New Jersey "Ex-Gay" Fraud Case - Not Going Well for JONAH

For years Wayne Besen and I savored the vision of "ex-gay" proponents being forced to defend their fraudulent practices in court under oath and subject to the rules of discovery.  That dream is happening now in a New Jersey court in Ferguson v. JONAH and what's going down is the "ex-gay" charlatans' worse nightmare.  Making things even more delicious, if you will, is that it is ALL being captured in court transcripts.   Equality Case Files ("ECF") is keeping a record of the proceedings here.  On its Facebook page, ECF looks at a portion of recent proceedings that show just how fraudulent the so-called "ex-gays" for pay are in fact and that their "cures" are simple fantasies and self-delusion.  Here's a sampling of the batshitery and the court's reaction (NOTE: remember, this crap is being peddled daily by "ministries" and fraudulent "Christian counselors" like Marcus "Marcia" Bachmann):

On Wednesday and Thursday, we heard from five of JONAH's "success story" witnesses - three as live testimony and two by watching excerpts of their videotaped depositions.Two of the live witnesses - Jeffrey Bennion and Preston Robert Dahlgren - are men from the TLC show "My Husband's Not Gay." 

During cross-examination, Mr. Bennion admitted that the he does not identify as heterosexual because he is "predominantly sexually attracted to men." (transcript pg 2411) 

He also admitted that during his deposition he testified that he was satisfied with the sexual relationship he has with his wife and that "Part of that satisfaction for [him] is accepting that [he] can't always achieve an erection" or climax. He clarified that referred to "In my marriage". Cross continued with:

- Q. And in some cases, finding other ways to share and celebrate your connection with your wife is what is satisfying to you?
- A. Yes.
- Q. Because you can have a good time even if you are, as you put it, limp as a wet noodle?
- A. Sure, yes.
(transcript pp 2411-12)

The first video played was that of David DeJiacomo from Denver, Colorado. The tape ran nearly two hours. Following the video, and after the jury left the room, the judge asked, 

"Is this what the other tapes are going to be like? Because two-thirds of that is irrelevant. ... you guys better look at the tapes, because I'm going to start objecting to them during the middle of the trial, because most of this was irrelevant. I don't understand what the accomplishment was there. I'm not even sure how it's a success story witness, based on his testimony." (transcript page 2573). "Look at the tapes, or I will start objecting myself in front of the jury."

This bullshit "therapy" needs to be illegal nationwide!  What truly leaves me dumbstruck is that the wives of these "ex-gays" are willing to accept such a fraudulent and farcical marriage.  WTF is wrong with them??

New Jersey Court: "Ex-Gay" Ministry's Claims ViolateState Consumer Protection Laws

This blog has long attacked the fraudulent lies of "ex-gay" therapists and "ministries" that prey upon distraught parents and often self-loathing gays for the purpose of raking in cash and fostering anti-gay propaganda.  I've put my money where my mouth is so to speak by helping expose "ex-gay" frauds such as Michael Johnston who was once a protege of Jerry Falwell and featured in a national anti-gay campaign funded by a who's who of the far right.  Now, a court in New Jersey has ruled that ex-gay ministries that depict homosexuality as curable disorder violate that state's consumer protection laws.  The Court's ruling can be found here.  Here are highlights from a Southern Poverty Law Center press release:

A New Jersey Superior Court judge has ruled misrepresenting homosexuality as a disorder in marketing conversion therapy services violates the state’s consumer protection laws – a devastating ruling for the conversion therapy industry, which claims to “convert” people from gay to straight, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced today.

The ruling marks the first time a court in the United States has found that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder and that it is fraudulent for conversion therapists to make such a claim. Superior Court Judge Peter F. Barsio Jr. found that it “is a misrepresentation in violation of [New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act], in advertising or selling conversion therapy services, to describe homosexuality, not as being a normal variation of human sexuality, but as being a mental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent thereof.”

The ruling is part of the consumer fraud lawsuit filed by the SPLC against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a New Jersey-based conversion therapy provider. The suit claims the group used deceptive practices to lure plaintiffs into their costly services for gay-to-straight therapy that can cost in excess of $10,000 a year.

“For the first time, a court has ruled that it is fraudulent as a matter of law for conversion therapists to tell clients that they have a mental disorder that can be cured. This is the principal lie the conversion therapy industry uses throughout the country to peddle its quackery to vulnerable clients. Gay people don’t need to be cured, and we are thrilled that the court has recognized this.”

The judge also ruled that JONAH is in violation of the Consumer Fraud Act if it offers specific success statistics for its services when “client outcomes are not tracked and no records of client outcomes are maintained” because “there is no factual basis for calculating such statistics.” Evidence at the upcoming trial this summer will show that JONAH has misrepresented that their conversion therapy works based on bogus statistics.

“The judge’s determination today that it is a misrepresentation to tell consumers that homosexuality is a disorder is an important step forward in this case and also a victory for showing that conversion therapy proponents lack any valid basis to continue to promote their abusive practices,” said SPLC co-counsel James L. Bromley, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

It should also be noted that one of JONAH's founders is a convicted felon who went to prison for fraudulent securities claims.   I hope more lawsuits of this type are filed against the charlatans who engage in these bogus "ministries."  A suit against "Marcia" Bachmann's clinic would be too fun!!

Quote of the Day - The Sad Truth About "Ex-Gays"

Every legitimate medical and mental health association in America deems sexual orientation as something that unchangeable and condemns so-called reparative therapy peddled by "ex-gay ministries" and unethical therapist who are either out to make a quick buck off of religiously tormented gays and/or their families.  These "ministries" always have what I call "ex-gays for pay"  who will claim that they have "changed" and are no longer homosexual.  It's usually the same small group of tortured self-loathing individuals who were losers in their lives, often falling into drug and alcohol abuse, who are willing to lie for money.  These sick individuals without exception blame their sexual orientation for their problems when, in truth, most of their psychological damage stems from religious brainwashing they received in childhood or from family rejection.  As noted many times on this blog, there are far more former "ex-gays" than those who continue to sell their souls and integrity to these foul ministries.  Now, PFOX, a totally Christofascist financed organization, has brought the ex-gay lie to Richmond, Virginia by placing a billboard sign - the image is above - next to busy I-95.  The billboard distorts actual scientific research as noted by the New York Daily News:

The nonprofit’s president is Greg Quinlan, who claims to be a former gay man who renounced his sexual identity in 1993. His group frequently touts their belief that homosexuality is not a biological trait, but an emotional disorder, according to Qinlan’s biography on PFOX’s website.

In a statement shared to PFOX’s blog, a spokesperson stood by their billboard and cited a Northwestern University Department Of Psychology study interpreted to show that if identical twins shared the same genes, they would either both be gay or not at all. The study’s author, J. Michael Bailey has even argued against PFOX’s intepretation in an interview with LGBT Science.

 If anyone has an emotional disorder, it is Quinlan who, like most ex-gays and Christofascists is pretty much lying whenever his lips/their are moving.  In a Playboy interview, Dan Savage summed these people up well.  Here are a few on target quotes:

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and almost every other faith have constantly tried to insert themselves between your genitals and your salvation, because then they can regulate and control you. Then you need them to intercede with God, so they target your junk and stigmatize your sexual desire. If you have somebody by the balls or the ovaries, you’ve got them.

Look at Marcus Bachmann, Michele Bachmann’s husband. Anybody who has gaydar—anybody who has eyes—looks at him and sees a tormented closet case who has externalized his internal conflict and is abusing other people, doing his reparative-therapy bullshit. It’s so sad and pathetic. A lot of the self-destructive behaviors gay people are prone to drifting into are directed inward, and then you have these shitbags like Marcus Bachmann for whom it’s all directed outward. Marcus Bachmann is the photo negative of the guy on the last bar stool in the gay bar, drinking and smoking himself to death, except instead of destroying himself, he’s destroying other vulnerable queer people in an effort to destroy the queer inside himself.

You can’t beat the gay out of a kid, but you can kill that gay kid trying. One result is that once you’ve assembled yourself to appease your sports-obsessed father, to fool your peers, your girlfriend…once you put that together, it creates a cognitive bifurcation. The pride you take when you do fool people, when you put together this bullshit version, this Potemkin kid who isn’t you, and people buy it and you’re like, Oh wow—there’s power in that. There was for me. But some kids are crushed by it. The guys I knew who were self- or otherwise destructive were guys who believed they were terrible, that there was something wrong with them. The guys who were healthier believed there was something wrong with everybody else. I was that guy. I thought, I’m fine. My church is crazy. My parents are crazy. Everyone in my Catholic grade school is crazy. Everyone in this neighborhood I live in is fucking nuts. But I’m fine.

[W]hen I realized I was gay, it brought me into conflict with what my church was telling me. I didn’t just move two steps over and find the affirming Lutherans. I looked at the whole religion racket and it kind of fell apart, especially when I saw how much it was torturing gay kids.

As always, Savage holds no punches and the entire interview deserves a read.  Unlike Savage, I did "just move two steps over" and became a Lutheran after belatedly coming out in mid-life, although now I am more of a mindset that religion - even gay friendly faiths - is a racket.  If you want "fellowship" join the Moose Club, a country club, a yacht club or even a non-church affiliated charity group (it'd probably be cheaper!).  As for helping the sick, poor and the hungry, I say do that rather than build huge church buildings and related complexes that only serve members of the church "club."

District of Columbia Bans "Ex-Gay" Therapy

The Christofascists have lost another battle in their war to perpetuate the myth that sexual orientation is a "choice" and that gays can "change" their sexuality - claims that are condemned by every legitimate medical and mental health association in America.  The truth and the findings of medical/mental health experts mean nothing, of course, to the "godly folk.  If you want some insights on just how bogus "ex-gay" therapy is, check out this piece at Queerty that looks at an undercover effort to expose "ex-gay" charlatans.   But back to the developments in the District of Columbia.  Here are excerpts from a press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

Today, the District of Columbia Council unanimously approved a bill that will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy.

When signed into law, Washington, D.C. will become the third jurisdiction—behind California and New Jersey—to pass legislation protecting LGBT youth from practices that are known to cause severe depression and even suicide.

“Today, the DC Council sent a powerful message to LGBT youth and their families that they are accepted, supported, and loved,” said Samantha Ames, NCLR staff attorney and coordinator of the #BornPerfect campaign at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). “The Council has used its authority to protect our most vulnerable youth from dangerous and discredited pseudoscience that tells them who they are is wrong, and reaffirmed the consensus of every major medical and mental health organization that all children are born perfect, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

NCLR, in conjunction with other organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, played a key role in organizing the coalition behind the bill, which was authored by Councilmember Mary M. Cheh. A broad range of groups supported the Youth Mental Health Protection Act, including national LGBT organizations, mental health organizations, faith leaders, youth advocates, reproductive justice groups, and civil rights organizations.

The reality is that "ex-gay" therapy needs to be banned nationwide with no exemption for religious "ministries."  At the same time, we need more victims of these programs to come forward and file lawsuits against these therapists and organizations on the basis of the intentional infliction of emotional harm, negligence and fraudulent advertising.  With a fee successful lawsuits, insurance carriers would drop coverage of "Christian counseling" clinics (Think "Ladybird" Bachmann), churches and other organizations   that peddle these fraudulent "therapies."

Marcus "Ladybird" Bachmann Still Smarting Over 'Ex-Gay' Scandal

One of the Christofascists' biggest lies - there are so many that it is difficult to select the biggest one - is the myth that gays change "change" and become "ex-gay."  True, some tortured individuals who have been subjected to religious brainwashing and suffer from other psychological ills will try to convince themselves that they are no longer gay, but as the continued parade of former "ex-gay" leaders demonstrates, no change ever really occurs.  Thus, it was delicious to see Marcus "Ladybird" Bachmann - one of the gayest sounding men I've ever heard - exposed as a charlatan peddling the "ex-gay" myth and sucking up tax payer funds in the process.  My friend John Becker has a piece in The Bilerico Project that recounts his undercover effort to expose Bachmann's fraudulent "Christian counseling" business.  Here are highlights:

Almost three and a half years ago, I went undercover with hidden cameras at Marcus Bachmann's "Christian counseling" clinic and filmed fraudulent "ex-gay" therapy sessions there. The story made headlines, catapulting the dangerous quackery of "ex-gay" therapy back into the national conversation and presenting Michele Bachmann with the first major obstacle in her spectacularly unsuccessful bid for the presidency.

It also turned Marcus Bachmann into something of a punchline -- and as it turns out, several years later he's still ever so pissed about it. Right Wing Watch reports that in an interview this weekend, Bachmann took the time to defend his use of the dangerous and abusive "therapy":

Speaking with Jan Markell and Jill Martin Rische on "Understanding the Times" this weekend, Bachmann said that he was angry that his clinic faced criticism after several reports surfaced about ex-gay therapy taking place there.

Bachmann insisted that "we are people of ethics" who were only attacked for trying to "speak truth," adding that "people will choose, they will ultimately choose what they are going to do with their life."

RWW [Right Wing Watch] has this partial transcript:

Once the far-left understood that we were actually creating a safe place, a place where people who said I have this issue with same-sex attraction, this desire. I'm a believer, I'm a person of faith and it's conflicting with my values systems. Anyone who would walk alongside and then encourage that person's values systems and their beliefs and bring that in alignment, that is like blasphemous to the other side. How dare you even consider being involved in someone who has decided or is desiring that to influence in any way shape or form another side in the book on this one?

No, seriously, he said that. 

"Ex-gay" therapy and "creating a safe place for LGBT people" are  mutually exclusive phenomenons.  If Ladybird were honest, he's admit that it's all about the money - and convincing himself that he's not gay as a goose.

Michele Bachmann May Go From Congress to Prison

I find a perverse pleasure in seeing the self-professed "godly folk" of the Republican Party political class time and time again turn out to be the biggest crooks going.  In Virginia we have seen the unfettered greed of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell link to possible gifts in exchange for political favors.  Religious zealot Ken Cuccinelli is yet another crooked GOP politician who accepted gifts from Jonnie R. Williams/Star Scientific  and seemingly had his office intercede for energy company benefactors.  And perhaps one of the looniest - and also most hypocritical of them all - Michele Bachmann, now seems headed to possible indictment. Her snake oil merchant, "ex-gay" myth peddling husband Marcus - a/k/a Marcia - Bachmann may be involved as well.  Whenever a politician talks incessantly about religion and claimed faith and piety, the moral is to watch and follow the money.  The New York Times has details.  Here are highlights:

Representative Michele Bachmann’s presidential hopes ended 20 months ago, but her brief and chaotic campaign continues to be the focus of ethics investigations.

The latest is a federal inquiry into whether an outside “super PAC” improperly coordinated strategy with Mrs. Bachmann’s campaign staff, including her husband, in violation of election laws. 

The Department of Justice demanded records from the super PAC last week of its finances and its communications with Mrs. Bachmann; Marcus Bachmann, her husband; and former staff members, according to a grand jury subpoena reviewed by The New York Times. 

The investigation appears to stem from a complaint a former campaign staff member made to the Federal Election Commission and to the F.B.I. The staff member told of overhearing the president of the super PAC asking a Bachmann senior adviser about buying advertising on radio and TV stations in Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3, 2012. 

Coordination between a campaign and a super PAC violates federal election law if it meets certain criteria, said Paul S. Ryan, a senior counsel at the independent Campaign Legal Center. 

Mrs. Bachmann is already the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into her campaign finances and allegations her staff was improperly used to promote her political biography, “Core of Conviction.”

The turmoil of her final weeks has spawned multiple accusations of impropriety. A coordinator for Christian home-school families sued Mrs. Bachmann, accusing her of stealing a mailing list; the suit was recently settled. An Iowa state senator who was chairman of Mrs. Bachmann’s campaign is under investigation by the Iowa Supreme Court over whether he was improperly paid. 

In a complaint to the F.E.C. in February, Peter Waldron, a Florida Republican operative hired to enlist evangelical Iowa pastors, described overhearing the president of the super PAC ask Brett O’Donnell, a senior campaign adviser, about radio and TV stations.

Mr. Waldron, who calls himself a whistle-blower, also disclosed an e-mail from Mr. Bachmann describing a phone call Mr. Bachmann made to a donor asking for $7,000. In the e-mail, Mr. Bachmann wrote that the donor had agreed to give the money through the super PAC. He concluded: “Praise the Lord!! Thank you Peter for your servant leadership.”

Mr. Waldron, who has a controversial past, has been dismissed by other former Bachmann staff members as a disgruntled employee who had limited responsibilities. Last month he published a critical e-book, “Bachmannistan: Behind the Lines.”

Former ‘Ex-Gay’ Superstar John Paulk Finally Renounces His ‘Ex-Gay’ Past

1998 cover story lie

If one studies the parade of "ex-gays" trotted out time and again by the Christofascists to support their politically motivated claims that gays can "change," what one finds is a sad parade of still gay men, many of whom later admit that they never changed their sexual orientation.  Yes, there are some how will continue the charade and help the charlatans like Michele Bachmann's (in my view) closeted husband, the "family values" organizations and the fraudulent "ex-gay ministries,"  but most in my opinion are losers who continue the lies because they have no other viable options to make a buck and/or still suffer from religious brainwashing and refuse to let go of the lies they were indoctrinated with.  These fakes are no more straight than the man in the moon.  Now, one of the most high profile "ex-gays" of them all, John Paulk has renounced his "ex-gay" past and asked forgiveness for the harm he did masquerading as an "ex-gay."  Truth Wins Out  has details.  Here are highlights:

In a piece in PQ Monthly, Paulk, who has perhaps done more to hurt LGBT families than any other single person in the “ex-gay” industry, states for the record that he no longer endorses efforts to change people’s sexuality:

“Until recently, I have struggled all my life in feeling unloved and unaccepted,” Paulk said. “I have been on a journey during the last few years in trying to understand God, myself, and how I can best relate to others. During this journey I have made many mistakes and I have hurt many people including people who are close to me. I have also found a large number of people who accept me for who I am regardless of my past, any labels, or what I do.”

Paulk continued, “I no longer support the ex-gay movement or efforts to attempt to change individuals — especially teens who already feel insecure and alienated. I feel great sorrow over the pain that has been caused when my words were misconstrued. I have worked at giving generously to the gay community in Portland where I work and live. I am working hard to be authentic and genuine in all of my relationships.”

John Paulk was at one time the most well known and influential person in the “ex-gay” industry, appearing on the cover of Newsweek with his wife Anne in 1998 under the headline, “Gay For Life?” He was instrumental in forming the Love Won Out “ex-gay” roadshow, which subjected countless LGBT youth and their families to misinformation, indoctrination and lies, and which destroyed many families in the process. In 2000, Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, photographed John Paulk coming out of a Washington, DC, gay bar, and the lies began to unravel. Though John resigned from the board of Exodus International following this incident, the Religious Right continued to use the Paulks’ story as evidence that the “ex-gay” life was a fairy tale rather than a nightmare, and many LGBT people and their families have been damaged or destroyed over the years as a result.

John and his wife moved to Portland, Oregon, shortly thereafter and lived relatively quiet lives as John built a catering company called Mezzaluna, staffed by curiously attractive gay men. John and Anne didn’t really disappear from the “ex-gay” scene, though. John spoke in 2010 at the Evergreen “ex-gay” conference, and in 2012, Anne was a co-founder of the Restored Hope Network, a group of “ex-gay” ministries that defected from Exodus International when Alan Chambers began to tell the truth, that reparative therapy and “ex-gay” ministries do not change anyone’s sexuality. Indeed, Anne seemed to double down on the lie at the group’s inaugural meeting, telling the crowd:

“I never thought I would be married and the mother of three sons,” she told the eager crowd mixed with anti-gay extremists and the hurting parents of gay children.

Anne Paulk continues to propagate a false narrative of her own “ex-gay” life in order to stay in the spotlight and make money off of suffering LGBT people and their families.

In light of  John Paulk’s announcement, Truth Wins Out also calls upon Anne Paulk and the rest of the Religious Right to immediately cease using the Paulks’ story to sell harmful “ex-gay” therapy to vulnerable people. “Anne Paulk and her Religious Right cohort must immediately cease lying to people about the false ‘ex-gay Paulk fairy-tale,’” said Truth Wins Out Associate Director Evan Hurst. “Indeed, both Paulks should become poster children for the very real nightmare that has been the ‘ex-gay’ experience for so many LGBT people.”

The "ex-gays for pay" are truly ugly parasites who prey on troubled gays and their families to make a buck and to aid the anti-gay propaganda spewed from far too many pulpits and disseminated by fronts for the Roman Catholic and Mormon churches.  It's all a lie.  But then, no one lies as often or as maliciously than the "godly Christian" crowd.