Ex-Ex-Gay Minister Marries Male Partner
Once the leader of the world's oldest "ex-gay" Christian ministry, former Love In Action director John Smid announced last Sunday that he had married partner Larry McQueen.
"I realized this week that my relationship with Larry is a mirror I see in every day," wrote Smid on Facebook. "For most of my life, the mirror I saw reflected my mistakes, shortcomings and failures. The reflection I see today with Larry shows me the positive things in my life, my strengths, gifts and talents."
For more than a decade, Smid sat on the board of directors of Exodus International, an umbrella network uniting nearly 300 gay conversion ministries around the world. In 2013, Exodus president Alan Chambers dissolved the organization, extensively apologizing for the "pain and hurt" he caused the LBGT community and admitting his own "ongoing same-sex attractions."
As same-sex marriage is still illegal in their home state of Texas, Smid and McQueen drove to neighboring Oklahoma to be wed.
"At this time our federal government recognizes our legal marriage," wrote Smid. "[W]e hope that Texas will soon accept our marriage as legitimate and legal."