Ex-gay inclusion controversy
The World Bank has been criticised after it included the group Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays on a list of 250 charitable organisations its employees are encouraged to donate to.
Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays is a family values organisation that claims homosexuality is a choice and purports to exist to protect so-called “former homosexuals” from prejudice at the hands of the GLBT community and left wing groups.
On the World Bank’s list PFOX is described as providing, “outreach, education and public awareness in support of the ex-gay community; supports families; and educates the public on sexual orientation”.
GLBT groups and employees of the World Bank are trying to have PFOX removed from the list where it appears alongside PFLAG – a group with a long track record of providing benefit in helping families reconcile with their children’s sexuality.
The bank’s own rules state that organisation must have “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington area” where the World Bank is based to be included on the list – which the Virginia based PFOX does not have.
PFOX has in the past campaigned against sex education in schools and anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. The group opposed the repeal of a 1950 California law that directed doctors to look into cures for homosexuality alongside child molesters earlier this year.
