'Ex-Gay' group Exodus told gay dad that his sexuality caused son's death

A gay dad who attended Exodus International says a member of the ministry blamed his sexuality for his son's death.

Jerry was among those interviewed for an Our America profile on the world's largest "ex-gay" group.

The episode aired Thursday, the day after Exodus announced that it was closing its doors after nearly 40 years and the group's president, Alan Chambers, apologized to the gay community.

Soon after coming out gay seven years ago, Jerry's son, who suffered from epilepsy since the age of 12, suddenly died when he stopped breathing during an epileptic seizure.He was 26.

"When I came back to town for the funeral, one of the people from Exodus said to me, 'It was your fault.'"

"He said, 'Well, the Lord took his hand of protection off of your family because you chose the homosexual lifestyle,'" he said.

Jerry said that a part of him believed the message: "You almost feel like you deserve bad things because you couldn't fix it. You couldn't overcome it. You couldn't conquer it." 


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