Events in Charlotte to Address "Reparative Therapy"

On Valentine's Day, join LGBT and straight citizens at Trade & Tryon Streets in Uptown Charlotte from 7-8:30pm to show your support for LGBT equality and the rights of all people to love and be loved without regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Charlotte and One Voice Chorus will perform as community members pass out glowsticks symbolic of the light and love that lives in each and every person. After the Uptown Charlotte event, join CRANE and the Lesbian & Gay Community Center (820 Hamilton Street, Suite B-11) for a Valentine's Evening social from 8-11pm. Listen or dance to music, watch short films to be featured at the upcoming Charlotte Gay Film Fest or just hang out before heading to the clubs.

On Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7pm, join CRANE for "Pray Away the Gay," a presentation and Q&A with activist and author Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte (820 Hamilton Street, Suite B-11).  This presentation is in preparation for Charlotte's LGBT community prepares for the "ex-gay" Love Won Out conference by Exodus International on Feb. 21. Besen will present an entertaining and engaging, but serious, look into the harm caused by so-called "ex-gay" and "reparative" therapies. Besen, author of "Anything But Straight," has spent years researching the effects of ex-gay ministries like Exodus International. He became notorious for his outing of Exodus spokesperson John Paulk, who Besen photographed leaving a gay bar in Washington, D.C.

On Saturday, February 21, from 11am-2pm, CRANE will present a non-violent, silent protest of the Focus on the Family and Exodus International conference, Love Won Out, in front of Central Church of God, 5301 Sardis Road in Charlotte.

More detailed information, including times, locations, directions and more can be found at www.rainbowaction.org/events/.