The ex-gay movement is coming back to the Boston area early next year, and this time they're going after the schools. Exodus International, the largest ex-gay resource and referral service, will bring its Groundswell Conference to Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy at an as-yet-undetermined date (the conference was originally scheduled for Dec. 3 but was pushed back until early next year), and the focus of the event will be on bringing the ex-gay message into the public schools.

Exodus launched Groundswell this year, and the Boston area will be the conference's fourth stop. The conference touched down in Louisville, Ky., Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, where it generated little press coverage, and it has averaged between 50 and 100 attendees at each stop. Scott Davis, director of Exodus Youth and one of the conference speakers, said that the conference will not be an all-out assault on gay/straight alliances (GSAs) and LGBT-related programs in schools but an effort to build dialogue.

"Our perspective is that the gay/straight alliances as they're formed today present a one-sided message and one that is dangerous... But our approach where GSAs exist is to create dialogue between the Christian students and students in the GSAs where they can discuss those differences," said Davis.

Yet Davis did say the conference will include Exodus's core message, that homosexuality can be cured. He said the event was targeted toward youth pastors, campus ministers, and educators, and part of the message of the conference would be how to help students struggling with "unwanted homosexuality."

Davis said when the date for Groundswell is finalized, it will be announced via the conference Web site, www.groundswell2005.org. And given the protests at the Love Won Out conference, it is likely that when Groundswell comes to Boston, members of the LGBT community will be there to meet them.



Ethan Jacobs is a staff writer at Bay Windows. His e-mail address is ejacobs@baywindows.com.

Comments, criticism or praise regarding this article or writer -- or just about any other subject of interest to the lesbian and gay community -- are always welcome.