Former “Pray Away the Gay” Leader Arrested in Undercover Sting

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]I saw a guy's name in the news who I had not thought about for like at least a decade. And then to watch this guy re-emerge, um, and I'll tell you about this guy. It's not good. That's a mugshot, as you could tell, but it's it's a oh, oh, that guy. What's going on with him?

[00:00:21]So, that is Alan uh, Chambers.

[00:00:25]And the reason people may be familiar with Alan Chambers is because this guy used to run an organization called Exodus International.

[00:00:36]And for those of you who have been involved in this movement or cared about these issues like 10 years ago, maybe you remember Exodus. But basically, Exodus International was a Christian ministry that was the hub for the idea that you could pray away the gay.

[00:00:57]They really thought you could, if you had homosexual inclinations, but you pray hard enough, you could become straight. And Alan Chambers was the leader of that group for many, many years.

[00:01:10]Um, clearly, good judgment not his strong suit. But the reason Alan Chambers was famous was because in 2012, something very unusual happened. And this is an article from the New York Times from 2012.

[00:01:27]Rift forms in movement as belief in gay cure is renounced, and there's Alan right there.

[00:01:35]The reason Alan was in the news in 2012 is because, even though he was president of Exodus International, even though he was president of the ex-gay group, and he was very much like the Hair Club for Men. I'm not just the president, I'm a client. He was a guy who said, "Yeah, I I people would tell me I'm gay, but I got over it, and I got married and I have two kids now who I adopted. That was always his story.

[00:02:05]But in 2012, he admitted, "You guys, I don't think you can cure homosexuality.

[00:02:13]I don't think conversion therapy works."

[00:02:16]He also said that as a Christian, he said, he personally believed that even if you were gay and not ashamed of it and you did not repent of being gay, even if you were proudly gay, you could still go to heaven.

[00:02:31]Which is not something a lot of conservative Christians believe.

[00:02:36]So, he went public with that.

[00:02:38]And he's like, "I know I'm the leader of this group, but I don't believe any of the things that we are now that we are promoting."

[00:02:48]And that's kind of amazing. That's why the New York Times wrote that article about him. I just want to like look at the headline here. "For more than three decades" or the lead. "For more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, um but the ex-gay movement has been convulsed as the leader of Exodus in a series of public statements and a speech to the group's annual meeting last week renounced some of the movement's core beliefs.

[00:03:17]So, very interesting story in 2012. By 2013, Exodus International shut down entirely. It They closed the shop.

[00:03:29]Amazing. And And in case you're wondering, like it's one thing for Alan Chambers to say, "I don't believe this stuff anymore."

[00:03:38]Um quick tangent. Do you remember Joshua Harris, the guy who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye? For a lot of Christians who grew up in purity culture, that was like your other Bible. That was the one that said, um you date to get married.

[00:03:52]You don't do anything sexual until your wedding day. And a lot of Christians would tell you they were traumatized and harmed by that book cuz they learned nothing about sex. And when they got married, and they always married young cuz they were horny, when they got married they didn't know what to do in the bedroom. They didn't have any sexual compatibility. All these problems and it was cuz of that stupid book by Joshua Harris. Now, in recent years, Joshua Harris has finally come to terms with the fact that maybe when I wrote that book, when he was like 12 or something, he's like, maybe I didn't know everything. And I'm sorry. And he has taken steps to actually apologize and make amends. And your mileage may vary as to whether you accept any of his apologies. But in Alan Chambers' case, this is really interesting because at the time he [snorts] wrote in 2013 a very long article, I am sorry.

[00:04:51]And I'm not going to read all of this.

[00:04:52]It is very long. But I do want to show you what he said at the time because he knew that even though he was renouncing all those ex-gay beliefs, he was responsible for a lot of harm.

[00:05:04]And this is what he said at the time.

[00:05:08]Then there is the trauma I have caused.

[00:05:11]There were several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions.

[00:05:18]Never in a million years would I intentionally hurt another person. And yet, here I sit having hurt so many by failing to acknowledge the pain some affiliated with Exodus International caused.

[00:05:30]My good intentions matter very little and fail to diminish the pain and hurt others have experienced on my watch.

[00:05:39]Please know that I'm deeply sorry. I'm sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I'm sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I did not stand up to people publicly on my side who called you names like sodomite or worse.

[00:06:07]I mean, my goodness.

[00:06:10]There's a couple other bits here. Um Now, I I can't read all of this. There's just a lot.

[00:06:18]But that's a that's not a bad apology.

[00:06:20]That guy is getting to the heart of why people were so mad. I give him credit for that. Now, here's the question.

[00:06:27]That was pretty much the last time I heard Alan Chambers' name.

[00:06:32]And I think this is a maybe a rhetorical question, but if you have caused this much harm because of something you believed, and now you're renouncing those beliefs, how much of an obligation do you have beyond that apology letter? How much of an obligation do you have to fix the problem you helped cause?

[00:06:55]Because in the years since, it didn't really feel like Alan Chambers was doing anything to me, I should say.

[00:07:06]Like he wrote that apology letter, which was good, but then what? Is he just going to disappear?

[00:07:12]You think that's going to make up for all the harm? I want to see someone like that lobbying against Christian efforts to demonize trans people today.

[00:07:23]I want him if he if he's into writing books, I want him to write a book explaining it because that's another opportunity to be interviewed and talk about this stuff. Like I want him actively using whatever voice he has to make sure his former allies can never have power again. And as far as I know, he did not do that.

[00:07:46]Um and I don't know if people think he should have done that or if it's like he apologized, he renounced it, that Exodus International shut down, let him go quietly into the distance and let's never hear from him again. Maybe there's an argument to be made for that. I don't know.

[00:08:04]Um I don't know that you deserve forgiveness after something like that unless you are actively working uh to fix it. Like there are people who voted for Trump who are very much like campaigning for progressive Democrats today. And you know what? Good for you.

[00:08:22]That I That I understand. I could forgive that. But I had not heard Chambers' name in over a decade. In case you're wondering, he's still married to a woman.

[00:08:35]All right, if you're asking me how that works, I don't know.

[00:08:38]But you can be married to somebody even if your sexual attraction lies somewhere else. I don't know.

[00:08:43]Um anyway, the first thing I showed you when we started all this was a mug shot. So you know this isn't going to be a good ending. Why does he have a mug shot? Well, um according to the Orange County, Florida um law enforcement officials, this is what they posted on social media. Arrested, solicitation of a minor, transmission of harmful material to minors.

[00:09:13]And uh a local news outlet got a hold of the actual affidavit and it's it's pretty disturbing. I Let me see if I can pull this up so you could see it.

[00:09:28]What apparently happened is that a detective posed as a 14-year-old boy living in Orlando.

[00:09:35]According to the affidavit, the user repeat user being Alan Chambers repeatedly discussed meeting and engaging in sexual activity with the person he believed was a teenager.

[00:09:47]Investigators said the user also repeatedly expressed concern about the age difference and the possibility of getting in trouble.

[00:09:54]And yet they planned to meet up.

[00:09:57]When asked whether he communicated with any children, investigators said Chambers told them he communicated with one person he identified as a code name who was 14 years old and whom he met on Snapchat.

[00:10:11]So, yikes.

[00:10:13]Alan Chambers uh appears to have confessed to doing what he is charged with. He has not been found guilty, keep that in mind, but um what I learned when I was looking into this stuff, I said he kind of disappeared and I wanted him to do more.

[00:10:28]Just so you know, in 2016, Alan Chambers did deliver a couple sermons at Washington National Cathedral. He marched in some pride parades.

[00:10:38]But, he did disappear and just try to go work in a totally different world. And I found this online.

[00:10:46]This is a profile of Alan Chambers that just came out last year, I believe.

[00:10:53]Um he now works for a fashion boutique of sorts. And they ran this profile about him, the best dressed booster.

[00:11:04]He's the vice president of operations for some clothing company. And I will say they have this whole profile about why he's into fashion and and I'll say he looks good there.

[00:11:15]The one thing that I was curious about when I was reading this is do they even mention what he used to do for a living?

[00:11:21]And the answer is yes, it's at like the very end of this article.

[00:11:26]Um I know it's hard to see that the writing is a little uh the the graphics are not great, but Chambers dabbled in local politics as a campaign manager and was appointed president of Exodus International. Dot dot dot. During his tenure, he had a very public crisis of faith and politics. In 2013, he shuttered Exodus.

[00:11:46]Says Chambers, who has two adopted children with his wife Leslie, "I love Jesus, have a gay orientation, have been very happily married for over 25 years, and believe that every story has worth and dignity." His subsequent faith journey, he says, "has changed me, helped me become a better father, a better husband, and a better leader."

[00:12:09]And now he got arrested for trying to solicit a child. Um I don't know.

[00:12:17]One I just want to point out over 10 years ago when he was in the news, one of the things is you don't represent all LGBTQ people. You say they can change their sexual orientation. No, they can't. You say they can do uh conversion therapy. No, that doesn't work. You, Alan, do not represent gay people. So, how dare you pretend you understand what gay people are going through?

[00:12:42]He sure as hell doesn't represent gay people today, but here's what I'm looking for. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm really worried that this is what's going to happen. That conservatives are going to use this story of his arrest as as proof that gay people are groomers.

[00:13:03]Like, right? Chambers was always a useful tool for conservatives in the past, and I wonder if they're going to try to make him a useful tool today as as evidence for why LGBTQ people should have fewer rights than they already do.

[00:13:21]I am worried about that. And so, it's disturbing to me that this is how he's resurfacing. Like, now he's not the guy who needs to make peace with the damage he caused. Now, he is a guy who is accused of trying to exploit a child.

[00:13:38]There is no redemption in this story arc.

[00:13:42]He spent years fueling moral panics about LGBTQ people, and now he has done something so much worse than even the lies he used to spread.

[00:13:54]But, if you want to accuse this guy of being like a predator, keep in mind, and this is what I would respond if the right goes after him, there are predators in churches and politics, as we unfortunately know all too well.

[00:14:08]There's nothing that the right can say about this guy when they have a habit of turning a blind eye to the Epstein files and their own mega churches and their Southern Baptist churches. Like, we should be talking about the culture of repression and secrecy and fear that still exists among many people with same-sex attraction. That culture creates an environment where people feel like they got to resort to a lot of really poor criminal decisions. I'm not making an excuse for the guy. What he did is horrendous.

[00:14:37]But, I feel like this guy created a bad environment for LGBTQ people, and I don't know what's happening in his private life these days that made him think this was a good idea.

[00:14:48]Um But, I just wanted to update you on that guy. Um I think I'm done with that story. Any last questions here before we wrap up?

[00:14:58]I do give him credit for apologizing.

[00:15:00]Yeah, back in 2013.

[00:15:02]It was I remember it was an interesting time to watch that guy give a very sincere apology where the discussion was, is that enough?

[00:15:12]And And again, I don't know. I I can't speak for I'm not gay, so I can't speak for that community if they accept that sort of apology or not because I want to see a guy who did that much harm spend the rest of his life fixing it. And if you disappear into a world of fashion where you are not actively making amends for what you did um I don't know I I don't know how that re-colors that apology. How much did you really mean it?

[00:15:44]Commit your life to reparations then when you can do no more go away. That's an interesting way of putting it.

[00:15:52]And there's always more to do, right? So this guy was public for many years. He could be public and fight against this stuff. I mean not now, but he sold misery and mental illness and victims included children and still do apparently.

[00:16:11]Yeah, so he could make money.

[00:16:13]Yeah, yeah, this guy got paid to make the lives of LGBTQ people worse.

[00:16:20]Um and now it appears he does that in his free time harming other people.

[00:16:27]Amusingly that particular handkerchief fold is called the drunk uncle.

[00:16:32]What? Wait, I'm going back to this.

[00:16:36]Really? You mean this right here?

[00:16:39]I did not know that. I didn't know it had a name.

[00:16:43]But interesting. Thank you. As you could tell I know nothing about fashion.