Controversy over “not born gay” billboard

A HIGHWAY billboard that aims to inform drivers that gay men were not born that way has sparked controversy in the US.

The advertisement was recently erected on a major interstate highway in Richmond, Virginia and shows two men, with the caption: “Identical twins: One gay. One not. We believe twins research studies show nobody is born gay.”

The not-for-profit organisation behind the billboard, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), is now receiving backlash through social network sites; particularly Twitter.

There is a billboard on 95 that literally says “no one is born gay” …I am sorry but who let this happen?????

— Ashleigh Ingram (@babyyash_) December 10, 2014

Lovely, my town has a “nobody is born gay, you can cure it” billboard… if only you could cure the stoopid, we’d be good.

— Mark (@NE14NaCl_aq) December 10, 2014

Really? In this day and age? So incredibly backwards, mentally and logically underdeveloped, and plain pathetic. http://t.co/sRNddJCCJD — Tina Guo (@Tinaguo) December 10, 2014

PFOX’s website states: “We believe that every person seeking positive life change needs and deserves the love and support of family, friends, the community, and the church.

“That’s why we offer a place for help, a place for truth, and a place for the ex-gay to participate in the conversation about same-sex attraction.”

In response to the billboard, Patrick Hope, the politician who represents the district in the Virginia House of Delegates, released information about a bill he planned to bring before the 2015 General Assembly to combat ex-gay therapy on minors.

“There’s is no on/off switch for sexual orientation, and putting this bill in is necessary to send that message,” Hope said.

He added that the so-called conversion therapy is based on the false assumption being gay is a mental disorder.