My friend Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out ("TWO") are doing a great job at exposing the false and utterly disingenuous claims of the ex-gay “ministries,” which in my opinion are motivated by (1) the money they extract from desperate, trusting and uninformed families with gay children, and (2) the need to maintain the myth that sexual orientation is a choice for the political purposes of the Christian Right in their opposition of LGBT rights and hate crimes protections based on sexual orientation. In short, in my opinion, their motivation is based on cynical political manipulation and greed with little or no regard regard for the damage done to individuals and families. As an interviewee in one of the TWO film clips (I certainly do NOT look my best - Wayne, next time let's use better lighting!) concerning my representation of a client in connection with unmasking prominent ex-gay, Michael Johnston, as a fraud, I fully support exposing these programs. Hopefully, the day will come when they will be shut down by legitimate mental health regulators. I know a number of individuals who were placed in these programs by their families and most have yet to get over the emotional and psychological damage done to them as a result. Here is what Truth Wins Out has to say about the video series and my interview (http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/truthwinsoutorg-introduces-seven-new-videos-leading-up-to-march-3-launch-of-dynamic-website/):
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) introduced seven new Internet videos today featuring a noted clinical psychologist, the attorney who represented a man who had possibly been exposed to HIV from an “ex-gay” leader and several ex-gay survivors. Each week leading up to the March 3 launch of TruthWinsOut.org’s updated website, the organization will release new educational videos addressing the “ex-gay” myth from unique angles.
In Aug. 2003, TruthWinsOut.org founder Wayne Besen received a call from Virginia attorney Michael Hamar. He had a client who believed he may have been infected with HIV from ‘ex-gay’ leader Michael Johnston. Johnston was the founder of National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day. He was Rev. Jerry Falwell’s personal ex-gay leader. Johnston also starred in a video for the American Family Association, “It’s Not Gay, and an ad for Coral Ridge Ministries. Additionally, he partnered with anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera, who paraded Johnston around and hawked his tale of change. In this exclusive TWO video, we interview Virginia attorney Michael Hamar, who represented one of Johnston’s victims.
The unmasking of Michael Johnston was previously reported in the Southern Voice and its sister publications: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2003/8-8/news/national/exgay.cfm
2 comments:
Don't underestimate yourself; you look very GQ, LOL.
Thanks for the link to the interview. You come across very well.
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