Brethren played Big Brother: city man

BY CASSANDRA POKONEY

An Invercargill man ex-communicated from the Exclusive Brethren said he was subjected to unwarranted scrutiny and forced to leave his family because he told his brothers and sisters he was gay.

Craig Hoyle was ex-communicated from the Exclusive Brethren this year after coming out as gay two years ago.

However, Invercargill Exclusive Brethren member Frank Moore said Mr Hoyle had made false and misleading statements and he was not ex-communicated but had chosen to leave. Mr Hoyle was a seventh-generation Exclusive Brethren.

The decision to tell the priests he was gay was not a difficult one, but what followed was two years of pain, he said.

Interviewed by priests and referred to doctors, Mr Hoyle, now 20, said he was told homosexuality was "constitutional" and the only thing he could do was pray he would be turned heterosexual.

He moved to Christchurch but the church tracked him down and sent him to the North Island and later to Australia, he said.

He was also put on the drug Cyprostat, typically used to treat prostate cancer, but is also used by sex offenders to stop the production of testosterone, Mr Hoyle said.

He said he was contacted almost daily by the priests and had his every move analysed.

The intense scrutiny eventually became too much and he told priests he wanted out.

"There's a lot of abuse going on that is being dismissed ... It's just something the public need to be aware of," he said.

Mr Hoyle said the crunch came when he told his six younger brothers and sisters he was gay.

The siblings were removed from the house and the ex-communication process began, he said.

He said he was told he was ex-communicated not because he was gay but because he told his brothers and sisters he was.

Mr Hoyle said that he had seen his family several times since but contact had been mostly accidental.

He hoped to use his experiences to show other people there could be a life outside the church, he said.

Mr Moore said the Exclusive Brethren rejected that Mr Hoyle was subject to unwarranted scrutiny, and claims that he was placed on drugs were nothing to do with the church.

"We have no knowledge of what may have been discussed at any consultation with a medical professional and the church is not a party to any outcomes arising from such a consultation," Mr Moore said.

The Bretheren say the only basis for sexual relations is the marriage bond and all sexual relations outside of marriage including adultery, fornication and homosexuality, are considered immoral.

- © Fairfax NZ News