LGBT

dlwickham

(3,316 posts) Fri Nov 30, 2012, 09:38 PM Nov 2012

The Walls Are Closing in on the Ex-Gay Industry

In 1998, 15 religious right organizations launched a huge advertising campaign to promote "pray away the gay" programs. Anti-gay activist Robert Knight called the "Truth in Love" campaign the "Normandy Landing in the larger cultural wars."

Things didn't quite work out as Knight had hoped. In 2000, I photographed their poster boy, John Paulk, in a Washington, DC gay bar. In 2003, I joined attorney Mike Hamar in reporting that the star of their television campaign, Michael Johnston, was hooking up with men he was meeting on the Internet.

The already shredded credibility of such groups markedly deteriorated this year after Exodus International's leader, Alan Chambers, said that his "ex-gay" ministry did not work for 99.9 percent of clients. This followed a similar admission from Love In Action ministry leader John Smid. The icing on the cake occurred this spring when Dr. Robert Spitzer renounced his infamous 2001 "ex-gay" study claiming that some gay people could go straight.

The cherry on top of the icing came last month when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill prohibiting reparative therapy for minors in California, which greatly damaged an industry where more than half of the clients are youth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wayne-besen/the-walls-are-closing-in-_b_2203814.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

5 replies

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The Walls Are Closing in on the Ex-Gay Industry (Original Post) dlwickham Nov 2012 OP

Thank God my parents were cool about me being gay when I came out as a teen. I feel so sorry hrmjustin Nov 2012 #1

Same here... coming out gay to my parents in the very early 60's was RKP5637 Dec 2012 #4

I wish more people knew of the harm these assholes have done (and continue to do) Rowdyboy Dec 2012 #2

Part of the problem is that many people know HillWilliam Dec 2012 #3

Assholes like this always have someone/something they have to save. It's a power RKP5637 Dec 2012 #5

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts)

1. Thank God my parents were cool about me being gay when I came out as a teen. I feel so sorry

Reply to dlwickham (Original post)

Fri Nov 30, 2012, 09:43 PM

Nov 2012

for people who have been put through this crap. I hope some of these people go to jail.

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)

4. Same here... coming out gay to my parents in the very early 60's was

Reply to hrmjustin (Reply #1)

Sat Dec 1, 2012, 11:59 PM

Dec 2012

to say the least scary. My parents were highly educated and OK with it all. My siblings were OK with it too.

Looking back I don't think I really realized at the time how extremely lucky I was. I viewed it as my business, what I did in bed and with whom. And as time went on I learned how horribly ostracized some of my friends had been.

Funny, in my head I always had this, so what's the big deal, fuck off. I think kids are very lucky today, all of the progress that has been made. Thinking back I never even even remotely imagined same-sex people could ever be married. And after my first gay experience, it was so like WTF is the big deal, to me it was just very very natural.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

2. I wish more people knew of the harm these assholes have done (and continue to do)

Reply to dlwickham (Original post)

Sat Dec 1, 2012, 12:35 AM

Dec 2012

HillWilliam

(3,310 posts)

3. Part of the problem is that many people know

Reply to Rowdyboy (Reply #2)

Sat Dec 1, 2012, 10:03 AM

Dec 2012

and just don't give a damn. We've still a long, long way to go before we matter.

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)

5. Assholes like this always have someone/something they have to save. It's a power

Reply to Rowdyboy (Reply #2)

Sun Dec 2, 2012, 12:06 AM

Dec 2012

trip for them. They are really abusers hiding under the god-word. For eons they've loved to persecute someone/something and use the god-word and religion to mask their activities. If not fighting the gay-demon, they will find someone/something else to persecute and ways to get-off on their power trip.

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