Undercover at Marcus Bachmann's Clinic

With GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty joining the ranks of the science deniers on the issue of the changeability of sexual orientation yesterday on Meet the Press, The Advocate has a timely article by John Becker (pictured at left) who went under cover to one of Marcus Bachmann's "Christian counseling" centers and confirmed that Michele Bachmann's lisping, mincing husband is peddling the "ex-gay" snake oil - despite his public denials to the contrary. Pawlenty's effort to deny what ever legitimate mental health association has to say on reparative demonstrates how either he (and those like him) is an ignorant moron or he's so obsessed with prostituting himself to the rabid far right of the GOP base that he has thrown aside every shred of honesty and integrity. First this from Think Progress on Pawlenty's batshitery:

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In fact, there is no dispute among health professionals. All major medical professional organizations agree that sexual orientation is not a choice and cannot be changed, from gay to straight or otherwise. The American Psychological Association, the world’s largest association of psychological professionals, describes sexual orientation as “a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors.” There is considerable evidence to suggest that biology, “including genetic or inborn hormonal factors,” plays a significant role in a person’s sexuality.

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Pawlenty’s comments underscore the reality that promoting ex-gay therapy and the idea that homosexuality can be changed or denied (which it cannot) are at the root of all anti-gay perspectives. The broad consensus of scientists have condemned such notions — and the kinds of discrimination Pawlenty has protected — for decades.

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Turning to Becker's experience at Bachmann's snake oil market, here are some highlights from Becker's piece in The Advocate:
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TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen decided that we were going to obtain that verification: I was to go undercover to Bachmann & Associates in Lake Elmo, MN posing as someone seeking counseling for homosexuality, schedule as many appointments as I could, and document what went on during my appointments with hidden cameras.

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When I called Bachmann & Associates to schedule my initial appointment, I told the receptionist who answered the phone that I was struggling with homosexuality. She referred me to Timothy Wiertzema, a counselor at the clinic, and scheduled me for a June 23 appointment.

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When asked why I came in for counseling, I said that I had been struggling with homosexuality for a long time and tried a lot of things, up to and including suicide, to make it go away – exactly how my 16-year-old self would have responded. I said that I was upset: this struggle has lasted for so long that I started to wonder if I was doing it right and decided to seek outside help.

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In later sessions he would say that he “…think[s] it’s possible to be totally free of [same-sex attraction]. For sure.” and that “It’s happened! It really has happened to people.” I was never told that every professional medical and mental health association rejects “ex-gay” therapy including the American Medical Association, American PsychologicalAssociation, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Counseling Association, or that the treatment I was seeking was totally unsupported by research. I was never informed about possible alternative treatment options such as gay-affirmative therapy. Nobody ever told me about the potential for harmful side effects like depression and suicidal thoughts. . . . . I was never given nor asked to sign any kind of informed consent document that disclosed the above information about “ex-gay” therapy.

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I was told that whenever I saw an attractive woman I just needed to reinforce in my mind that she was, indeed, attractive, and that God made her this way and made me to notice her. After all, “God designed our eyes to be attracted to the woman’s body, to be attracted to everything, to be attracted to her breasts.” Further, according to Wiertzema, “We’re all heterosexuals, but we have different challenges.” Attraction to the same sex “is there, and it’s real, but at the core value, in terms of how God created us, we’re all heterosexual.”

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Based on my experiences at Bachmann & Associates, there can no longer be any doubt that Marcus Bachmann’s state- and federally-funded clinic endorses and practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person’s sexual orientation, despite the fact that such “therapy” is widely discredited by the scientific and medical communities. It’s time for Michele and Marcus Bachmann to stop denying, dodging, and stonewalling. They owe it to all Americans to provide a full and honest explanation for their embrace of these dangerous and fraudulent practices.

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Obviously, there need to be answers as to how and why the State of Minnesota is allowing Bachmann's clinics to engage in "treatment" that is labeled as unethical by all the major medical and mental health authorities. At the same time, the mainstream media needs to cover this issue and make it clear just how far out of the mainstream both Marcus and Michele Bachmann are in fact.