Beneath the streets of the nation's capital, a leading homosexual rights organization has launched an advertising counteroffensive against a group that believes people can become "ex-gays."

Angered that Washington's subway system allowed "anti-gay" ads, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation put together its own ad series on 10 lighted dioramas on platforms in the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Association system serving the capital and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

HRC ad

"When we learned about the misleading and anti-gay ads Metro had accepted, we looked for a way to counter those wrong-headed messages with the truth," said Kim I. Mills, HRC's education director.

In October, a group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, or PFOX, presented ads asserting people can leave the homosexual lifestyle of their own choice, through reparative therapy and support.

HRC insists that is impossible.

"The PFOX ads were deceptive and untrue," said Mills. "We know that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people cannot 'change' their identities, and the discredited techniques that purport to change them are damaging."

But PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs disputes that, contending scientific studies have proven "no one is born a homosexual."

She cited a study released in October by Columbia University Professor Robert Spitzer, who in 1973 was instrumental in removing homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental illnesses.

"Change can be a choice," Griggs told WorldNetDaily. "Why should people not know the facts?"

PFOX says its message doesn't ask homosexuals to change but to respect those who do decide they want something different.

"Where is respect and tolerance for those who make a different choice?" she asked.

The headline of the HRC Foundation's ads reads: "Equality and Fairness: Fundamental American Values."

PFOX ad

PFOX ads showed the smiling face of a young man who said, "I chose to change."

HRC claimed as a result of complaints about the PFOX ads, the Metro board voted to end all free public service ads beginning Jan. 1.

But Griggs maintains the board's decision was because of a controversial ad campaign promoting legalizing marijuana for teens, which included the message sex is better than drugs. The board did not want to run the drug ads but was forced into it by the American Civil Liberties Union, she said.

"Unfortunately we lost ability to advertise," said Griggs.

She noted HRC is a large, powerful organization that "can put up ads all day, while we're a small group staffed by volunteers."

HRC, for example, is leading a $1 million fund-raising drive to promote "homosexual marriage" and stop the federal government from passing a marriage amendment.

Griggs says PFOX ran a similar campaign last year with no complaints. This year, opposition came only after a homosexual publication ran an article noting that after two weeks of displaying the ads, nobody was complaining, she noted with irony.

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