Update 2: Check out our awesome response to the ex-gay conference! Our Kids Don’t Need Changing.

Update: Please join us in peacefully responding to this anti-gay event in our city! See PFLAG to Visit ‘Love Won Out’ in Anchorage, and the MCC interfaith seminar “God Loves You Just As You Are.”

As if the gloomy weather wasn’t bad enough, the “ex-gays” are coming to town.

The anti-gay groups Focus on the Family and Exodus International are bringing their de-gaying conference to Anchorage’s Abbott Loop Community Church on September 13, 2008.

Are you concerned about the growing prevalence of homosexuality in our society? Focus on the Family cares and wants to equip you with the tools necessary to show the love of Christ to those affected by homosexuality. That’s why Focus on the Family has created the Love Won Out conference. This dynamic one-day seminar comprehensively addresses the issue of homosexuality.

The conference agenda explains that “same-sex attraction is a preventable and treatable condition.” Personal testimonies by supposed ex-gays teach us how to ‘pray away the gay’ and maintain a heterosexual lifestyle.

General sessions describe the “root causes” of male homosexuality (“the family dynamics that can lead to the development of same-sex desires”) and female homosexuality (“relational deficits, gender identity rejection, and sexual abuse. The heart of lesbianism, emotional dependency, will be highlighted and defined.”)

Most of the breakout sessions teach the local evangelicals how to oppose LGBT civil rights.

A session called Our Religious Freedoms Under Fire “will help concerned citizens see how our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religious expression are jeopardized by pro-gay legislative and judicial efforts such as hate crimes, ENDA laws and gay marriage.” The session on gay marriage “will equip attendees with the facts and strategies needed to effectively argue for the benefits of traditional marriage with friends, co-workers and legislators.” Mobilizing Your Community for Action “will show how one concerned citizen stood firmly against gay activism in his city.”

Other breakout sessions teach “how to witness to gay friends” and how to refute “those who have embraced pro-gay theology.”In the closing presentation, How Should We Respond?, “our speaker exhorts the Christian church to passionately reach out to those within the gay community without compromising its stand on biblical truth.”

The conference also targets children and young adults. One session “offers practical tools in directing children toward a healthy heterosexual identity” and another “outlines action steps in confronting gay-affirmative curriculum and how to counter anti-family activism in your schools.” The conference has a Youth Track “for young people 25 years of age and under to process what they’re learning about God’s message to those who struggle with sexual identity.”

The after lunch presentation, The Gaying of America, explains that “the goal of gay activists is to ‘overhaul’ America with the message that homosexuality is normal and healthy.”

Their homophobic agenda is clear. How should we respond?

Update: Read how other communities have responded: Challenging the “Ex-Gay” Lies.