Weekend Conference in Washington, D.C., Helps Parents Support Loved Ones Struggling with Sexual Identity Issues
RICHMOND, Va.--When sons or daughters reveal they are homosexual or struggling with same-sex attractions or gender identity issues, it can be a shock to parents. But there are resources available that can make a world of difference. Regina Griggs knows this well, as she was once one of those parents.

Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX, www.pfox.org), the nation’s leading advocacy organization that offers love and support to families and friends of individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions and gender confusion, will be one of the many expert speakers at this weekend’s Safe Exit Summit in Washington—an event designed to help navigate some of these complicated challenges.

The third annual conference, following September’s Ex-Gay Awareness Month, will aim to encourage, educate and edify parents, church leaders, family members and friends, as well as those struggling with gender confusion and unwanted same-sex attraction.

“When our children, whether in adolescence or adulthood, struggle with homosexuality or other sexual or gender issues, it can be alarming to parents at first,” Griggs said. “They don’t know where to turn, if their relationships with their kids will ever be the same, or what the future holds. But rather than hide or retreat, parents must know that there is help available, and that change is possible. At the Safe Exit Summit, our passionate speakers are proof, and as they share their stories, parents will see they are not on this journey alone and that they will be stronger on the other side with the support and prayers of people just like them.”

Shick Will be a Featured Speaker at the Safe Exit Summit, Hosted by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays on
October 2-3

RICHMOND, Va.--The TV lineup is certainly filled with programming that both normalizes and glorifies the transgender lifestyle. But for Denise Shick, who grew up with a transgender father, life was anything but entertainment. It was more of a nightmare.

As a 9-year-old, Shick was hiding a secret—her father had told her that he wanted to become a woman. That revelation affected Denise for the rest of her life, and she is one of many with firsthand experience about how transgenderism hurts families.

Shick will be one of the featured speakers at the third annual Safe Exit Summit on Oct. 2-3 in Washington, D.C., co-hosted by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX, www.pfox.org), the nation’s leading advocacy organization that offers love and support to families and friends of individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions and gender confusion.

“Denise’s story is an amazing testament to how redeeming and saving grace can truly heal and restore,” said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs. “We are looking forward to welcoming all of our passionate speakers to the Safe Exit Summit, where they will help other families with similar backgrounds and struggles, as well as motivate churches to become safe exits for those who have left the homosexual lifestyle or are envisioning a new and different life for themselves.”

Friday, Oct. 2 will feature a legislator education day on Capitol Hill for those who support ex-gays and individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction, as well as a time of praise and the viewing of the documentary “Such Were Some of You,” produced by Safe Exit Summitspeaker Dr. David Kyle Foster. Then on Saturday, Oct. 3, numerous expert speakers will address several issues to encourage, educate and edify church leaders, family members and friends, as well as those struggling with gender confusion and unwanted same-sex attraction.

Today, Shick is an author and the founder of the ministry, Help4Families.org, which gives support to those affected by a loved one’s gender confusion. Denise’s story is also featured on the PFOX web site. But before she found healing and restoration, Shick discovered that her father’s struggles would impact her directly.

Due to the lack of love she received from her father, Shick chased relationships as a way to fill that gap. By the seventh grade, Denise had been in relationships with 13 boyfriends.

“I was so empty inside and seeking the love and the attention of a father, and I couldn’t find that,” she said. “Right about that time, I thought, ‘Is life worth going on for? Is there possibly a better life if my life were to end, and I could end this pain?’”

Shick eventually met a trustworthy and loving man who became her husband; they married when she was 18. By the time Shick was 27, her father had left the family to live fully as a woman. Thirteen years went by before Shick’s father entered her life again, now diagnosed with terminal cancer. Before his death, she discovered the root of some of her father’s struggles. He was rejected by his father, he had been sexually abused, and his mother was an alcoholic. Townspeople called him “the little lost boy.”

“Although my father looked like a woman and lived as a woman,” Shick continued, “on his death bed, he had told my mother, ‘I thought this would give me the satisfaction that I sought after, but it didn’t.’ And that’s why it’s so important to treat the person for what’s going on in the heart. It’s an issue of the heart. We so often can get lost in everything happening on the outside when God wants us to focus on the person and what’s going on inside.”

RICHMOND, Va.--The book “Outlasting the Gay Revolution” by Dr. Michael Brown is creating quite a buzz in both the media and in conservative and church circles. Now, he will share more about his new work and his views on how Christians must not lose hope when faced with an ever-vocal homosexual activist community at the Safe Exit Summitnext month.

Brown, one of the most respected conservative voices in America, will serve as the keynote speaker for the third annual Safe Exit Summit, a two-day conference on Oct. 2-3 in Washington, D.C., co-hosted by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX, www.pfox.org), the nation’s leading advocacy organization that offers love and support to families and friends of individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions and gender confusion.

“We are thrilled and honored to welcome Dr. Michael Brown as the keynote speaker and know that he will challenge churches to become safe exits for those who are struggling,” said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs. “The third annual Safe Exit Summit is a wonderful opportunity for families and friends of homosexual and transgendered loved ones to come together for support, resources, education and awareness about the ex-gay community.” 

Brown recently talked with World Magazine about why he decided to pen “Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Eight Principles for Long-term Cultural Change.”

“I felt that believers around the country needed a word of courage, needed a word of hope, needed a word of encouragement,” Brown told World Magazine. “We’re being told, ‘You lost the culture wars. You lost the battle about redefining marriage and homosexuality and transgender issues. You lost the battle. You’ve made a mistake even taking the stand, just like you made a mistake with slavery and segregation, the oppression of women. You’re misusing the Bible again. Throw in the towel, capitulate and just move on. Do the church work, but recognize you’ve lost the battle, especially the Supreme Court decision and all these other things.’ I [wanted] to write the book and encourage believers and say, ‘This is not the end of any battle.’”

The Safe Exit Summit will feature a legislator education day on Capitol Hill for those who are in support of ex-gays and individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction. Friday Oct. 2 will also feature a time of praise as well as a viewing of the video “Such Were Some of You,” produced by Safe Exit Summit speaker Dr. David Kyle Foster and followed by a Q&A with Foster and the Rev. Stephen Black. Then on Saturday, Oct. 3, numerous expert speakers will address several issues to encourage, educate and edify church leaders, family members and friends, as well as those struggling with sexual identity issues.

Those traveling to the Washington, D.C., area for the Safe Exit Summit will be connected with the host hotel upon registration. The hotel—close to the conference site—is offering attendees a discounted rate, a free breakfast and other amenities. Registration is still open, and co-hosting with PFOX is Voice of the Voiceless and Equality And Justice For All.

Brown is widely considered to be the world’s foremost Messianic Jewish apologist. Since coming to faith in 1971 as a 16-year-old, heroin-shooting Jewish rock drummer, he has devoted his life to fostering awakening in the Church, sparking moral and cultural revolution in society, raising up gospel laborers for the nations and reaching out to his own Jewish people.

He is the host of the nationally syndicated “Line of Fire” radio broadcast, the president of FIRE School of Ministry, and a professor of Bible and Hebrew Studies at several leading seminaries. Brown has preached in more than 25 nations and is the author of 25 books and numerous scholarly and popular articles. He has debated Jewish rabbis, agnostic professors and gay activists on radio, TV and college campuses. Read more at askdrbrown.org or view his columns for The Christian Post.


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