Sy Rogers

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Sy Rogers
BornDecember 15, 1956
United States
Died (aged 63)
Winter Park, Florida, US
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPastor, activist

Sinclair Rogers II (December 15, 1956 – April 19, 2020) was an American Christian pastor who was part of the ex-gay movement. In the late 1980s, Rogers was a President of Exodus International,[1][2][3] and became one of the earliest personalities associated with the ex-gay movement. He wrote a life-story entitled "The Man in the Mirror," which was published in pamphlet form by Last Days Ministries.[4][5]

Life and career[]

As a young man, Rogers was involved in the gay community and had physical relationships with men. He later identified as transgender, living as a woman for a year and a half and beginning the process of arranging to have sex-change surgery.[6][7][8] He credited his conversion to Christianity for igniting personal growth and a new-found security in gender identity which enabled a shift in his sexuality to heterosexual.[5] He stated in his personal story, "My goal was not to be straight--it was God". In 1982,[9] he married a woman he met in a Bible-study group, began to identify as heterosexual,[7][10] and they had a family together.[11][5][6]

In 1988, Rogers, living in Florida, self-describing as a former homosexual and former transgender, told a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times that the ex-gay movement was not anti-gay, "If you want to stay gay, that's your business,... But the bottom line is, you have a choice to overcome it. You can change."[5]

During Rogers' involvement in the mid to late 1980s, Exodus International had offices on five continents and declared that "all homosexual relationships are sinful."[12] In conducting a speaking tour in 2008 Rogers’ message included, "Homosexuality is out of tune with religion; it is not what God planned for human sexuality."[6][13][14][15] Writing in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, gay rights advocate Wayne Besen argued that during the AIDS epidemic "some men were literally scared straight - or at least into making the futile attempt," bringing a degree of momentary success to Exodus International.[16] In 2016, The Daily Beast reported that Rogers's ministry had moved away from the ex-gay message many years earlier.[17]

In Singapore, Rogers helped to set up Choices, the ex-gay ministry at Church of Our Saviour.[18] He also preached regularly at City Harvest Church,[19] Faith Community Baptist Church and Heart of God Church.[20]

Rogers is portrayed in the 1993 documentary One Nation Under God.[12][16][21] From 2012, he was a Teaching Pastor with the multi-campus LIFE Church & College in Auckland, New Zealand.[22][23]

Rogers died in Winter Park, Florida on April 19, 2020, from cancer. He and his wife Karen Ann Campbell had one daughter.[9][24]

References[]

  1. ^ "God's cure for gays lost in sin". smh.com.au. March 19, 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Change is Possible: Sexual Conversions and Imperial Aspirations in the Americas". NACLA. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  3. ^ Venn-Brown, Anthony (March 6, 2017). "Sy Rogers – is his message homosexual re-orientation?". abbi.org.
  4. ^ White, Russ (1 August 1987). "If I Can Change, You Can, Former Transsexual Tells Gays". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Kennedy, Dana (14 January 1988). "Helping gays go straight". Chicago Sun-Times. ProQuest 257259079.
  6. ^ a b c Maraghy, Mary (24 November 2001). "Ministries reaching sexually 'broken' But gay pastor says they teach people to live in denial". Florida Times Union. ProQuest 414208878.
  7. ^ a b "Transgender Agenda Finds 'Father Knows Best'- Style Poster Child". Charismanews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  8. ^ Rogers, Sy. "The Man In The Mirror". www.exodusglobalalliance.org. Though I did not get around to ever having the surgery, I was on hormone therapy and lived as a woman for about a year and a half.
  9. ^ a b "Obituary for Sinclair "Sy" Rogers II at Buchanan Funeral Home". www.buchananfuneralhomemonett.com.
  10. ^ "Did Pat Robertson Really Endorse The Transgender Movement?". charismanews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. ^ The Gay Gospel? By Joe Dallas
  12. ^ a b Russell, Candice (14 June 1994). "GOING STRAIGHT DOCUMENTARY FOCUSES ON EFFORTS TO 'CURE' HOMOSEXUALS". Sun Sentinel. ProQuest 388682062.
  13. ^ Pollard, Ruth (19 March 2008). "God's cure for gays lost in sin: FACING THEIR DEMONS - A HERALD INVESTIGATION". Sydney Morning Herald. ProQuest 364377547.
  14. ^ Bruce, Clara. (2017-03-01). "Sy Rogers' Message of Grace for Sexual Brokenness, at Colour Conference". Hope 103.2. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  15. ^ "Youths flock to Queenstown for conference". Southland Times. 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  16. ^ a b Besen, Wayne (July 2007). "The Politics of the Ex-Gay Movement". The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 14 (4). ProQuest 198678084.
  17. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (January 16, 2016). "Sex Abuse & Gay Conversion Therapy: The Dark Past of Justin Bieber's Megachurch Hillsong". The Daily Beast.
  18. ^ in 1991"Choices". Church of Our Saviour Singapore. 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  19. ^ Tan, Theresa. "Remembering Sy Rogers, God's Example Of Redeemed Manhood". City News. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  20. ^ "Keeping Clean In A Dirty World | Sy Rogers at Heart of God Church (HOGC) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  21. ^ Sinclair, Harriet (10 July 2017). "U.S.'s Richest Boarding School Admits It Showed Anti-Gay Videos To Students". Newsweek. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  22. ^ Ashcroft, Nerida. "Sy Rogers chats with Andrew". www.rhema.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  23. ^ "Guest Speaker: Sy Rogers". thelifechurch.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  24. ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Mon-hgoJv/

External links[]

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