rdfs:comment
| - Love In Action, or LIA, is an ex-gay, Christian ministry founded in 1973 by John Evans and the Rev. Kent Philpott. It was the first group to publicize cases of homosexuals who had allegedly become heterosexual or managed to abstain from homosexual sex or homosexual feelings. After Evans's friend Jack McIntyre committed suicide out of despair about his inability to change, Evans left the project and denounced it as dangerous. He was quoted by the Wall Street Journal (April 21, 1993) as saying: "They're destroying people's lives. If you don't do their thing, you're not of God, you'll go to hell. They're living in a fantasy world."
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abstract
| - Love In Action, or LIA, is an ex-gay, Christian ministry founded in 1973 by John Evans and the Rev. Kent Philpott. It was the first group to publicize cases of homosexuals who had allegedly become heterosexual or managed to abstain from homosexual sex or homosexual feelings. After Evans's friend Jack McIntyre committed suicide out of despair about his inability to change, Evans left the project and denounced it as dangerous. He was quoted by the Wall Street Journal (April 21, 1993) as saying: "They're destroying people's lives. If you don't do their thing, you're not of God, you'll go to hell. They're living in a fantasy world." Shortly after founding the group, Philpott wrote The Third Sex?, which claimed that his patients had successfully changed their sexual orientation through prayer. Some of his patients challenged these assertions; however, Philpott stated it was God's will that the book be written. Four members of the group, including Evans, filed suit for misrepresentation. Shortly after, Philpott had the book removed from the market. In July 2005, Evans wrote a letter to current LIA director John Smid regarding the controversial activities of LIA. Beginning in late 2005, the Tennessee-based Love in Action facility was the focus of a legal dispute which was settled with a compromise.
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