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March 23, 2006

Exodus Intl. tries to silence parody of its "ex-gay" campaign

Exodus Intl. tries to silence parody of its

The American Civil Liberties Union is defending a heterosexual blogger who received a cease-and-desist letter from Exodus International after he parodied the group's “ex-gay reparative therapy” billboards on his Web site.

The Exodus billboards, which Santa Rosa, Calif., blogger Justin Watt viewed online, read, “Gay? Unhappy? www.exodus.to.” Watt responded by posting “Straight? Unhappy? www.gay.com” on his site, Justinsomnia.org. Though denounced by major medical groups like the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, Exodus's reparative therapy attempts to turn gay people straight.

“The moment I saw the billboards last September, I was deeply offended. The inspiration for the parody I created came to me instantly. How would straight people feel if their very being, their sense of self, was being so overtly disparaged?” asked Watt. “[Exodus's] response was to try to intimidate me into taking the image down. It's troubling that an organization as big as Exodus would go to such great lengths to silence its critics.”

Earlier this month Watt received a letter from antigay legal group Liberty Counsel—working on behalf of Exodus—ordering Watt to take down the parody, saying it violated Exodus's intellectual property rights and threatening legal action if he didn't heed its orders. The ACLU responded by sending a letter to Liberty Counsel on Wednesday telling it to drop its attempts to censor Watt, citing the Constitution's First Amendment protection of parodies.

“Parodies like Justin's are protected by the First Amendment as a form of political commentary,” said Ann Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU. "Just as a group like Exodus has a constitutionally protected right to say whatever it wants to about gay people, even when that view has been roundly condemned by every major psychological and medical organization, Justin has a right to use parody to voice his opposition.” (The Advocate)

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