I Don't Exist

Wayne Besen has a good - and biting column - that takes Warren Throckmorton to task for his continued promotion of the "ex-gay" myth. (I've had my own go rounds with Throckmorton via e-mail and when he attacked me by name in a Townhall.com column after fake "ex-gay" Michael Johnston was exposed as a fraud in 2003). While Throckmorton has tried to moderate his ex-gay shrillness, he still is basocally peddling snake oil to the uninformed and desperate, pocketing money along the way. While Focus on the Family and those like Throckmorton claim that there are "hundreds of thousands" of ex-gays who are now "cured" and happily married, they never can produce more than a handful and then most of them are on the payrolls of "ex-gay" ministries. Even then, many eventually come clean and admit that they are still gay. In short, they are temporarily ex-gay for pay. If Throckmorton truly cared about his patients, he'd seek to help them resolve their sexual orientation with their religious beliefs instead of giving them a false hope that they can change, but then he would not be raking in the money the "ex-gay" myth provides. Here are highlights from Wayne's column:

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A few years back, Warren Throckmorton, an erstwhile psychologist and full-time blogger from a tiny Christian school, filmed a noxious "ex-gay" video, "I Do Exist." The documentary begins at New York's porn palaces on 8th Avenue - with the seedy atmosphere shot deliberately to signify gay life. Not long into the video, we were introduced to a nutty exorcist who is known to extract demons from the anuses of gay men.

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Later in the movie, we meet Noe Gutierrez, who had supposedly gone from gay activist to "ex-gay " spokesperson. For several minutes, he prattles about his tale of transformation - essentially becoming "living proof" that ex-gays exist. Well, last week he renounced his testimony, meaning that as an ex-gay he doesn't exist. History, once again, has repeated itself, with the latest so-called "ex-gay" leader coming out of the closet. This has happened so many times that this story line, quite frankly, has become somewhat stale. I mean how many times can we see this rerun before people get it?

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He [Throckmorton] still has not come forward with success stories from his alleged 250 clients. He is also not upfront about his cozy relationships, over the years, with right wing extremists like Bob Knight, Peter LaBarbera and Richard Cohen.

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In promoting this fraudulent video, Throckmorton is mirroring the behavior of the American Family Association, which sells "It's Not Gay," a title that features failed, orgy-loving Michael Johnston. Until "I Do Exist" is expunged from his website or a new version is made with the real Noe Gutierrez story, Throckmorton is no better than a shameless con artist or backcountry huckster. What kind of man claims to be moral and Christian, while consciously misleading people? . . . It is time for Throckmorton to redeem himself by acknowledging - without qualification - that "ex-gays" only exist in his wild and overactive imagination. Until this time, he lacks the credentials and credibility to be taken seriously in rational discussions of sexual orientation.