Ex-gay group Parents and Friends of
Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) has launched a campaign asking public
libraries to stock ex-gay books. Ex-gay books aim to prove that
homosexuality can be “cured.”
Literature provided by the group
instructs members on book titles to be requested, organizations to
contact and provides a sample request.
Books being recommended include: Light
in the Closet: Torah, Homosexuality, and the Power to Change by
Arthur Goldberg, A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality
by Joseph and Linda Nicolosi and Homosexual No More by William
Consiglio, as well as others.
“Fellow parents and friends, this is
our time to stand together in order to assist other families,” a
PFOX statement reads. “You can help by searching your local and
school libraries for ex-gay books and resource materials. Most
public libraries have online catalogs on their website where you can
search for books. If you determine helpful information is missing,
write the school, libraries, school boards, and politicians to alert
them to this systematic censorship. Gently point out that censorship
should not be the job the library, and then insist that hey include
ex-gay books such as those listed below.”
“There is no logical or common sense
reason why taxpayer-funded public libraries should make available
every latest 'gay'-affirming book – including those designed to
open up young minds to the false and dangerous notion that
homosexuality is normal – while NOT carrying faith-based and
ex-'gay' books that oppose pro-homosexual ideology,” said Americans
for Truth about Homosexuality President Peter LaBarbera in a blog
post on the group's website.
“The only way such titles should be
in libraries is in the fiction section,” said Wayne Besen,
president of the pro-gay group Truth Wins Out. “These are
essentially fake medical books without scientific backing.”
Besen also pointed out that such books
have been rejected by all medical and mental health organizations.