Two survivors of the Pulse Nightclub massacre who say that they’re no longer gay hosted an “ex-gay” “Freedom March” on Saturday 10 minutes from where the mass shooting that killed 49 people took place.
The Orlando Sentinel reports: “Angel Colon, 29, and Luis Javier Ruiz, 36, who were both injured in the Pulse nightclub shooting and later founded the ministry Fearless Identity, hosted the rally with the Florida Family Policy Council, a conservative group that opposes gay marriage and other protective rights for LGBTQ people. Colon and Javier Ruiz maintain that their ministry does not practice conversion therapy, though the two claim to be ‘overcomers’ of homosexuality.”
The paper placed the amount of attendees as “over 100” and photos showed a scant audience.
In an interview with Wayne Besen’s organization Truth Wins Out posted on Saturday, Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan spoke about her time in ‘ex-gay’ ministry: “Do not as a young person, do what I did. It took me years, a lot of substance and alcohol abuse and personal suffering and bad relationships for me to be able to self-accept. A lot of it because what I was told was wrong with me when I was around these religious people.”
