This article is about a non-profit organization. For the aviation company, see Evergreen International Aviation.

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Evergreen International, Inc. was a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization[2] located in Salt Lake City, Utah[3] whose stated mission was to assist "people who want to diminish same-sex attractions and overcome homosexual behavior".[4] These pseudoscientific views of sexual orientation and sexual orientation change efforts are strongly opposed in peer-reviewed literature in the 21st century.[5][6][7] Evergreen was endorsed by, but independent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[8]: 10  Founded in 1989 by eleven Mormon men, Evergreen closed in 2014 after being absorbed by North Star.[8]: 94–98 [9]

Conferences

Chapel at LDS Church headquarters where many Evergreen Conferences were held until 2012.[8]: 94, 98 

Many top LDS church leaders spoke at Evergreen conferences including the following:[8]: 95–96 

  • 2007 – Church seventy Douglas Callister spoke at an Evergreen conference and urged listeners to battle their challenge of "same-gender inclinations" and thoughts through prayer, fasting, and taking the sacrament.[10]
  • 2009 – Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the First Quorum of the Seventy gave an address at the 19th annual Evergreen conference. Hafen said, "If you are faithful, on resurrection morning—and maybe even before then—you will rise with normal attractions for the opposite sex. Some of you may wonder if that doctrine is too good to be true. But Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said it MUST be true, because 'there is no fullness of joy in the next life without a family unit, including a husband and wife, and posterity.' And 'men (and women) are that they might have joy.'"[11][8]: 96 
  • 2010 – Keith B. McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric addressed the 20th annual conference. McMullin counseled that "If someone seeking your help says to you, 'I am homosexual' or 'I am lesbian' or 'I am gay,' correct this miscasting. Heavenly Father does not speak of His children this way, and neither should we. It is simply not true. To speak this way sows seeds of doubt and deceit about who we are. It belittles, depreciates, and disparages the individual."[12] He further teaches that the "such limitations" as same-gender attraction won't exist after death, though "in and of itself it is neither evil nor sinful".[12]

Overview

As many as 40% of Evergreen members were in heterosexual marriages.[8]: 94 [13] American psychologist Warren Throckmorton reviewed Understanding the meaning of change for married Latter-Day Saint men with histories of homosexual activity by J. W. Robinson. Robinson interviewed seven heterosexually married men who had been through Evergreen and previously identified as gay. They believed that they had a spiritual transformation that changed their orientation. They also stated that they were no longer troubled by feeling different or rejected by heterosexual men, emotional attraction to men, sexual attraction to men, feeling bad about same-sex desires, social isolation, or compulsive sexual thoughts and behaviors. Robinson found that their change came from a new understanding that prior same-sex attractions did not require them to be gay.[14]

Association with NARTH

Evergreen had ties to a larger national organization that was an influential promoter of reparative therapy.[8]: 97 [15] The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) was founded in 1992, and is an organization that (since 2014) functions under the name Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI).[16][17] It offers conversion therapy and other regimens that the organization says can change the sexual orientation of people attracted to the same sex.[18]

The Evergreen website referenced the methods of NARTH founder Joseph Nicolosi as "beneficial".[19] Nicolosi worked with A. Dean Byrd (an Evergreen Board member, Director of Clinical Training for LDS Social Services, and Brigham Young University professor) to author several papers on reparative therapy.[8]: 97 [20] Byrd was the foremost proponent of sexual orientation change efforts among LDS Church members, and served as president of NARTH.[8]: 97  He published an article[21] in the LDS church's September 1999 Ensign.[22] Additionally, David C. Pruden served as director of Evergreen,[8]: 98  and as vice-president and executive director for NARTH.[23][24] Likewise, Director of Family Services[25] Jerry Harris served in NARTH leadership.[26]

Closure and transition to North Star

See also: North Star (organization)

In January 2014, Evergreen International announced that it had closed and had merged some of its operations with North Star, a support group for LDS church members attracted to the same sex and/or experiencing gender dysphoria. North Star takes no position on the question of whether sexual orientation change is possible.[3][9][27]

See also

References

  1. ^ Fletcher Stack, Peggy (January 14, 2014). "Longtime support group for gay Mormons shuts down: Evergreen International, which used to push reparative therapy, is now part of North Star". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  2. ^ Matheson, David (1993). "The Transition from Homosexuality: The Role of Evergreen International". Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy. 19 (1). Association of Latter-day Saint Counselors and Psychotherapists – via Brigham Young University.
  3. ^ a b Smardon, Andrea (January 4, 2014). "Group Aimed at Helping Mormons Overcome Homosexual Behavior Shuts Down". KUER-FM.
  4. ^ Galliher, Renee; Dehlin, John P. "Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Through Psychotherapy for LGBQ Individuals Affiliated With the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy. Routledge – via Academia.edu.
  5. ^ Haldeman, Douglas C. (2022). "Introduction: A History of Conversion Therapy, From Accepted Practice to Condemnation". The Case Against Conversion 'Therapy': Evidence, Ethics, and Alternatives. American Psychological Association. pp. 3–16. doi:10.1037/0000266-001. ISBN 978-1-4338-3711-1. S2CID 243777493.
  6. ^ Drescher, Jack; et al. (2016). "The Growing Regulation of Conversion Therapy". Journal of Medical Regulation. 102 (2). Federation of State Medical Boards: 7–12. doi:10.30770/2572-1852-102.2.7. PMC 5040471. PMID 27754500.
  7. ^ Higbee, Madison; Wright, Eric R.; Roemerman, Ryan M. (2022). "Conversion Therapy in the Southern United States: Prevalence and Experiences of the Survivors". Journal of Homosexuality. 69 (4). Routledge: 612–631. doi:10.1080/00918369.2020.1840213. PMID 33206024. S2CID 227039714.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Prince, Gregory A. (2019). Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. ISBN 9781607816638.
  9. ^ a b Ring, Trudy (January 3, 2014). "Mormon 'Ex-Gay' Group Shuts Down, Absorbed by Other Organization". The Advocate.
  10. ^ Hart, John L. (October 1, 2007). "'Battle is within': Live standards, receive blessings". Church News. Deseret News. LDS Church.
  11. ^ "Elder Bruce C. Hafen Speaks on Same-Sex Attraction" (Press release). LDS Church. September 19, 2009. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Remarks by Bishop Keith B. McMullin to Evergreen International". LDS Church. Mormon Newsroom. September 20, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  13. ^ Winters, Rosemary (September 16, 2009). "Words of love: 'I don't care that you're gay'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  14. ^ Throckmorton, Warren (June 2002). "Initial empirical and clinical findings concerning the change process for ex-gays". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 33 (3): 242–248. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.33.3.242. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
  15. ^ "QUACKS: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality". Southern Poverty Law Center. May 25, 2016.
  16. ^ "The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity". Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Sutton, Philip M. (November 2015). "Professional care for unwanted same-sex attraction: What does the research say?". The Linacre Quarterly. 82 (4): 351–363. doi:10.1179/0024363915Z.000000000147. PMC 4771007. PMID 26997676.
  18. ^ "NARTH Becomes Main Source for Anti-Gay 'Junk Science'". Southern Poverty Law Center. March 1, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2025.
  19. ^ Park, Jason. "Therapy". Evergreen International. Archived from the original on April 15, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  20. ^ Nicolosi, Joseph; Byrd, A. Dean; Potts, Richard W. (June 2000). "Retrospective self-reports of changes in homosexual orientation: A consumer survey of conversion therapy clients". Psychological Reports. 86 (3 Pt 2): 1071–1088. doi:10.2466/pr0.2000.86.3c.1071. PMID 10932560. S2CID 36702477.
  21. ^ Byrd, A. Dean. "When a Loved One Struggles with Same-Sex Attraction". Ensign. LDS Church. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  22. ^ "Controversial Leader of 'Ex-Gay' Therapy Group Steps Down as Criticism Mounts". Charlottesville, Virginia: NBC News WVIR-TV. December 7, 2006. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  23. ^ "Therapists defend gay conversion counseling: 'You can't say gay once, gay always'". NBC News. December 5, 2012.
  24. ^ "Just What Is 'Reparative' Therapy For Gay People?". KUT. NPR. June 20, 2014.
  25. ^ Harris, Jerry. "Becoming an Influential Father". Ensign. LDS Church.
  26. ^ "Narth Officers". NARTH.com. NARTH. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  27. ^ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (January 2, 2014). "Longtime support group for gay Mormons shuts down". The Salt Lake Tribune.
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_International
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