In December 2014, a tractor-trailer traveling down Interstate 71 in Ohio struck and killed Leelah Alcorn. Alcorn, who identified as transgender, had posted a suicide note on her Tumblr in which she described her isolation, desperation, and depression—feelings she blamed, in part, on the “conversion therapy” her conservative Christian parents forced her to undergo. Alcorn’s…
I have yet to visit Focus on the Family’s massive “campus” in Colorado Springs – a place so large it has its own zip code. But each year, thousands of fundamentalists traipse through this tourist trap to bow to King James. The people I know who have visited say that pictures of the group’s leader, James Dobson,…
by Wayne Besen From the very beginning, the “ex-gay” ministries have been enmeshed in a series of high profile failures. In addition to the crestfallen Paulk, the following are the most well publicized defections and scandals in the colorful annals of “ex-gay” history: * In 1973, John Evans, co-founded the world’s first modern “ex-gay” ministry,…
For Those Who Have Been Hurt By These Anti-Gay Ministries See also Ex-Gay Videos Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth The real story behind “ex-gay” ministries and reparative therapy! Nationally known activist Wayne Besen spent four years examining the phenomenon of “ex-gay” ministries and reparative therapies—interviewing leaders, attending conferences,…
Patrick McAlvey: “I Was Harmed By ‘Ex-Gay’Therapy” There is “no evidence that sexual orientation change efforts work.” This was the American Psychological Association’s verdict on “ex-gay” therapy after an appointed task force of experts studied the issue for two years. This conclusion did not surprise those of us who work with people who have been…
I know this is hard to believe, but the “ex-gay” group Exodus International is the next Starbucks. The organization, according to its executive director Alan Chambers, is expanding so fast that it will soon have storefronts on every corner where forlorn homosexuals can pray away the gay. In 2003, Chambers claimed that there are “thousands…
Ads Lie About Gay Life and Omit High Profile Failures in 1998 Ad Campaign, Says Besen. WASHINGTON – Wayne Besen, author of ANYTHING BUT STRAIGHT: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, today condemned ex-gay group Exodus International for running a false and misleading $200,000 ad campaign saying that gay people can become…