Funding For Randy Scobey's NEW Book "WHY"

Hello! My name is Randy Scobey (formerly Randy Thomas before I married my husband). I am excited to announce that my first book, a memoir, will be launched later this year. My story was featured in the award-winning documentaries Pray Away and For They Know Not What They Do, where I shared my life-long struggle of coming to terms with being a gay man of faith. Though it wasn’t easy to do at first, participating in these projects has helped me rediscover my passion for helping others. Sharing our stories allows others to share theirs, which helps people heal. Therefore, I am hoping that sharing my truth in my memoir will continue to help even more people beyond the scope of the documentaries.

Previously, I was a lead spokesperson and the last Executive Vice President of Exodus International, the most extensive ex-gay ministry in the world. I contributed to several books,was featured in The Los Angeles Times, and was interviewed by many worldwide media outlets. In short, I was a staunch and influential advocate of the organization I would eventually help shut down.

Maya Angelou, an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist, said, "Do your best until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." So now that I know better, it's time to share my authentic self and do better.

In my memoir, I will share how I came to be filled with self-loathing because of all manner of abuse and systemic bigotry against LGBTQ+ people, and how this made me vulnerable to the toxic ideology that drives ex-gay ministry (a cult-ish form of conversion therapy). Ultimately, entering that world only caused me more harm and taught me to harm the people I should have embraced: the LGBTQ+ community. My community.

I now know that the toxic ideology underlying ex-gay conversion therapy is abuse. It’s brainwashing abuse. For people like me, it was a new form of abuse born out of a lifetime of abuse. Sadly, far too many young LGBTQ+ people are forced and trapped in the church closet to this very day. While Exodus was shut down, ex-gay efforts have only grown in today's current climate.

My memoir is made even more powerful with a foreword written by Anne Heche just weeks before she passed. Anne and I became friends after I was on her podcast, "Better Together With Anne And Heather." She was such a light of hope to people worldwide, including me. Anne shared my mission to help others be free of religious stigma so they can love themselves and others.

Through what I consider a miraculous chain of events, I met one of Anne's best friends, a media guru willing to help with promotion and public relations around the book launch. But, of course, all that costs money that needs to be raised so we can get the word out to as many people as possible. Those trapped in this abuse and self-loathing need to hear they can find their way out to authenticity, to love and be loved for who they indeed are.

Please consider helping with this effort.

After talking with my husband, we have decided to donate a generous portion of my royalties to non-profit organizations (national and local) that help LGBTQ+ youth and young adults who find themselves homeless or in desperate need of resources. I share in the memoir about being a homeless nineteen-year-old, and I wished I had these organizations back then as they may have spared me years of heartache, destruction, and loss.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping me share my story and make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.