While the practitioners and promoters of conversion or reparative therapy tout its success, many leaders of the movement have either voluntarily left the practice and now live as openly gay men and women or have been forced out of their organizations when it came to light that despite the claims that it is possible to change a person’s sexuality, they were secretly leading double lives.
The link below will take you to a site founded by former leaders in the ex-gay movement who are now happily and openly gay and wished to apologize to all of the people hurt by the false premise of conversion or reparative therapy.
http://www.beyondexgay.com/article/apology
It is not our goal to target or denigrate people of faith who are opposed to homosexuality. However, it is important for the public to be aware of the deep, lasting harm caused by conversion or reparative therapy and the ex-gay movement, even to its most devoted and vocal members.
John Paulk – Chairman of the Board of Exodus International, John Paulk was featured as “Ex-gay” on the cover of Newsweek Magazine and was later spotted in a popular Washington, DC gay bar.
George Rekers – Rekers helped found the Family Research Council and is a former officer and scientific advisor of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization offering conversion therapy intended to change homosexuals into heterosexuals. Rekers has testified on the allegedly destructive and sinful nature of homosexuality, and the unsuitability of gay and lesbian people for parenthood, in a number of court cases involving organizations and state agencies working with children.
In May 2010, it was widely reported that Rekers had hired a young travel companion who offered male prostitution through a website called Rentboy.com to travel with him, carry his bags, and provide daily one-hour nude massages during a ten-day trip to Europe.
Michael Bussee – One of the original founders of Exodus International, Bussee eventually left the organization and married his partner, Exodus International co-founder Gary Cooper.
Michael Johnston – Johnston is an HIV-positive man who is featured in the film It’s Not Gay, promoted by the American Family Association. He had frequently been interviewed on U.S. television and radio regarding his own claimed change in sexuality, and even featured in a national television advertising campaign in 1998 stating that Jesus Christ empowered him to leave his homosexual past. In 2002, he resumed having sex with men, admitted to having had unprotected sex with multiple male partners without disclosing his HIV-positive status, despite knowing he was HIV-positive, for over a period of two years.
Terrance Lewis – A minister and former counselor at Providence Bible College in Winnipeg, Canada, Lewis was found guilty in February 2008 for sexually assaulting a young man who sought counseling to make him heterosexual. The victim testified that he started meeting Lewis for counseling sessions in early 2000 after his parents caught him viewing gay pornography on the family computer. The man said Lewis started a program of “touch therapy,” which included the two kissing and fondling each other and engaging in sexual role-playing.
Allan Downing – Downing, the lead therapist for the ex-gay group Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) is accused of making clients undress and touch themselves in front of him as part of his “therapy.”
Below are additional resources about conversion or Reparative Therapy and the ex-gay movement.
Additional Resources
A great resource for you is Truth Wins Out at www.truthwinsout.org.
Resources from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
- A Report From “Love Won Out: Addressing, Understanding, and Preventing Homosexuality” By Cynthia Burack and Jyl J. Josephson of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
- Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right’s Attack on Democracy from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute
- Challenging the Ex-Gay Movement: An Information Packet from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute
- Homophobia at Hell House “Hell Houses,” evangelical haunted houses, attract young visitors while fueling bigotry and homophobia. “Hell House” scenes include: a gay man dying of AIDS right after marrying his partner; a lesbian committing suicide because of her sexuality; and a young female rape victim dying during an abortion procedure.
- Youth in the Crosshairs: The Third Wave of Ex-Gay Activism By Jason Cianciotto and Sean Cahill of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute.
Other online resources
- Beyond Ex-Gay An on-line community for those who have survived ex-gay experiences
- Coming Out: Former ‘Ex-Gay’ Minister Speaks Out Ex- ex-gay minister describes ‘spiritual rape’ of ex-gay ‘therapy’ from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Ex-Gay and Change Ministries
- Fact Sheet about the ex-gay organization Courage Prepared by the Catholic Action Network for Social Justice
- Resources on So-Called “Change Ministries” From More Light Presbyterians