The Independence Law Center (Quietly) Fought in Support of Conversion Therapy
And that says EVERYTHING; A Rapid Response Story.
"[Jeremy Samek and Randall Wenger] were eager to help me...resolve my case diplomatically and quietly. It received absolutely no media attention."
The Pennsylvania Family Council’s legal arm, the Independence Law Center (ILC), is poised to reappear before the Penn Manor School District’s board tomorrow — and some Lampeter-Strasburg residents tell me that they wonder if they’re next.
There are a good number of as-yet unreported stories around PA Family and its “Pro Family-Team.”
Here, now, is a story about how the Independence Law Center (quietly) defended conversion therapy, a scoop that I was the first to break in November of 2023 on my Twitter account. To my knowledge, no outlet has shared this particular story.
Important Background:
The connections between state level think tanks, including the PA Family Council, and the national org the Family Research Council are not new. Expert Fred Clarkson first reported on their relationship in 1999.
So-called "Conversion therapy” can amount to torture and should be banned says United Nations expert.
Read The Trevor Project’s Report: Neither Texas nor Florida *lead the way* in prevalence of conversion therapy; Pennsylvania does.
The Source Material
The text and images shared below are from an academic paper by Andrew Rodriguez published in the Journal of Human Sexuality, volume 9, 2018. You can read the paper in its entirety here. From the Journal of Human Sexuality’s about page:
In keeping with the [Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity] ATCSI’s mission, the journal particularly seeks articles relevant to the understanding and care of persons who experience unwanted same-sex erotic attractions or conflict between their biological sex and perceived gender identity and the clinicians who provide this care. Reasoned perspectives and theoretical approaches that may be unwelcome for political and ideological reasons within mainstream psychology are encouraged.
From Andrew Rodriguez, the author:
“This first person narrative chronicles my story as a graduate student in a clinical psychology program in the mid-Atlantic United States, who faced discrimination from the school for my support and involvement in therapeutic help for individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction. I had provided lay counseling to same-sex attracted men for several years prior to beginning my graduate school training.”
Discrimination? C’mon now.
Humans once believed that the earth was flat. Thanks to research and science, we now know that this is not true.
Humans once believed that sexual orientation and gender identity could be changed. Thanks to research and science, we now know that this is not true.
As I wrote in my 2023 thread, the self-victimhood in this paper is stunning - and classic. Imagine hearing, “We’re being discriminated against for believing the earth is flat!” The freedom of religion is real but that does not provide the freedom to propagate damaging misinformation nor the freedom to inflict psychological or physical harm on others.
“Day Seven Ministries…a member ministry of Exodus International”
“In 2006, I was fortunate to complete my undergraduate internship at Day Seven Ministries, a Christian counseling center in Lancaster, PA, which at the time was a member ministry of Exodus International, the umbrella organization for various Christian ministries for people looking for help with unwanted [same sex attraction] SSA, though Day Seven dealt with an array of sexual issues beyond homosexuality.”
(See: Former 'Ex-Gay' Leaders [of Exodus International] Denounce 'Conversion Therapy' In A New Documentary [titled Pray Away, on Netflix]. Spoiler Alert: The founders of Exodus have come out of the closet.)
Local Context on Day Seven Ministries
Local activists have, in recent years, named Day Seven as a conversion therapy outfit, specifically in relationship to Day Seven’s participation in Lancaster County Community Foundation’s annual event, the Extra Give.
LCCF’s response to those cries seemed to suggest that it was unclear whether Day Seven engaged in a practice widely considered to be torture, despite the fact that LancasterOnline published stories making this abundantly clear — not once, but twice, in 1989 and again in 1996. It’s worth noting that while Day Seven’s URL remains the same, they recently changed their name to Hope and Restoration Counseling, or HRC - the same acronym as the LGBTQ advocacy org, the Human Rights Campaign.
Note: Despite the existence of LCCF’s “Why Transparency Matters” page, it remains unclear whether Day Seven could continue to participate in the Extra Give. In 2022, CEO Sam Bressi stated that “only one organization…no longer qualifies for the event” but to-date has not shared which organization that is. (So much for transparency, eh?) Per LCCF’s own “Anti-Hate Policy,” more than one organization ought to be disqualified, including PA Family/ILC, Day Seven and Harvest USA to name a few.
As recently as 2014, LancasterOnline published a (paid?) advertisement that included a Day Seven event - which I first tweeted in May 2022 - “Ministering redemptively and with hope to people who struggle with same sex attraction.” Interestingly, as reported by Lancaster Online, Penn Manor Superintendent Phil Gale employed similar language in his June 12, 2024 email to the board. “I feel for any person who is struggling with their identity,” [Gale] wrote.
Gale is understandably being lauded by residents for publicly pushing back against the ILC. While we can be glad for any voice in opposition to the ILC, a closer read of the Lancaster Online article certainly opens to the door to digging deeper. One Penn Manor resident shared their concern that this is more about Gale wanting to avoid the circus and political tags - let alone the lawsuits and the cost they incur - that will follow an approval of the ILC.
To be clear: Any “struggle” that LGBTQ people experience is not “with their identity” as Gale posits. The struggle emerges from how LGBTQ people are treated in their daily lives, how they are framed in local news media, and in policy and legislation that inhibits their ability to live full, open and safe lives - full stop. That a leading educator seems to dismiss the science of LGBTQ existence is worth pause, particularly since that same administrator was a principal when local activists fought for - and won - a long-denied GSA club at their high school in 2018-2019.
Day Seven is easily tied to national conversion therapy org
“…Would I try to hide my involvement in the field of homosexual recovery so I could quietly earn my degree and then enter the field professionally? Or would I risk academic and career suicide and be open about my convictions and experiences? ] resolved that my integrity is the one commodity I cannot spare, no matter the consequences…A quick look on Day Seven's website would easily show their affiliation with Exodus even after Exodus North America collapsed in 2013, or just show the types of sexual issues they address.”
“Jeremy Samek and Randy Wenger were eager to help me.”
“I thank God that my case was quickly accepted by the Independence Law Center, a religious liberty legal ministry specifically for Pennsylvania. Jeremy Samek and Randy Wenger were eager to help me, and over the next four months they provided me with sound counsel and prevented me from making rash decisions.”
“Jeremy and Randy were also determined to resolve my case…quietly.”
“In their effort to keep me focused on the main goal of graduating, Jeremy and Randy were also determined to resolve my case diplomatically and quietly; it received absolutely no media attention, which I regret.”
Randall Wenger and Jeremy Samek wanted to fight the case “quietly”?!?!
Of course they did. Wenger disclosed his general strategy in 2005!
For instance, the Dover area school board might have had a better case for the intelligent design disclaimer they inserted into high school biology classes had they not mentioned a religious motivation at their meetings, Wenger said.
“Give us a call before you do something controversial like that,” he said.
“I think we need to do a better job at being clever as serpents,” Wenger added.
Three months later the Independence Law Center was born. “[Michael] Geer…said PFI brought Wenger on staff in February [2006] and…formed the law center.” (LNP: 10/22/2006)
Keep in mind that in the same 2005 article as the “serpents” quote, Lancaster Online shares that now-Judge Leonard Brown:
“showed a movie about the Alliance Defense Fund (now the Alliance Defending Freedom), in which the Arizona-based group acclaimed its ‘army of Christian laywers.’”
“‘There will be no stopping us’, said one man in the movie.”
We should all be concerned that the man in the movie was correct.
When Randall Wenger and/or Jeremy Samek weaponize their civility at your school board meeting, remember their bigger agenda and how they defended the so-called right to inflict torture on LGBTQ people, in the name of Jesus.
Meanwhile, buy your “Clever As Serpents / Just say no to the ILC” tee shirt to support the Education Law Center and their statewide fights against the Independence Law Center and to bring quality and equitable public education to ALL Pennsylvanians.
Find more insight on how to navigate LGBTQ pushback in schools with compassion here.
Safety is the one pillar I felt that I could always lean on when I was dealing with parents that challenged a lot of this information. No matter how angry, for example, an Iraqi parent was over the gay kid in my classroom, my rebuttal was always, “Your child gets to be Muslim in school and that child gets to be gay,” right?
Find all of the articles and websites hyperlinked above, and more, here.