World Bank Pulls Back from Support of Ex-Gay Therapy

Last week, the World Bank caught the ire of scores of LGBT activists, after the Bank decided to include an ex-gay therapy organization as part of its Community Connections Campaign. The group in question, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), was listed as one of a host of charities that World Bank employees could donate money toward, with the World Bank then matching employee donations with a 50-100 percent simultaneous contribution.

Why did this trouble LGBT activists? The reasons are many. First could be that PFOX believes that homosexuality and same-sex attraction can be cured, and have endorsed controversial "ex-gay" therapy programs that have been discredited and debunked by every major medical and psychological organization. It could also be that the guru of PFOX's therapy program is an ex-gay honcho with ties to Uganda's horrific "Kill the Gays" legislation, that would criminalize homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment. Or it could be that the head of PFOX's Speakers Bureau is a convicted felon who bilked poor communities out of lumps of money in a bond scheme.

With a reputation like that, one has to wonder what the World Bank was thinking when they approved PFOX as a qualified charity under its Community Connections Campaign. Moreover, as Truth Wins Out noted, it looked as if the World Bank bent the rules to allow PFOX to obtain charity status, since their Community Action Program is supposed to honor charities that have an active presence in Washington, D.C. PFOX most certainly does not, and their headquarters are more than 120 miles away.

Well, some good news. It looks as if the World Bank is thinking twice about their decision to add PFOX to the Community Connections Campaign. Earlier today, the World Bank issued a statement saying that they will not be giving any matching funds to PFOX, or any charities that are new with the Bank this year, effective today.

According to the World Bank:

For this year's Community Connections Campaign, Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year's campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.

So what does that mean? Well, it means that World Bank employees could list PFOX down as a place where they want to give money this year, but that the World Bank won't match those contributions. It also means that next year PFOX would have to prove that it merited a place on the Community Connection Campaign's list. Here's hoping by then that the World Bank can be convinced that organizations that work toward "curing" gay people, and that have dubious ties to harsh anti-gay legislation, don't count as charities.

Is this a good move by the World Bank? Undoubtedly. But it also proves that their policy has some gaping holes in it, if an organization like PFOX was able to squeak through the charity-approval process. As one LGBT World Bank staffer told Amanda Hess earlier today, in outrage, "If a charitable association supporting female genital mutilation, a pro-life organization or an association claiming it can turn black people white had wiggled its way in the CCC, The Bank's management would have removed it immediately and issued an apology."

Today's statement from the World Bank doesn't count so much as an apology, but it should mean that PFOX's future as a legitimate charity with the Bank's Community Connections Campaign is seriously in question, as it should be.

Photo credit: acameronhuff