Considering the ex-gay movement

I APPRECIATED Tanya Erzen's inclusion of the following sentence in her article on New Hope Ministry (``Partners in prayer," Ideas, June 11): ``Much more than immediate change, most ex-gay men and women describe their transformations as a process of developing a relationship with Jesus rather than one of sexual conversion."

As a follower of Jesus, I hurt for the members of the gay community who have been judged by the church, which ought always and only to be a community of reconciliation. I am unsure about my specific beliefs regarding the relationship between Christianity, homosexuality, and politics; in fact, I don't think they are important, given that Christ's message was one of unconditional grace. But it is important to remember, within the absolutism of political rhetoric by liberals and conservatives, that we can't simplify the complexity of sexual struggle and confusion -- within a gay or straight identity -- nor seek to ``fix" it without the transformative power of a relationship of grace.

HILARY DAVIS
Hamilton

I AM appalled that The Boston Globe ran ``Partners in prayer" by Tanya Erzen, which presents only the most positive face of the so-called ex-gay movement without mentioning that every reputable professional organization of psychiatrists or psychologists denounces so-called reparative therapy for gay people as harmful.

The article describes gay people moving away from their sexuality as a ``success" while being gay represents a ``relapse." This very language judges gay people and denounces homosexuality as a disease.

Clearly, you'll publish anything these days .

THOMAS FARRELL
Somerville