Gays are now being faced with a new type of resistance by the more fundamentalist sects in America. This resistance disguised as a ministry is riddled with the promises of understanding and healing for those “in the bondage of homosexuality.”
The August (1977) issue of Christian Life kicked off an extensive series of articles taking the hyper-conservative stance on the issue of homosexuality. The article dealt with Christians who discover their child is gay and how they should cope with the situation. The author, though not listed, is Barbara Johnson, the founder of the Spatula Club, “a branch of the growing EXIT team – a group of Christian ex-gays who have developed a ministry to the gay community...” (1) According to Mrs. Johnson, the Spatula Club was so named “because parents have to peel themselves off the emotional ceiling when they first learn of their child's homosexuality...” (2)
Mrs. Johnson distributes literature to all who write her. One of the letters of advice she received and redistributes is from C. S. Lovett of Personal Christianity and deals with how she should handle the fact that her son David is gay. “I think we're on the right track in placing David in Satan's hand so that he can land in the pigpen as quickly as possible.” (3) Johnson says that learning of a child's gayness “is no simple problem...treat it as a real DEATH or GRIEF (emphasis hers¹) situation...it is worse than death to me....” (4)
