Ex Gay Tries to Educate Nations Largest Teacher Union
Christian examiner online

 

by Lori Arnold

 


 

For years Greg Quinlan juggled a double life, going to church, entering Bible College, chasing gay sex. From reading this article it becomes apparent that Quinlan was a fundamentalist – more than likely a Baptist.  He has a conversion at age nine, -- he says he had an “Abusive” father, he then speaks to the attraction that he found in homosexuality –  Between 13-14 years old  “He desperately sought affection”   

Here is the situation here we have a young beleiver, he comes to Christ and after being in this church for seven years nobody it seems reached out and took an interest in this young man,  He did not find the Agape of God within this church, nor within its members, neither did he find a level of kinship, friendship or fellowship with the elders, parents, or the youth in the church. He mentions particularly she craved “affirmation” [Good Job, we are pleased with you, you are a part of the family here, you are a valuable member of this fellowship – He was not getting this in his church]  He mentions “affection” and “being touched” [Affection is someone warmly shaking hands with you, receiving a warm welcome, being invited to other beleivers homes for meals, being patted on the back, being hugged, having someone to confide in  -- indications here was that he was a loner, an outsider secretly looking longingly in, while on the outside feigning being strong, and too proud to accept weak invitations .]  And finally “talking” and being talked to on a personal and intimate level.

I can all to well understand this young man as my father died when I was ten years old. I became a loner, tried to be tough and strong, was distant lonely and desired fellowship friendship and  kinship.  My mother signed me up to the big brother program and the young collage student gave up on me in two weeks as I scoffed at the basketball game we went to and other things.  The young man did not speak to me personally or engage me but instead took me to one or two places. – my going indicated a willingness even though I was not a basketball fan, my speaking and mocking things in the game was an attempt to engage this man in converstation – which he did not understand, and thus after a week or two quit working with me. what was most telling was I asked about him and missed him, But the big brother organization never spoke with me so I fell though the cracks.

As I have testified when I fell at the feet of Christ I landed in a wonderous agape filled fellowship that melted me heart and soul. And later we attended a church were an elder Raymond Zini befriended myself and another boy he was warm shook hands vigorously was excited about christ and was filled with the love of God and for a year every Sunday he took us out for lunch at the hotshops resturant.  This man loved and cared for me a great deal. It was very heartening.  Every man and woman saved and unsaved, spirit-filled or evangelical or fundamentalist needs to feel loved, needs to feel cared for, needs to feel a part of something meaningful, the agape of God the caring for one another, the uplifting of the weaker vessels in the body of Christ in churches, fellowships, etc is so wanting, so lacking, so ignored, and so disobeyed.

How many have fallen away for this lack? Jesus so cared for his disciples and was with them 24/7 and saw to all their needs. How can we do differently, how can we think our great teaching, great worship, or great prophetic utterences can replace loving one another and loving the brethren? What lack I . . . the agape of God.  

The tension nearly killed him, he said.

“I was torn,” he said. “I had to either come out of the closet or commit suicide. I was more afraid of facing God.”

So he dropped his faith and lived as an openly gay man who learned to lobby on behalf of gay and lesbian issues through his volunteer work for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). He was particularly enamored with the group’s black-tie fundraisers. The group, he said, was a refreshingly professional organization that seemed a world removed from the often-raucous scenes in gay bars.

“The women were in skirts and the men weren’t,” he said.

As a lobbyist, Quinlan said he liked to research “the enemy” and began to monitor evangelical television to keep abreast of their twisted moves to protect pro-family values. During one program, the host featured the testimonies of several former gays who had successfully left the lifestyle.

“I would have two wars raging inside of me,” he said. “I would wonder, ‘Oh, God, is it true? Can I get out of this?’”

Nearly two decades later, Quinlan is still campaigning, but his message is vastly different.

“The gay lifestyle is shallow, lust-filled and immature,” he said during a visit to San Diego for the National Education Association’s convention.

Now a member of the Ex-Gay Educators’ Caucus, Quinlan is pushing for access to teachers in an effort to balance the union’s push for pro-homosexual issues, including same-sex marriage and gay-friendly curriculum. He and other Ex-Gay caucus members did so by working a booth at the NEA’s exhibit hall, a right they had to sue for several years back.

What the HRC taught me to do,” he said, “I’m now doing for the Lord.”

As an HRC volunteer in the late ’80s, Quinlan said group members focused on moving their agenda forward by concentrating on several key arenas including establishing gay-affirming curriculum, seeking to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the U.S. military, legalizing gay-marriage and re-educating education.

Quinlan said numerous initiatives—targeting sex-ed and science curriculum, while also implementing protections designed at preventing bullying—have made great inroads in the public schools.

“One area where they have won, have had tremendous success, is in education,” he said, adding that each generation of students becomes more and more accepting of homosexuality. “We are in a demographic nightmare.”


Understanding nightmares
Growing up as a young man with an abusive “Archie Bunker-type” father, Quinlan first found solace in his faith, describing a strong spiritual conversion at age 9.

“It was the real deal,” he said. “I felt the weight lift off of my shoulders.”

Instead of life improving at home, the father’s abuse toward him worsened. Eventually he filled his desperate need for affection at the hands of a young teen boy who introduced him to sex. Quinlan said he became a willing molestation victim.

“I was getting something I wasn’t getting at home, I was getting something I wasn’t getting at school, and I was getting something I wasn’t getting at church,” he said. “I was getting attention, I was getting affirmation, I was getting affection. Someone was touching me without hitting me. Someone was talking to me without screaming.”

Through the help of Christian spiritual leaders, Quinlan returned to his faith and began working on the issues of bitterness and unforgiveness that perverted his relationship with his father.

“That’s when the same-sex attractions faded,” he said. “That was the enemy’s hook in me.”

It was not, he said, an overnight healing and he held to the promises of Romans 12 by trying to renew his mind.

“There is pleasure in sin, for a season,” he said. “I had spent a long time contaminating it.”

Today he works with Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays and is a consultant for the New Jersey Family Policy Council.

While he bemoans the closed platform of the NEA, Quinlan places much of the blame for homosexuality advances in the public school system right at the feet of believing Christians.

“We’ve allowed this to happen,” he said. “There are so many Secret Service Christians who need to come out of the closet, but we also need to know how to argue and debate persuasively. This conspiracy and its wheel have been around for decades.”

For more information, visit pfox.org.