Webinar for counsellors, therapists, chaplains, youth workers, telephone counsellors, pastors and LGBTI service providers CONVERSION THERAPY AND LGBTI PEOPLE OF FAITH Presented by the Australian College of Relationship Counsellors (ACRC) and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) The mental health challenges of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people have been well [...]
How would you describe the work of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI) in a sentence? If you had things like education, information, dispelling myths about sexual orientation and gender identity, overcoming ignorance or counteracting false religious beliefs about LGBTI people and our community you’d be right. (If you are not sure of our mission [...]
There was a time when the terms 'ex-gay' or 'former homosexual' were non-existent. In the 1950s and 1960s mental health professionals tried unsuccessfully to find a cause and cure for homosexuality. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). At [...]
Every year, at our annual general meeting, we review our achievements and think about our future. Since it was founded, Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI) has consistently grown in it's influence. Each year has it's special wins. This last financial year is no exception. When I began to put this report together, even I [...]
Award winning presenter Pat Brittenden's online program, the Department of Conversation has a unique philosophy. We chat until we are finished...we are not hampered by adverts or sponsors...we want interesting people telling stories that you haven’t heard before...and from people you know but maybe haven’t seen in this kind of light before. Don’t think ‘interview’ [...]
I’ve seen Boy Erased three times now. Actually, once is enough. It is not the kind of movie you want to see over and over again like Beaches, Cabaret, Star Wars, or whatever your all-time favourite movie might be. Boy Erased is a dramatization of Garrard Conley's 2016 memoir of the same title, written for [...]
Gay conversion therapy - does it work? Can you be a Christian and gay? Can a person change from gay to straight? ABC's Hungry Beast looks at gay conversion therapies. Anthony Venn-Brown, former high profile preacher in Australia's mega-churches such as Hillsong and Anthony Menchetti talk about their ex-gay experience. Haydn Sennitt pastoral worker for [...]
Hi Anthony I’ve just finished reading A Life of Unlearning. I actually really enjoyed it in spite of the fact that it disturbed me greatly! You write so well. I would have liked to hear you preach. What a legacy you created in Youth Alive and in your ministry. That fruit remains in spite of [...]
For some time now we have known about the higher risk of LGBT suicide which includes ideation and attempts (See stats here) but thoughts of and attempts to suicide are much higher for LGBT people from faith backgrounds. Research is now demonstrating something I have been pointing out for many years. That is, that LGBTI [...]