen came to you with a similar story, what would you do?
Bob Finch
Nora Seemann
YesGodLovesMe
Jennifer Thorne
Brady
LJ
Debbie Thurman
John Westcott
Julie Neils
Catherine H
I’ll miss you too! Thanks for posting this!
Kevin Jennings And Some of The Other Issues At Hand http://bit.ly/4DPhyk
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Always True: " Professing themselves to be wise they become foolish."
Ouch or Amen to that?
way to get to the point. it makes little difference that he was 15 or 16. The main thing is a boy was being pursued sexually in a public bathrom by a predatory older man. Its inappropriate regardless of legal standing and it was definately a missed opportunity to truly make schools safe.
Good job Randy.
I have to thank Exodus for helping me so much over the years. For so long I was told in schools only that I was gay and had to accept it. It was only when I met you guys that you gave me a choice to live a happy life. thanks for all you do. you guys dont get enough credit for what you do.
much love.
That is very encouraging Frank. Thank *you* for saying that.
Thanks for your coverage of this story. I didn’t know anything about it until I tripped over it on your blog.
You're welcome
Actually this incident does not open any floodgates. Rather it just emphasizes how some people were looking for something to nail Jennings on. This inaccurate story was the lastest lie about Jennings.
Also, Mr. Thomas, you do your credibility something awful. If you had read Brewster's statement , you would see that he said he did not have sex. First the claims was "Jennings pushed an underaged boy to have sex with an adult." And now when it turns out that the young man was not underaged, you all are tapdancing rather than admit you are wrong. People recognize this for the anti-gay campaign it is, no matter how you try to gloss up the manure.
I am glad you think I have some credibility to do something awful with. I have read Brewster's statement, which is at odds with what Jennings wrote:
So … are you saying that "Brewster" went to a public bathroom to meet guys, found a guy, went home with him and then they just played … Monopoly?
I am perfectly ok with him being sixteen at the time, what I am not ok with … and clearly pointed out in the post … is that he was a teenager picked up in a public bathroom by a grown adult. Regardless of his actual age, Mr. Jennings thought he was fifteen (he wrote it in his book… I didn't make that up … he did.)
And you say "you all" like I have something to do with all the maelstrom of criticism or some need to tap dance out of a situation. This is the only time I have ever spoken about it and … my points are still valid.
An adult cruised and picked up a teen in a public restroom.
Jennings gave bad advice to a boy he thought was fifteen years old having sex with strangers he met in a public bathroom.
The real issue is providing hopeful and truthful solutions to young people and Exodus has resources that do both.
The only anti-gay thing happening here is when gay activists defensively try to downplay this dangerous behavior instead of facing the issue head on and saying public bathroom hookups between adults and teenagers are wrong.
If a teen came to me with this story, I would ask "Why do you feel your life is not worth saving?" and then see where the discussion leads, with me having an intent to communicate that the teen's life IS worth saving, and help the teen to come to that conclusion also. I think the need to belong and to feel valued and accepted and to be special to someone causes all of us, all people, to do all sorts of things, some more healthy and some less healthy.
But if I'm not already an important person in that teen's life or have no history with them, then of course I haven't earned the right to express my personal opinions, etc., besides which, they probably wouldn't ask me, because who am I? Just some adult they felt safe enough to confide in. But IF they did ask me for my opinion, I would walk carefully, saying this is my personal opinion, but of course, you, like every other person, will need to decide for yourself etc. how you will live your life. I would say I think it's unhealthy for you to let an adult use you sexually. If they asked why? I'd answer because it's disrespectful to you for an adult to act that way toward you. If they protested further that they don't deserve respect, I would immediately do what I could to get them to a trained counselor a.s.a.p.
Hopefully all of us blogging here could all agree that any adult taking sexual advantage of a vulnerable teen is not healthy, for the adult or for the teen, regardless of preferences and sexuality, and that too many people on the planet are being misused by others already, even willingly or consensually, and most of those people are straight, simply because there are more of them; but that doesn't make it healthy just because it happens.
[...] no more debate when it comes to the school system. You either accept liberal pro-gay ideology or shut up and move out of the way. “Ex-gay messages have no place in our nation’s public schools. A line [...]