September 7 1998

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Janet Folger thought she had seen enough of what she describes as hostility and in-tolerance. The new national director of the Center for Reclaiming America, a ministry founded by D. James Kennedy, had witnessed the public ridicule of notable conservatives—such as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and football star Reggie White—who dared to call homosexuality a sin.

The final straw came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry derided those who called homosexuality sinful "backward."

So Folger, 35, got on the phone and within two weeks had enlisted support from 14 other Christian organizations for a series of newspaper ads based on the theme that homosexuals can change their orientation.

"People have been intimidated into silence," Folger told CT. "The ads were designed to open discussion on the other side."

Folger coordinated the first phase of the "truth in love" campaign, which spent $206,000 for full-page ads in USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Groups participating included the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and American Family Association.

The most debated ad pictured former lesbian Anne Paulk with the headline "I'm living proof that Truth can set you free." She is married to John Paulk, a former homosexual who is an analyst for Focus on the Family and board chair of Exodus International, a Seattle-based ministry to former homosexuals.

Another ad, containing a photo of some of the 850 former homosexuals who gathered at a recent Exodus conference, declares, "We're standing for the truth that homosexuals can change."

The ads highlight reformed lives through Christ. But the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual lobby, quickly enlisted ...