Thoands of people are seekg help after beg forced to 'ex-gay therapy' - LGBTQ Natn

Contents:

• MY SO-CALLED EX-GAY LIFE
• THOANDS OF PEOPLE ARE SEEKG HELP AFTER BEG FORCED TO ‘EX-GAY THERAPY’
• CHURCH HOSTS CONFERENCE ON 'EX-GAY' THERAPY
• WHAT ABOUT EX-EX-GAYS?
• THE EX-GAY CHRISTIANY MOVEMENT IS MAKG A QUIET EBACK. THE EFFECTS ON LGBTQ YOUTH ULD BE VASTATG.
• 'EX-GAY' THERAPIST LEADG AIR FORCE AMY'S CAT COUNSELG
• ONCE A RISG STAR OF THE ‘EX-GAY’ MOVEMENT, JULIE RODGERS SPEAKS OUT AGAST ‘NVERSN THERAPY’ NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY: ‘I RRY WH ME THE SRS.’
• 5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• RSIAN LAWMAKER WANTS TO OFFER FREE 'EX-GAY' THERAPY
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

MY SO-CALLED EX-GAY LIFE

Joseph Nilosi, a clil psychologist California who was then print of the Natnal Associatn for Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy (NARTH), the untry's largt anizatn for practners of ex-gay therapy. I left the office wh a py of Nilosi's most recent book, Healg Homosexualy, and a worksheet that tegorized different emotns unr the brics of "te self" and "false self. My mother might not have so easily found rmatn about ex-gay therapy had the Christian right not planted this stake the culture ad appeared 23 years after the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn (APA) classified homosexualy as a mental illns.

A small group of therapists ntued to practice talk therapy that enuraged patients to see homosexualy as a velopmental disorr, but they remaed on the ge until the Christian right took up their e.

Foc on the Fay lled s new ex-gay mistry Love Won Out and talked about healg and rg for ex-gay movement turned the rhetoric of gay rights agast self: Shouldn't ex-gays be able to pursue therapy and live the liv they want whout facg discrimatn?

THOANDS OF PEOPLE ARE SEEKG HELP AFTER BEG FORCED TO ‘EX-GAY THERAPY’

Together wh the late Charl Soris, a psychiatrist who led the opposn to classifyg homosexualy as a mental illns, Nilosi formed NARTH 1992 as a "scientific anizatn that offers hope to those who stggle wh unwanted homosexualy. Nilosi remas NARTH's most visible are no reliable statistics for how many patients have received ex-gay treatment or how many therapists practice , but the late 1990s and early 2000s, ex-gay therapy enjoyed a legimacy hadn't sce the APA removed homosexualy om s diagnostic manual. Whether or not the Christian right's alliance wh the ex-gay movement had nstuted a D-Day the culture wars, had succsfully challenged the prevailg ia that the bt choice for gay people was to accept themselv.

I read one of Nilosi's books, Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexualy, that he tri to posn himself as a supportive father figure, typifyg the sort of relatnship that he believ his patients never had wh their own father. What translated to the larger culture was: The father of the 1973 revolutn the classifitn and treatment of homosexualy, who uld not be seen as jt another biased ex-gay csar wh an agenda, had validated ex-gay therapy. Richard Cohen, the founr of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays)-tend as the ex-gay unterpart to PFLAG (Parents, Fai, and Friends of Lbians and Gays)-was expelled om the Amerin Counselg Associatn for ethics vlatns.

Among them were Alan Downg, the lead therapist of JONAH (Jews Offerg New Alternativ to Homosexualy), who ma his patients strip and touch themselv ont of a mirror; NARTH member Christopher At, who was nvicted of "unlawfully, tentnally and knowgly [g] peratn of" a client; and Exod-affiliated Mike Jon, who asked a patient to take off his shirt and do ph-ups for movement also suffered several high-profile fectns. " In 2007, Exod -founr Michael Bsee apologized for his role startg the as a rponse to the rurgence of ex-gay therapy, mastream profsnal anizatns also took a harr stance.

CHURCH HOSTS CONFERENCE ON 'EX-GAY' THERAPY

But the sprg of my sophomore year, the disparate parts of myself I had managed to hold together-the part of me that thought beg gay was wrong, the part that slept wh men anyway, the part of myself I let the world see, and the part that suffered silence-me undone.

While took years of unselg to disabe myself of the ias I had learned while unrgog therapy wh Nilosi, was the first time I enuntered profsnals who were affirmg of my sexualy, and the first time I allowed myself to thk was all right to be gay. He looked like he do his Facebook pictur: solid and short, wh a shaved head and large brown had iated penncy-and-neglect proceedgs agast his parents at age 16 to pe ex-gay therapy. A ltle more than three months later, Print Obama lled for an end to nversn therapy and the Whe Hoe issued a statement sayg nversn therapy was potentially vastatg to transgenr, gay, lbian, bisexual, and queer (LGBTQ) young people.

“Psychoanalysis was servedly tarred wh an antigay bsh due to s pathologizatn of homosexualy and ntued ristance to change until s after the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn and the Amerin Psychologil Associatn changed the 1970s, ” said Jack Drcher, a New York psychiatrist and thor of Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man. " But lears the ex-gay movement say thoands of Amerins are now livg as former-homosexuals, and that each person should have the right to ci for themselv what is bt. Send, the term "ex-gay" has lots of different meangs (some lears like the term, while others don't), rangg om, "I ed to be volved same-sex relatnships, and I am no longer am, " to, "My romantic and sexual sir have changed om homosexual to heterosexual, " along wh everythg between.

WHAT ABOUT EX-EX-GAYS?

I know some ex-gays who are thrilled to be ee om their old liftyl spe the fact that they have not bee heterosexual, and they are overflowg wh ntentment, livg for God as celibate sgl. I know others who, through unselg or a ep spirual enunter wh the Lord, lerally went om homosexual to heterosexual (this is more mon than you might realize), and they have lived like this for s now.

The only fully documented, book-length, longudal study of the qutn of ex-gays, entled Ex-Gays?, by Stanton Jon and Mark Yarhoe, me to very posive nclns, spe beg ridiculed by gay activists. But if we foc on changg someone om homosexualy to heterosexualy rather than om homosexualy to hols, there is the possibily of great tratn and even disappotment and backslidg. The bottom le is that homosexual practice, unr all circumstanc, is sful, and nothg n possibly change that fact, but is equally te that there is liberty and new life J, and those willg to take up the cross and follow Him will never need to look back.

Sce I expect gay bloggers and ex-ex-gays to rpond to this article crilly, if you are one of the many who, by God's grace, have e out of homosexualy, please take a moment to rpond here as well. For two s, McKrae Game was a top-tier figure among ex-gay Christians and a leadg advote for nversn therapy, a unselg practice wh the goal of helpg LGBTQ people supprs their homosexualy and bee “straight. ” But Game, 51, now disavows the movement and acknowledg he has been gay all told the Post and Courier that nversn therapy proved to be trimental, a “lie” and “false advertisg.

THE EX-GAY CHRISTIANY MOVEMENT IS MAKG A QUIET EBACK. THE EFFECTS ON LGBTQ YOUTH ULD BE VASTATG.

The most proment ex-gay anizatns have shnk or shuttered; lears have fected; and many church now fear that beg associated wh such wily discreded techniqu will st them as unwelg or bigoted. Addnally, the Inter is rife wh stori of LGBTQ people who have reported sufferg psychologil harm as a rult of participatg the programs and proment Christians are quietly tryg to rurrect ex-gay Christiany, and the new rnatn is hipper and perhaps more evolved. Yet beneath the smetic tweaks ss the same msage that has damaged many liv over many s: If you’re a Christian wh same-sex attractns, change is both possible and first wave of Amerin ex-gay Christiany the 1970s alced around mistri and anizatns specifilly voted to the e.

But the current wave is far more centralized, beg led by pennt thors and personali who are embedd the nservative Christian world rather than segregated to an issue-specific views differ ever so slightly om the next while orbg tightly to siar them, such as the possibily of “former homosexuals” havg a healthy heterosexual marriage, differentiatg between one’s behavr and inty, and a ubiquo, if obligatory, nod to church’ historil failur to love people who intify as of the movement’s most articulate lears is Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, a former women’s studi profsor at Syrace Universy who says she “adopted a lbian inty” her 20s as a rult of beg fluenced by femist philosophy. ”When I spoke wh her, I asked if she nsirs herself “ex-gay, ” and she said she do not e that label to scribe herself but then proceed to scribe how she was once, but is no longer, a lbian. But then Butterfield add that she disurag the age of the term “gay Christian” and even oppos “Si B” Christians who accept their LGBTQ inty but are mted to celibacy for relig reasons.

But she prents a msage that will rg faiar to the many LGBTQ people who have survived ex-gay mistri and therapy: Through the power of J, same-sex sir n and should be overe. For Butterfield, homosexualy is not an inty that scrib who a person is but, rather, a sful actn that a person do — but n stop preach her gospel of change through her popular books, speech at Christian nferenc and church, and is the unmistakable msage of the life she now liv. Butterfield left her female partner after her nversn and is now married to her hband, artist Jackie Hill Perry is another risg ex-gay star who formerly intified as a lbian and is now married to a man.

'EX-GAY' THERAPIST LEADG AIR FORCE AMY'S CAT COUNSELG

”When I prsed her, the thor of “Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been” said that she has never met anyone who has experienced a plete change sexual orientatn, but she add that she has read stori about people who have.

Perry also reils at the term “ex-gay” bee that giv the imprsn that someone will stantly eradite their homosexual sir: “I love my hband, but I also experience same-sex attractn.

ONCE A RISG STAR OF THE ‘EX-GAY’ MOVEMENT, JULIE RODGERS SPEAKS OUT AGAST ‘NVERSN THERAPY’ NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY: ‘I RRY WH ME THE SRS.’

This clus people like Matt Moore, a wrer who was highlighted a piece that was origally published 2013 (later updated 2016) reportg that he had an active profile on the gay datg app Grdr.

5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

At least not claims that his parents’ divorce and an experience of sexual asslt created same-sex sir him at a young age, but he preach that J is helpg him overe his homosexual I spoke to him, he said he “had to make a choice of my fah over my feelgs. Many Amerins believed at the time that homosexualy was a mere matter of choice, and worse, a s that would endanger one’s eternal their mds, same-sex-attracted Christians who wanted to live a life of hols uld supprs their sexual sir through some mixture of prayer, spirual disciple and therapy.

Mistri and anizatns rose up and preached the ex-gay eventually the movement was plagued by shiftg public opn, and ex-gay Christiany’s most proment lears began repudiatg the movement and tellg the tth about s failur. Chambers, who once lled homosexualy “one of the many evils this world has to offer, ” lobbied agast marriage equaly and touted exampl of happily wed “former homosexuals, ” said that 99.

9 percent of ex-gay mistry participants he had met had not experienced a shift sexual Bethel Church, a mega-ngregatn based Reddg, Calif., wh a popular worldwi worship mic brand, may be tryg to fill that void. LGBT advot are llg for the removal of a therapist set to lead the Air Force Amy's t unselg program, cg the shrk's two-s long advocy for the unscientific and harmful practice of "reparative" or "ex-gay" therapy, which aims to turn gay people straight.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

Aravosis reported on Rosebh's numero ti to vilent antigay and "ex-gay" advocy groups, cludg as a clil member of the Natnal Associatn for the Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy, an anizatn about which the Southern Poverty Law Center published a lengthy, revealg expose last year. Rosebh's "ex-gay" ti extend back to at least 1995, reports Aravosis, notg that Rosebh served as director of the profsnal unselors' work for the now-funct Exod Internatnal, which was, until s shutterg and "rebrandg" earlier this year, the natn's most vol supporter of "reparative therapy. "The repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' sent a msage that the Uned Stat ary will no longer be a home for antigay bigotry and discrimatn, " said Tth Ws Out's executive director, Wayne Ben.

RSIAN LAWMAKER WANTS TO OFFER FREE 'EX-GAY' THERAPY

"So-lled ex-gay therapy has been discreded by every major medil and psychologil anizatn the untry, disavowed as unscientific, unsuccsful, and even harmful to the mental and physil well-beg of those unrgog treatment. Hope for Wholens, a proment ex-gay mistry that boasts one of the most expansive works of nversn therapy offergs the Uned Stat, is Spartanburg, South Carola-based anizatn, found 1999 as Tth Mistri, told members an email Monday and obtaed by NBC News that Hope for Wholens would be closg s operatns, cg the group’s difficulti retag a director to lead their efforts.

A reprentative for Hope for Wholens cled to ment on anizatn pledged s letter to redirect any remag funds, though that amount is unknown, to another nversn therapy group lled Abba’s Delight Louisville, Kentucky — which brands self as a mistry “alg wh unwanted same genr attractns” — hop of layg the groundwork for siar programs the the llapse of Hope for Wholens is a major victory for advocy groups phg for legislative efforts to ban nversn therapy on mors, their sights are set on what other ex-gay groups stand to ga om Hope for Wholens’ absence. ”Hope for Wholens was origally an offshoot of Exod Internatnal, which, for s, was the center of the ex-gay movement and had more than 120 mistri the Uned Stat and Canada. “All on the false promise that they n make gay people straight, [which] is dulent … So the fact that Hope for Wholens has rerve funds that’s gog to go somewhere else speaks to that d.

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

In 2011, a bright-eyed newer om small-town Texas was ved to speak at the annual Exod Internatnal nference, alongsi a who’s who of nservative Christians who were tryg to curb their homosexualy via prayer and unselg.

Casually drsed a button-down shirt and baggy pants, Julie Rodgers mand the stage wh a feisty fist pump and heartfelt ttimony about how J was helpg her to rea om lbian age 25, she was on her way: a risg star the “ex-gay” Rodgers was also havg doubts — doubts that would e to full flower an epic journey through the LGBTQ culture wars.