On June 19, 2013, Exodus International President Alan Chambers announced the board of directors had voted unanimously to disband and close.
[6] Alan Chambers offered an apology to the gay community and reversed his stance on the past teachings of Exodus International's ministry.
[8] It was the opinion of Love Won Out that "the foundation of society for the family is marriage of a man and a woman for life ... Scripture is very clear in its condemnation of homosexual conduct, for such sin is a deviation from God's creation and design.
[4]: 12 According to their belief, homosexuality in males is caused by a "dominant mother with a quiet, withdrawn, non expressive and/or hostile father, and an introverted, artistic, imaginative son.
[4]: 12–13 Love Won Out concurred with one position of the American Psychiatric Association when it states "some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime," though the APA also states, "All major professional mental health organizations have gone on record to affirm that homosexuality is not a mental disorder.
"[9] Love Won Out claimed that the goal of the "gay agenda" is "Normalization through desensitization, Undermining parental moral authority, and equating homosexuality to heterosexuality.
"[4]: 19 James Dobson states in the forward of the conference guide: There is no evidence that homosexuals as a class are discriminated against in the present society.
[15][16] Gary Schneeberger, Focus on the Family's vice president of media and public relations issued a statement stating "... the conferences rarely have recouped the financial investment made in them ... Our financial challenges (at Focus on the Family) have led us to recognize a strategic opportunity that makes sense ..."[15] Exodus-affiliated groups had worked with homosexual persons, seeking to achieve "freedom from homosexuality" which Exodus believed included abstinence, lessening of same-sex attraction, and change of inappropriate gender roles.
"[6] John Paulk, the founder of LWO, formally renounced[17] the organization in April 2013, saying (in part): Today, I do not consider myself "ex-gay" and I no longer support or promote the movement.
I know that countless people were harmed by things I said and did in the past, Parents, families, and their loved ones were negatively impacted by the notion of reparative therapy and the message of change.
I offer my most sincere and heartfelt apology to men, women, and especially children and teens who felt unlovable, unworthy, shamed or thrown away by God or the church.Alan Chambers, the CEO of Exodus International and parent company of the Love Won Out Conference, which had held recent conferences under the name True Story, formally apologized to the gay community in June 2013 for the damage done by reparative therapy, and ended the 37-year-old Exodus International ministry.
[18]Truth Wins Out, an organization formed by Wayne Besen, is a leading critic of ex-gay ministries and of the Love Won Out conferences.
Truth Wins Out often held protests and demonstrations outside the Love Won Out conferences to shed light on what they called "anti gay religious extremism.
"[19][20][21] Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen, who has been tracking and opposing "ex-gay" therapies for more than a decade, issued a statement Thursday morning [when?
Although new groups are vying to fill the vacuum, the passing of Exodus casts a huge shadow of doubt on their work and cuts right to the heart of their credibility," Besen said.
"[11][need quotation to verify] James Dobson responded "Regardless of what the media might say, Focus on the Family has no interest in promoting hatred toward homosexuals or anyone else.