Sy Rogers

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]

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

Life and career

Rogers had a traumatic childhood. He was molested as a toddler, and his mother died in a car accident when he was four. After his mother's death, his father left him with relatives for a year. Later, at school, he was bullied for effeminate mannerisms and experience shame over same-sex attraction.[6]

Rogers joined the Navy in 1973 and was stationed in Honolulu. He became active in the gay community and also worked as a prostitute where, "I pretended I was being loved."[6] 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.[7][8][9] He credited his conversion to Christianity for igniting personal growth and a new-found security in his 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,[10] he began to identify as heterosexual, married a woman he met in a Bible-study group, [8][11] and went on to raise a family together.[12][5][7]

In 1988 the 30-year-old Rogers gave an interview covering his perspectives to the Chicago Sun-Times. Living in Florida, he was then a married father and a self-described former homosexual and transgender. He told the reporter 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] "The goal is God--not going straight. Straight people don't go to Heaven, redeemed people do."

During Rogers' involvement in the mid to late 1980s, Exodus International, now Restored Hope Network, had offices on five continents and declared that "all homosexual relationships are sinful."[13] 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."[7][14][15][16] 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.[17]

In 2016, The Daily Beast wrote that Rogers's ministry had moved away from the ex-gay message.[18] Sy's later speaking ministry included and exceeded homosexual issues, often referencing sex in the larger context of God and culture.[19]

In Singapore, Rogers helped to set up Choices, the ex-gay ministry at Church of Our Saviour.[20] He also preached regularly at City Harvest Church,[21] Faith Community Baptist Church and Heart of God Church.[22]

Rogers is portrayed in the 1993 documentary One Nation Under God.[13][17][23] From 2012, he was a Teaching Pastor with the multi-campus LIFE Church & College in Auckland, New Zealand.[24][25]

Rogers died in Winter Park, Florida on April 19, 2020, from cancer. He was survived by his wife of 38 years, Karen Ann Campbell, their daughter and two grandchildren.[10][26]

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. Kennedy, Dana (14 January 1988). "Helping gays go straight". Chicago Sun-Times. ProQuest 257259079.
  6. Silliman, Daniel (2020-04-23). "Died: Sy Rogers, Who Testified God Changed His Sexual Identity". News & Reporting. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  7. 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.
  8. "Transgender Agenda Finds 'Father Knows Best'- Style Poster Child". Charismanews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  9. 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.
  10. "Obituary for Sinclair "Sy" Rogers II at Buchanan Funeral Home". www.buchananfuneralhomemonett.com.
  11. "Did Pat Robertson Really Endorse The Transgender Movement?". charismanews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  12. The Gay Gospel? By Joe Dallas
  13. Russell, Candice (14 June 1994). "GOING STRAIGHT DOCUMENTARY FOCUSES ON EFFORTS TO 'CURE' HOMOSEXUALS". Sun Sentinel. ProQuest 388682062.
  14. Pollard, Ruth (19 March 2008). "God's cure for gays lost in sin: FACING THEIR DEMONS - A HERALD INVESTIGATION". Sydney Morning Herald. ProQuest 364377547.
  15. Bruce, Clara. (2017-03-01). "Sy Rogers' Message of Grace for Sexual Brokenness, at Colour Conference". Hope 103.2. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  16. "Youths flock to Queenstown for conference". Southland Times. 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  17. Besen, Wayne (July 2007). "The Politics of the Ex-Gay Movement". The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 14 (4). ProQuest 198678084.
  18. Zadrozny, Brandy (January 16, 2016). "Sex Abuse & Gay Conversion Therapy: The Dark Past of Justin Bieber's Megachurch Hillsong". The Daily Beast.
  19. "The Man In The Mirror". www.exodusglobalalliance.org. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  20. in 1991"Choices". Church of Our Saviour Singapore. 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  21. Tan, Theresa (21 April 2020). "Remembering Sy Rogers, God's Example Of Redeemed Manhood". City News. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  22. "Keeping Clean In A Dirty World | Sy Rogers at Heart of God Church (HOGC)". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  23. Sinclair, Harriet (10 July 2017). "U.S.'s Richest Boarding School Admits It Showed Anti-Gay Videos To Students". Newsweek. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  24. Ashcroft, Nerida. "Sy Rogers chats with Andrew". www.rhema.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  25. "Guest Speaker: Sy Rogers". thelifechurch.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  26. "Lifenzdotorg on Instagram: ""Such a sad day with the news of the passing of Sy Rogers today. He was truly a loved, trusted, loyal and faithful friend. Our prayer is with you, Karen, and all the family, and we ask God for profound peace in this deep valley. Sy's legacy will echo through eternity." –Ps Paul and Maree de Jong"".
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