Hawaii Becomes 12th State to Ban Bogus "Ex-Gay" Therapy

Among the many exceedingly dishonest things self-style Christian "family values" organizations do is to peddle the discredited myth that sexual orientation is a "choice" and can be "cured" by appropriate "therapy."  Every legitimate mental health and medical association in America has condemned the practice and labeled it unethical for licensed therapists.  It's a topic in which I am well versed.  One of my first efforts at LGBT activism was when I helped to expose Michael Johnston, the poster boy for a campaign backed who's who of the misnamed Christian Right, as a fraud complete fraud and anything but "ex-gay."  Making matters worse, Johnston who was HIV+ was sleeping around the Hampton Roads area of Virginia in gay hook ups without disclosing his HIV status.  For years after Johnston went into hiding at a right wing Christian "ministry" many "family values" organizations continued to sell videos featuring him and touting the ex-gay myth even though they knew full well that Johnston and conversion therapy were both complete frauds.  Why?  Money and to perpetuate the "choice myth" to oppose civil rights fro LGBT individuals.   

Now, Hawaii joins eleven other states which have banned so-called "conversion therapy" for those under age 18.  Virginia and other states need to follow suit.   Here are highlights from Hawaii News Now on the development in Hawaii:

State lawmakers on Friday approved a ban on so-called 'gay conversion therapy' treatments conducted on minors.

Gay rights advocates say the practice, which is largely discredited by healthcare professionals, does more harm than good to those who are subjected to it.

"This has been a priority of the caucus for years," said Michael Golojuch, chair of the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. "(The measure) ensures that LGQTB youth will not be tortured by mental health professionals."

Several states, including California, Oregon and New Jersey, have already passed similar laws. Maryland passed legislation banning the practice earlier this month. 

The bill was opposed by religious groups who consider sexual orientation a choice.
 

The full list of states (prior to Hawaii's vote) banning ex-gay conversion therapy is as follows: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia.  In addition, several dozen cities and counties have enacted bans on the practice. 

Church of England: Ban "Ex-Gay" Conversion Therapy

By far a minority of states in the United States - but nonetheless, a growing number - have banned fraudulent "ex-gay" conversion therapy for those under 18 years of age.  The practice has been a cash cow for the bogus "ministries" and "Christian counseling centers" who have  marketed the "ex-gay" "change programs."   Moreover, the myth that they have sought to maintain (namely, that sexual orientation is a choice) has long been used as a political weapon by Christofascists to oppose LGBT non-discrimination laws and ordinances.   I have been actively working to show how dangerous and fraudulent these programs are since 20013.  An article here looks at the take down of Michael Johnston, one of the leading "ex-gay" poster boys of the Christian Right.  Now, the Church of England is call for the fraudulent practice to be banned in the United Kingdom.  A piece in The Guardian looks at this surprising and most welcomed development.  Be assured that Tony Perkins of FRC, Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation in Richmond, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage and similar charlatans are likely shrieking at this news.  Here are excerpts from The Guardian:

The Church of England has called on the government to ban conversion therapy and has condemned the practice, which aims to change sexual orientation, as unethical and potentially harmful.

At the end of an emotional debate in which two members of the C of E synod described their experiences as spiritual abuse, the church’s governing body overwhelmingly backed a motion saying the practice had “no place in the modern world”.

Conversion therapy is usually described as an attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Some churches in the C of E and other denominations have encouraged LGBT members to take part in prayer sessions and other activities to rid them of their “sin”.

Proposing the motion, Jayne Ozanne – who underwent conversion therapy resulting in two breakdowns and two spells in hospital – said conversion therapy was “abuse from which vulnerable adults need protecting”.

It was “discredited by the government, the NHS, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of General Practitioners and many other senior health care bodies,” she said.

Quoting from a statement issued earlier this year by the UK Council for Psychotherapy and other bodies, she said: “Exclusion, stigma and prejudice may precipitate mental health issues for any person subjected to these abuses.”

John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, said conversion therapy was “theologically unsound, so the sooner the practice of [it] is banned, I can sleep at night”.

Paul Bayes, the bishop of Liverpool, said LGBT orientation was neither a crime nor a sin. “We don’t need to engage people in healing therapy if they are not sick.”

Fenella Cannings-Jurd, a student at Durham university, said she found it hard to believe that “in 2017 we are seriously debating the pros and cons of conversion therapy”. It was “by and large” seen as a violation of basic human rights, she said.

The final vote, after a complicated series of amendments, was 298 to 74, with 26 abstentions. The motion had the backing of all three houses of the synod, the bishops, clergy and laity.

Speaking before the debate, Ozanne said she wanted the church to make a clear public statement. As the established church “we can encourage other denominations and faiths to consider their positions on this”, she said.

Conversion therapy was particularly prevalent in minority ethnic Pentecostal denominations, and in some extreme cases young people were sent back to their family’s country of origin for “corrective rape”.

"Corrective rape" - I suspect that Jesus would not have been an advocate of such batshitery and violent abuse.  I tried to "pray away the gay" for 37 years and I can assure you, it does NOT work.  Kudos to the Church of England.  Hopefully, more American denominations will follow the example and condemn this fraudulent practice which epitomizes right wing Christians' embrace of ignorance.

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!!

Newsweek's Devastating Piece on the Vile Ex-Gay Myth

1998 Newsweek cover - all of which was a lie

 Back in 1998 while I was still in the closet trying valiantly to convince myself that I wasn't really gay, Newsweek magazine did a front page cover piece on the "ex-gay" ministries and suggested that sexual orientation was in fact changeable.  The piece featured John Paulk and his then wife on the cover - see the image above - and went into great detail about how conversion therapy was supposedly turning gays into heterosexuals.  In retrospect, we all know that the entire storyline was and is a lie, but one has to wonder how many individuals redoubled their efforts to "pray away the gay."  I know that I certainly did, all to no effect, of course.  Only after an unplanned encounter did I finally admit reality to myself.  Now, a lengthy article in a new issue of Newsweek looks at John Paulk, who is no once again living as an openly gay man (the article also notes the exposure of Michael Johnston as a fraud thanks to the efforts of Wayne Besen and yours truly), that basically drops an atomic bomb on the snake oil merchants who continue to peddle the ex-gay myth.  These charlatans include Paulk's former wife who continues to market the ex-gay myth in a manner that makes a tawdry prostitute look down right virtuous.  Here are article excerpts:

On a Tuesday evening nearly 14 years ago, John Paulk walked into a gay bar in Washington, D.C. At another time in his life, Paulk would have fit right in. But in 2000, Paulk’s life as an openly gay man was far behind him. He was then one of the most prominent so-called ex-gays in the country, only two years removed from appearing on the cover of Newsweek, posing with his smiling wife for an article about gay conversion therapy.

At 37, Paulk had spent the prior 13 years involved with Exodus International, one of the largest and most influential ex-gay organizations in the world. He married another ex-gay, Anne, and together they rose through the ranks, becoming leaders and eventually the faces of a movement that attracted thousands with its message that, if they tried hard enough, gay and lesbian people could become happy heterosexuals. “Change is possible” was their rallying cry. You just needed to surrender yourself to God. Look at us, they said to rooms of thousands. Look how happy we are.

Today, Paulk is openly gay again, divorced and running a catering business in Portland, Oregon. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was trying hard to keep the closet door closed, while preaching a message of ex-gay deliverance from within it.

Far-right groups including the Family Research Council and the American Family Association pooled $600,000 to place ads promising the effectiveness of reparative therapy in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. Anne and John Paulk smiled from full-page newspaper spreads.

In front of the crowds and cameras, Paulk was the image of certainty. But backstage, he was faltering. More than that, he knew he was lying.

“It’s funny, for those of us that worked in it, behind closed doors, we knew we hadn't really changed,” he says. “Our situations had changed—we had gotten married, and some of us had children, so our roles had changed. I was a husband and father; that was my identity. And the homosexuality had been tamped down. But you can only push it down for so long, and it would eke its way out every so often.”

[B]y 2003, he was burned out.  “I would be in hotel rooms, and I would be on my face sobbing and crying on the bed,” he says. “I felt like a liar and a hypocrite. Having to go out and give hope to these people. I was in despair knowing that what I was telling them was not entirely honest. I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Even in its earliest days, Exodus’s philosophy—that same-sex attraction meant a person was “broken” and could be “fixed”—was undermined by the reality of its members’ actions. Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, two of the co-founders, left the movement in 1979 to be in a committed relationship with one another. (Bussee has spent the decades since actively fighting Exodus’s message.) John Evans, one of the founders of Love in Action (LIA), an early ex-gay ministry that helped establish Exodus in 1974, left LIA after a friend committed suicide over his distress at being unable to change his sexual orientation. "They're destroying people's lives,” Evans told The Wall Street Journal in 1993. “They're living in a fantasy world.” (LIA has since changed its name to Restoration Path.)

But all the far-right funding and rapid expansion did little more than prop up a withering institution. A series of scandals chipped away at the ex-gay movement’s veneer of success. 

First came the photo of Paulk in the gay bar. Then in 2003, Michael Johnson, founder of “National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day,” was revealed to have infected men he’d met on the Internet with HIV through unprotected sex. John Smid, who joined LIA in 1986 and eventually became its executive director, left the organization in 2008. Three years later, Smid wrote on his blog that he "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual," and that reorientation is impossible, because being gay is intrinsic.

Then it crumbled further. In 2012, psychologist Robert Spitzer . . . . retracted a controversial study, published in 2003, often cited by the ex-gay community that had concluded some “highly motivated” individuals could change their sexual orientation. Spitzer wrote an apology to LGBT people who “wasted time and energy” on reparative therapy. 

By that time, policy within Exodus began to genuinely shift. “We renounced and forbid reparative therapy,” in 2012, Chambers tells Newsweek. “And there was an enormous split inside Exodus. Many who were more fundamentalist in approach had already broken off and formed Restored Hope Network.” Anne Paulk, John’s ex-wife, was one of those who left.

Lastly, there’s the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), . . .  In 2007, NARTH therapist Chris Austin was convicted of sexually assaulting a client, and sentenced to 10 years in prison; in 2010, NARTH board member George Rekers was found to have employed a male prostitute as a companion for a two-week European vacation; and in 2012 the Internal Revenue Service revoked NARTH’s nonprofit status for not properly filing its paperwork.

Today, Paulk strongly believes that no child or teen should be put through any type of “treatment” for their sexual orientation. On the other hand, he says adults should have the right to pursue any therapy they choose. “If I go see a therapist because I am uncomfortable with homosexual feelings or attractions and I do not feel that those are compatible with who I see myself to be, [I] should have the right to determine the course of [my] therapy,” Paulk says. “However, I completely draw the line when it comes to minors.”

The tragedy that Paulk lives with to this day is that organizations like JONAH often specifically target minors, with summer camps and teen programs. “For 25 years I felt guilty and filled with self-loathing, trying to reject this part about myself. I’m culpable—I spread the message that my sexuality had changed, and I used my marriage as proof of that,” Paulk says.

Paulk’s story echoes those of many others whose lives were damaged by the shame, guilt, and self-loathing that marked their involvement with ex-gay therapy, and who overcame their past to eventually live life as their LGBT selves. 

Paulk, meanwhile, hopes his story encourages others to overcome their own fears and uncertainties. “It’s difficult, but worth it at the end of the day because of the peace that comes with it. It’s happy on the other side.”

John Paulk in 2013

From my own experience, I agree with Paulk.  Once one admits that they are gay and that it is neither a choice or something changeable and comes to terms with that reality, it is so liberating and, with adjustment, brings a peacefulness never experienced during all the years of trying to change and to be something that nature (God?) did not intend you to be.  In my view, those who continue to peddle the "ex-gay lie" like Paulk's ex-wife are among the lowest of the low. 

Salvation Army Drops Referrals To "Ex-Gay" "Ministries"

The Salvation Army is seemingly trying to rehabilitate its image after a history of homophobia which has prompted many LGBT activists - Bil Browning of The Bilerico Project is an example - have urged the LGBT community and the general public to walk past the Salvation Army's kettles without donating a dime.  Adding insult to injury, the Salvation Army has been heretofore directing those staying at its facilities to fraudulent "ex-gay" ministries.  A piece at Huffington Post by my friend Wayne Besen spotlighted the problem.  Here are excerpts (Note: I get credit for helping expose an "ex-gay" fraud - I still have in my possession evidence of Michael Johnston's "moral fall" to quote Peter LaBarbera, a/k/a Porno Pete):

The Salvation Army has a new campaign to debunk "the myth of LGBT discrimination." They want people to believe that they aren't anti-gay or bigoted. Here is what they have to say on their website:

For years, Facebook posts, forwarded emails and rumors have been leading some people to believe that The Salvation Army does not serve members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. These accusations simply aren't true. ...

More than 20 percent of all residents staying at The Salvation Army's youth homeless shelter in St. Paul voluntarily identified themselves as gay or lesbian. ...

However, the organization still has a ways to go before I can tell people to drop change in their buckets. 

For example, I discovered today that The Salvation Army refers clients to at least two "ex-gay" ministries. The first group in question is Harvest USA, which was an affiliate of Exodus International (formerly the world's largest ex-gay group), before Exodus disbanded. According to Harvest USA's website:

Harvest USA began in 1983, as an outreach ministry in Center City, Philadelphia to the homosexual community to provide hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The ministry reached out to men and women who heard the gospel and desired to leave behind the gay lifestyle.

The second group in question is Pure Life Ministries. This is the sexual addiction group where "ex-gay" activist Michael Johnston was sent after attorney Michael Hamar and I caught him having bareback orgies with men. (Johnston is now an employee of this ministry.) Here is what the group is saying on its website:

Whether you're addicted to masturbation, ensnared in Internet pornography, struggling with homosexuality, or merely battling an onslaught of impure desires, you've come to the right place.

How can The Salvation Army expect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and the people who love and support them to donate when the organization gives referrals to noxious ministries that try to pray away the gay?

Apparently, the pressure paid off because, the Salvation Army has ceased the referrals.  Wayne has more on the Truth Wins Out website:

CHICAGO – Truth Wins Out commended The Salvation Army today for removing links to two notorious “ex-gay” ministries that it had listed as sexual addiction resources. The move is consistent with the organizations new campaign against LGBT discrimination.

“We thank The Salvation Army for acting swiftly and decisively in addressing our concerns about links to ‘ex-gay’ organizations,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “This is a step in the right direction and congruent with their anti-discrimination campaign. We hope this action leads to further progress in gaining the full confidence and trust of the LGBT community.”

Truth Wins Out’s Associate Director, Evan Hurst, reached out to The Salvation Army this afternoon and expressed our concerns. As a result, the offensive webpage listing “ex-gay” programs was removed, and The Salvation Army responded with the following letter:

Dear Evan:
We sincerely appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. As you know, The Salvation Army strives to live out our mission of meeting human need without discrimination. Our doors are always open to anyone who seeks our help, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. We simply do not discriminate against the people we serve or the people we hire.

We have removed the page of referrals for sexual addiction centers. Truthfully this was an old page that had been archived but was reposted when we launched our new website last month. We apologize for our oversight and any confusion this may have caused. The Salvation Army does not consider homosexual orientation a sin. Please know that we serve anyone who comes to our doors without discrimination.

I can just imagine  the blow back that the Salvation Army will receive from hate groups such as Family Research Council, The American Family Association, and, of course, the Traditional Values Coalition.

Christofascists File Suit to Block New Jersey Ban on "Ex-Gay" Therapy

As promised, the theocrats and Christofascists at Liberty Counsel - which is affiliated with Liberty University, another huge blight on Virginia's image - have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block New Jersey's newly enacted ban on subjecting minors to fraudulent witch doctor like "ex-gay" therapy.  As noted before, maintaining the myth that gays can change their sexual orientation is a crucial part of the Christofascists' effort to block gay rights and anti-discrimination protections.  Never mind that every legitimate medical and mental health association in America condemns the therapy.  And never mind that there is a long history of courts and statutes protecting minors form abuse and/or dangerous religious based practices.  Would that courts would begin imposing sanctions on Liberty Counsel and Matt Staver (pictured above) for the frivolous cases that are routinely filed.  The Washington Blade looks at the lawsuit.  Here are details:

Liberty Counsel filed the 46-page complaint before the U.S. District Court of New Jersey against Christie, who signed a law on Monday barring sexual orientation conversation therapy for minors within his state, as well as other state officials.

The lawsuit alleges the law violates freedoms of speech and religion under the U.S. and New Jersey Constitutions. Additionally, the lawsuit contends the law violates parental rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Christian counselors who practice sexual orientation conversion therapy and two fringe psychological groups that have endorsed it: the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH, and the American Association of Christian Counselors.

“This law went into full effect immediately, upon being signed by Governor Christie on August 19, 2013, and thus time is of the essence to obtain judicial relief because plaintiffs, their clients, and the members of the plaintiff associations are currently suffering immediate and irreparable injury to their most cherished constitutional liberties,” the filing states.

Mat Staver, founder and chair of Liberty Counsel, said in a statement on the day the lawsuit was filed that the law is “a tyrannical overreach of government authority.”

“With this law, parents may face Child Protective Services investigating their home and even law enforcement taking their children if they seek change therapy,” he said said.

“Ex-gay” conversion is widely discredited and refuted by major mainstream psychological groups, such as American Psychological Association. In June, the largest ex-gay group, Exodus International, closed its doors after its executive director Alan Chambers issued an apology acknowledging “the pain and hurt others have experienced” through failed attempts at conversion therapy.
Still, plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend its effective.

One of the plaintiff counselors, Tara King, . . . . holds a Masters Degree in Christian counseling from Liberty University . . .

The other plaintiff counselor in the lawsuit is Ronald Newman, a licensed psychiatrist who obtained advanced degrees in psychology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, which has spoken out about “ex-gay” therapy and its dangers, criticized the lawsuit as a waste of time for the judicial system.

“The Liberty Counsel has filed a frivolous lawsuit that confuses religious liberty with license to abuse LGBT youth,” Besen said. “The claim is without merit, relies on perpetuating junk science, and is in defense of a fraudulent product. With evidence and facts on our side, the Liberty Counsel is wasting time and money — similar to the clients of ex-gay therapists.”

Wayne - who I have worked with for a decade to expose ex-gay frauds like ex-gay poster boy Michael Johnston and JONAH founder and former NARTH board member Arthur Goldberg as an ex felon - sums it up well.  And yes, parents should be subjected to child protective services investigations if they place their children in "ex-gay" programs. 

"Ex-gay" Advocate Matt Moore Caught on Grindr

One of the biggest lies and farces disseminated by Christofascist organizations and those willing to sell themselves in what to me is the equivalent of prostitution but without the honesty is the "ex-gay" myth.  And just as routinely as the sum rises in the East, we see supposedly "cured" individuals in the "ex-gay" movement proving that they are anything but "ex-gay."  The list of fallen "ex-gays" is long and continues to grow: John Paulk and Michael Johnston are but two of the more notable and even Alan Chambers at Exodus International has conceded that no one ever really becomes heterosexual. Now Matt Moore who writes for the anti-gay Christian publications.  Here's a profile of Moore from the Christian Post that contains all of the usual elements we have come to expect from dishonest "ex-gays for pay":

Less than two years ago Matt Moore's life was completely transformed when he put his faith in Jesus Christ. Having indulged himself for years in heavy drinking and a homosexual lifestyle, his life changed drastically when he realized he needed to submit to God and His view of homosexuality according to the Bible. Today, Moore is using his testimony to reach out to others and show them how God is powerful enough to save anyone in the midst of their struggles with all types of sin.

Moore's recent blog post on CP Blogs titled, "My Story: Homosexuality, Drunkenness, Grace and Redemption," has been wildly popular and has led many people to express their appreciation for his honesty about something that is certainly difficult for him to discuss.

Pleaze!  Are there any "ex-gays" who aren't former drunks, drug addicts or prostitutes?  In any event, the image above shows the real story.  Yes, it's Moore on Grindr looking for sexual hook ups.  One seriously has to wonder when tortured individuals are going to stop buy the lies cynically disseminated by PFOX, NARTH and similar snake oil merchant organizations.  Not surprisingly once caught, Moore put out a statement containing the faux contrition that is quoted here along with the blog author's commentary:

I contacted Moore, who responded as follows:

The grindr profile was really mine. I’ve been on it on and off for the last couple of weeks.
Like I told the guy who sent you the picture, I am wrong in having been on grindr. I haven’t changed my views on homosexuality, the bible, etc.
Creating a grindr profile and talking to guys on it was major disobedience on my part….disobedience to Christ. Disobedience to a loving and gracious God. Thankfully, I believe that He forgives me for this disobedience. I believe the blood of Christ covers this disobedience. And I won’t be on grindr again….ever.
The pastor of my church and the church body I am a part of were informed about me being on grindr (I told them) before all of this came out, publicly.

While I’m glad that Moore chose to own up to this rather than continuing to make excuses as others have done in the same situation, it’s disappointing that he ever put himself in such a deceptive and hypocritical situation in the first place. So-called “ex-gays” publicly promote the notion that LGBT people are sinning against a god who will torture them eternally if they fail to suppress and deny their true nature. But privately, they often seem to have trouble practicing what they preach. They proudly tell queer youth that their lives will be cursed with misery, illness, violence, addiction, a lack of meaningful human connection and an untimely death, unless they follow a faith that demands nothing less than the utter negation of who they are. Then they turn around and happily jump right back into a life that supposedly carries these most terrible consequences. And isn’t it wonderful how easily they can choose to forgive themselves for all this?

It’s faith-based nonsense. It’s reality-denying foolishness. It’s harmful, hateful, ignorant, irresponsible bullshit that puts shame on innocent people. And it’s all for nothing. Don’t fall for “ex-gays” – they don’t even believe what they’re selling.

As I've said before, tawdry whore are far more virtuous than your typical "ex-gay."  "Ex-gay" therapy needs to be made illegal nationwide with strict penalties applied to those who peddle these damaging lies and bullshit.

 

Exodus Cancels Next ‘Love Won Out’ Conference Due to Lack of Interest

I have long been a critic of the fraudulent "ex-gay" programs and first became involved in LGBT rights activism when I worked with Wayne Besen to expose former national level "ex-gay" Michael Johnston (pictured at right) as an utter and complete fraud.  For those unfamiliar with Johnston, in 1998 he was one of Jerry Falwell's proteges and appeared in a national ad campaign financed by a who's who of the Christianist organizations.  Like many of the "ex-gay for pay" crowd, Johnston claimed that he had accepted Jesus and been cured of his homosexuality.  The problem is that he wasn't and was sleeping around the Hampton Roads area - where he is originally from - under a false name and having un-safe sex even though he was HIV+.  In my view, it is long past time that the public realize that these programs are frauds and are motivated by either (i) money in the form of fleecing the ignorant and gullible or (ii) politics were keeping the "change myth" alive is important for the Christianist political agenda.  Ex-Gay Watch reports on the cancellation of Exodus' conference:

In what seems like the logical extension of the recent trend, Exodus International has decided there were not enough people interested in attending their Love Won Out conference scheduled for later this month to justify the expense. Conference attendance has been trending downward, with their last conference bringing in barely 400 people. This is down from nearly 1000 in Exodus’ headier days.

The cancellation of this conference, the first time we know of since either Exodus or Focus on the Family held the event, appears to provide more evidence of their decline.

In the email (see below) sent out to would be attendees barely two days ago, Exodus’ Senior Director of Events David Fountain suggests that they might “Automatically convert all or part of your registration fees into a tax-deductible gift to support the ministry efforts of Exodus International.”

Joe Jervis at Joe.My.God has very apt comments on the development:

The "ex-gay" industry has been rocked to its core this year. First the head of its most infamous group announced that not one person had ever actually been "cured." Then the researcher who authored the most widely cited "ex-gay" study recanted his findings and apologized to the gay community. So maybe it's not surprising that nobody wants to attend an "ex-gay" convention.

"ex-gay" therapy is a con job, a scam, a cash-cow designed to separate self-hating homosexuals from their money. It's sort of brilliant, really. You're never "cured" so you just have to keep paying and paying and paying. It's like Jenny Craig, but without the delicious cardboard aftertaste.

More Lies and False Claims of Death Treats from PFOX

For those unfamiliar with PFOX - a/k/a Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays - the organization is basically an anti-gay front organization funded historically by a who's who of anti-gay organizations. I often use the term "ex-gay for pay" on this blog and it certainly applies to the "ex-gays" at PFOX who will happily lie not only to themselves but anyone they can get to listen to them in exchange for a pay check and/or a front that gives them some semblance of respectability amongst the Kool-Aid drinking followers of Christianist set and far right extremist who desperately want to maintain the myth that sexual orientation can change for political reasons among others. Truth and veracity and PFOX are generally mutually exclusive and PFOX's current president Greg Quinlan takes the untruths to new levels and accuses legitimate researchers of falsifying or lying about their research.

In fact, Quinlan has gone even further and alleged in television interview that Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out who I've known for over 8 years and have worked with a number of times (e.g., we collaborated to expose national level "ex-gay" poster boy Michael Johnston as a fraud and dug up the information to expose Arthur Abba Goldberg, the head of JONAH, a/k/a Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality and a board member of NARTH to be a disbarred attorney and convicted felon- he was part of a multi-billion dollar fraudulent securities offering). Wayne is considering a lawsuit against PFOX (which is conveniently based in tiny Reedville, Virginia) and Quinlan. I'd be more than happy to be local counsel. Here are highlights from Ex-Gay Watch's coverage of Quinlan's blatant lies:

Current PFOX president Greg Quinlan appeared for an interview recently on a local D.C. station. While the interviewer, Mark Segraves (WDCW-TV), was better prepared than most, it doesn’t seem he understood the depth of misinformation Quinlan is willing to put forth. It would take a week to tease through the factual errors in this short interview, and much of it has been covered before. For example, claims that PFOX won a suit in D.C to have ex-gays considered a protected class have been confronted before.

Quinlan goes on to accuse noted geneticist Dean Hamer of lying about his research, Dr. Robert Spitzer of not knowing what his own research says on the possibility of sexual orientation change, and claims that AIDS is a “homosexual disease.” This is not the first time Quinlan has been accused of distorting a researchers work.

Most astounding were Quinlan’s claims that Truth Wins Out director Wayne Besen wanted someone to run him over with a bus, or inject him with AIDS:

Truth Wins Out if you look further, including Wayne Besen. He’s asked for people, you know, somebody needs to run Greg over. He needs to be hit with a bus. Somebody should inject him with AIDS. Those are the things that Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out says about me. That’s pretty hateful rhetoric.

These are serious allegations and demand a solid source for confirmation. For the record, Besen denies ever making the comments and we join him in challenging Quinlan to produce evidence of this claim. It’s worth reviewing the video in full just to see how fast and lose Quinlan plays with the truth.

As is the norm for PFOX, it's the one that spreads hateful rhetoric not to mention deliberate untruths. Grove City College professor and licensed therapist Warren Throckmorton also gets into the act of underscoring Quinlan's dishonesty:

Really? Besen has said some critical and dismissive things about ex-gays but I’ve never heard anything like that. Quinlan may soon have to provide proof of that since Besen absolutely denies the charges and may sue for defamation.

There are other questionable aspects to Quinlan’s claims. In the interview, Quinlan says that both APAs say that sexuality is fluid (not really, they say identity can shift but that orientation is pretty fixed). He says he is not paid to be ex-gay (sorry, I know the history there, his reputation is founded on his status as an ex-gay). He says that is acceptable for him to refer to gays as “faggots” because it is acceptable for blacks to use the “N” word referring to themselves (I’ll let readers ponder that one).

When confronted with the fact that Richard Cohen was expelled from the American Counseling Association, Quinlan said at 11:40, “But he hasn’t lost his license.” To my knowledge, Richard never had a license and he certainly does not now. Then he told Sagraves that Richard has a 90% success rate helping people change. If Richard claims that, I have never seen it.

Frankly, nothing would be more enjoyable that seeing a lawsuit go forward against PFOX and Quinlan. The thought of Quinlan in depositions with potential perjury charges hanging over his head almost makes my giddy. Add to that the discovery process in general that would force PFOX to produce documents and answer interrogatories in writing, and it could be a death knell for PFOX. I'm very confident that there is ZERO legitimate research or documentation to back up any of Quinlan's outrageous statements.

SPLC and Truth Wins Out Launch Nationa Campaign Against Ex-Gay Myth

One of the most insidious lies that the Christianists and professional Christian set endeavor to perpetuate is the lie that sexual orientation is a "choice" and/or that one's sexual orientation can "change." Never mind that literally EVERY legitimate mental health and medical association disputes this lie and condemns so-called "conversion therapy." Indeed, conversion therapy has only two real purposes: (1) politically it gives conservative/nutcase politicians a smoke screen to hide behind, and (2) ex-gay "ministries" can be cash cows as charlatans fleece parents and their LGBT children of thousands of dollars for "placement" in such a ministry. The truth and the damage done to those often forced into this fraudulent programs means nothing to the Christianists. Box Turtle Bulletin has a must read piece that looks at the resent statements by John Smid, the former director of Memphis-based Love In Action, the country’s largest ex-gay residential program, who admits that the "ex-gay" programs don't work and that no "ex-gays" exist in reality. Here are a few highlights:

The former head of one of the nation’s most prominent ex-gay ministries now says that homosexuality is something that cannot be “repented,” because “repentance from something means it has to be something you can control, like actions.” John Smid, the former director of Memphis-based Love In Action, the country’s largest ex-gay residential program, now says that homosexuality is “an intrinsic part of their being or personally, my being. One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable.” He also says that in all of his years in ex-gay ministries, he never met a gay man who became heterosexual, and that he now considers himself homosexual “and yet in a marriage to a woman.”

In 2010, Smid reportedly wrote several letters of apology to some of his former clients, and disclosed on Andrew Marin’s blog that he still experiences “erotic attractions to those of the same gender (male).” Smid’s latest blog post on his own web site continues on those themes: I have gone through a tremendous amount of grief over the many years that I spoke of change, repentance, reorientation and such, when, barring some kind of miracle, none of this can occur with homosexuality. The article today is a great example of how we as Christians pervert the gospel as it relates to homosexuality as though homosexuals aren’t welcome in the kingdom unless they repent (which many interpret to change). But since homosexuality is not “repentable” then we put homosexuals into an impossible bind.

Given this reality, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Truth Wins Out have launched a national campaign to expose the "ex-gay" myth for the cynical, deliberate lie that it is. Activist Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out - who I worked with closely in 2003 to expose ex-gay poster boy Michael Johnston as a fraud - has these details on the new campaign which hopefully will force some political whore politicians (typically Republicans) to stop claiming that being gay is a choice:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Truth Wins Out (TWO) launched a national campaign today targeting conversion therapy, a thriving practice that claims to “convert” people from homosexuality to heterosexuality. The groups made the announcement in coordination with today’s National Coming Out Day.

The campaign will begin with a series of community meetings in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., for survivors of the practice, which has been discredited or highly criticized by virtually all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organizations. Survivors are also invited to share their own stories at www.splcenter.org/conversion-therapy. The campaign also will encourage community advocates and elected leaders to scrutinize local conversion therapy programs.

“Conversion therapy programs have devastated all too many lives and families by attempting to change a person’s sexual orientation,” said Christine Sun, deputy legal director, who leads the SPLC’s LGBT rights project. “This practice is based on nothing more than junk science and must stop.”

The American Medical Association officially “opposes the use of ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy that is based on the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation.”

In 2006, the American Psychological Association declared: “There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.”

Conversion therapy and the ex-gay myth need to be thrown on the trash heap of history and responsible politicians need to cease kissing the asses of deliberate liars and purveyors of untruth and dangerous - and some times deadly - "therapy" programs.

Robert Knight Demonstrates More Batshitery

Robert Knight is an old nemesis of mine. We crossed paths and exchanged e-mail volleys in the aftermath of my work with Wayne Besen in exposing high profile "ex-gay" poster boy, Michael Johnston, as a fraud. Johnston - who was part of a national Christian Right anti-gay media blitz in 1998 was sleeping around the Hampton Roads area (he is from the area and operated the now defunct Kerusso Ministries based in Newport News) under an assumed name and having unprotected sex seeking to infect others with HIV. The reaction among the Christianist was not pleasant and, among other things Wayne and I were attacked by name in a rant on the right wing site Townhall.com.

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Despite admissions in e-mails that the work of Paul Cameron is fraudulent and that gays did not precipitate the fall of ancient Rome, Knight - who has bounced from one anti-gay organization to another like some bad penny (he's currently at Coral Ridge Ministries, which was peddling Michael Johnston's videos even though his "moral fall" was known within the ex-gay industry) - continues to disseminate outright lies and what can only be labeled as hatred towards gays. From our exchanges, Knight is absolutely obsessed with gay sex - particularly anal sex - which sends him into an utter frenzy. Of course, true to form, Knight wraps himself in the mantle of Christianity and religiosity even as he makes a mockery of the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness. Now, with the Senate having voted to repeal DAD, Knight seems posed to go off the deep end. My analysis? Knight is a severe closet case who wants to destroy what he cannot allow himself to experience because of his warped religious mind set. The result is what I view as his transferred self-loathing toward gays who have accepted their God given sexuality. Alvin McKwen takes a look at Knight's hysteria in a post at Pam's House Blend. Here are some highlights:
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For some, the need to stigmatize the lgbt community based on their constant desire to remind folks about gay sex never goes away.
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Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries has made a career out of spreading anti-gay propaganda and lies, even to the point of citing the discredited Paul Cameron in front of Congress. And in a recent piece in The Washington Times - one of the only places that will publish his nonsense - Knight is claiming that Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed because Republicans refused to get nasty about homosexuality: Instead of using the military debate to bring to light many suppressed facts that could cripple the homosexual juggernaut if Americans only knew, they played by their opponents' rule book.
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The irony of Knight's position is the realization that 17 years ago, Republicans and those who didn't support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military did pull out the horror stories. They talked about "gay sex," "the gay agenda," "fisting," and even pulled the "gay assault" card.
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But things have changed. Homophobia still exists but for the most part, more of us are out and unashamed of who we are despite the efforts of those like Knight. Americans know more of us and the lies about us being an invading horde of Godless creatures just isn't resonating like they used to. The sad thing is that no one told Knight.
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I would also conjecture that Knight - like many of the Christianists has in fact a weak and shallow faith which gays threaten because, if God made some of us gay as part of Hus natural order of things, that would mean the Bible is wrong in the few passages that are cited as condemning homosexuality. And if those passages are wrong, then the entire fragile house of cards collapses, leaving Knight (and others like him - e.g., much of the Catholic Church hierarchy) facing the fact that they have lived their lives based on a falsehood and suffered needless self-denial and self-hate for no reason. They truly cannot let anything suggest that their lives have been warped and wasted. Thus, in their very sick and frightened minds, gays must be destroyed.

Ex-Gay Quackes Destroying Lives Around the World

My first real plunge into activism involved exposing "ex-gay" poster boy Michael Johnston to be a fraud. While Johnston was making a comfortable living peddling the lie that he had been "cured" of homosexuality by accepting Jesus, in reality he was sleeping around with men while using a false identity. His "cure" was bullshit and fortunately his career as a high profile "ex-gay" has pretty much been ended. But the Christianists and their allies continue to find "ex-gays for pay" like Johnston to continue their marketing of the "ex-gay" lie. Over this weekend Wayne Besen's Truth Wins Out and other groups have gathered in Philadelphia to counter the fraudulent "ex-gay" myth cynically promoted by NARTH, Focus n the Family's "Love Wins Out," Exodus International, and ex-convict Arthur Goldberg's "Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (Jonah)."
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All of the legitimate medical and mental health associations condemn the reparative therapy snake oil that is the stock and trade of these organizations. So why do these lies continue? Because these slime bags (1) use the "ex-gay" myth to dupe politicians into believing that sexual orientation is a choice and (2) rake in lots of money for themselves. In my view, the most nasty and tawdry whore has more moral integrity than these frauds who wrap themselves in the banner of religion. With the "ex-gay" sales pitch becoming more difficult to peddle in America, the parasites of the "ex-gay" movement are increasingly taking their poisonous message overseas to prey on the ignorant and uneducated. Here are some highlights from The Advocate:
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It’s the modern version of snake-oil, or to put it in a more modern context, those electrodes that promise you six-pack abs with no exercise. And while we may laugh, these folks are not only still taken seriously in some quarters –popping up on cable television with regularity or trotted out as “balance” in coverage of LGBT issues and religion – they are no joke to be taken lightly. They continue to destroy lives here and are taking the show on the road in other countries around the world. As you can see, the pernicious message of these groups cuts across religious denominations and it will take a diverse coalition to stop the suffering they cause.
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And while scientists have utterly discredited the “ex-gay” movement, and these organizations have become laughingstocks for many in our community, much of the harm done by the “ex-gay” movement goes underreported – and it has a far broader reach than one might think.
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Just as we see the “ex-gay’ industry waning in the United States, it is rearing its ugly head in Asia, Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, Latin America and Canada. One organization, Homosexuals Anonymous, has chapters in El Salvador, New Zealand and Germany. A horrified French journalist recently asked me how this harmful industry could be growing in the 21st century outside the United States. My answer is simple: Follow the money and follow the fear.
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Satellite broadcasting has made it possible to spread the “ex-gay” message to more countries than ever before, and evangelical TV networks such as Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar Television Network have taken up the initiative in doing so. Africa, where many countries criminalize homosexuality, has proven particularly fertile ground – with viciously hateful consequences.
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[Many] religious leaders have no qualms whatsoever about instilling the
message that homosexuality is nothing more than a “lifestyle choice.” Why wouldn’t many of our children and teenagers, having been taught that LGBT kids are choosing to embrace a sinful “lifestyle” that is despised by God, seek to punish their LGBT peers for their “decision” through acts of cruelty? Why wouldn’t they see them as “other” and “less than?” The evidence is clear: the message that homosexuality can be “repaired” does not just ruin lives – it ends them.

The Perverse Attraction of "Ex-Gay" Ministries

Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows that I am a vocal opponent of fraudulent "ex-gay" programs that are oft times financially lucrative for those who run them and which provide a political staple to the enemies of LGBT equality under the civil laws since the programs give cover to the false claim that sexual orientation is a choice and changeable. Indeed, my first venture into activism involved aiding Wayne Besen in exposing high profile "ex-gay" Michael Johnston (pictured above) as a fraud who was sleeping around the Hampton Roads area under an assumed name. Since that time every legitimate medical and mental health association has stated that there is no evidence that these programs work and the APA has now labeled reparative therapy unethical. Yet these programs continue, often funded directly and indirectly by some of the leading anti-gay professional Christian organizations. So why do individuals submit themselves to these snake oil programs? Some obviously due to parental and family pressure. Others because religious indoctrination pressures them to attempt the impossible and "change" their sexual orientation. And others, as Timothy Kincaid notes at Box Turtle Bulletin, because they are unhappy and blaming their unhappiness on being gay is a convenient way to avoid dealing with other personal and psychological problems. For such individuals, ex-gay programs are only too happy to use anti-gay stereotypes to take advantage of the situation. Part of the blame too lies with the gay community which too often gives the appearance that promiscuity is the norm for all gays. Further compounding the problem is the quest of Christianists to block legal recognition of gay relationships and thus deprive gays of the stability and benefits of marriage. Here are highlights from Kincaid's post:
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It can be hard to understand the reasons why someone would go into the ex-gay movement. Those who are less familiar with the phenomenon tend to think that it is a matter of guilt or shame that drives gullible people to try and change their orientation. Others think that it is oppressive parents and family, a culture that is homophobic or a church that puts pressure on an impressionable youth. And, yes those are reasons.
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But it isn’t just that simple. There are others who go looking for help from an ex-gay ministry in desperation because their life is in chaos and they don’t know what else to do. Their own personal circumstances are so out of control that they need help.

It is only natural to look for a cause for our unhappiness. It’s my job or my girlfriend or my financial situation and if only it would change then I could really be happy. For some gay people they look at their chaos and think “if only I weren’t gay!” This week I heard from one such person. . . . Here is a synopsis of what happened.
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… for many years I was a sex addict till this day I am a recovering sex addict. By the grace of God I am sober. The sex addiction kept me in chains and I wasn’t able to experience true freedom until I dealt with that subject. I thought that being gay I had to sleep with as many men as possible, but that wasn’t the case. I thought it was what all gay men wanted and that’s not how I wanted to live. So I kept going back and forth from being ex-gay to gay. I would get tired of being gay because of the addiction and I would then run to the church. When I couldn’t stand trying to be straight I would give up get depressed and end up in the hospital for suicidal thoughts and depression.
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I entered rehab this past year and it was the best thing for me. I was able to really face the addiction and can happily say that I have been sober for over 90 days. When I refer to being sober for me it is not having anonymous sex. Sex sobriety is such a fine line and everyone must define their own bottom line behavior. Mine is no sex out of a committed loving relationship.
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I’m writing this because I am hoping that someone can benefit from my story. That someone can be saved from the heartache and pain that I went through.
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One of the memes of ex-gay ministry is that the ‘homosexual lifestyle’ is destructive, demeaning, and damaging. My friend’s story of sexual addiction did not seem peculiar or out of the norm, it was just what it’s like ‘in the gay life.’ At his ex-gay ministry, he was bound to hear confirmation of this idea.
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And it makes sense. If you are living a life full of contentment and meaning and you have someone to love and who cares for you, you aren’t as likely to go looking for a way to become heterosexual. If you aren’t miserable, then you aren’t looking for something on which to blame your misery. So naturally, “life of desperation” is the norm as experienced for many ex-gays.
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But we as a community play our part in the confusion. Far too often we act as though getting the next hot guy is what it means to be gay (women do this less) and confirm these ideas.
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I don’t know the solution. But I hope we as a community of individuals can mature to where we provide more messages of substance and meaning – find a way to more frequently remind ourselves and the more vulnerable members of our community (including those still in ex-gay ministries) that sex really isn’t what defines us. Being gay is not where you put your penis, it’s where you put your heart.

Mike Rogers - Portrait of a Friend and Activist Mentor

Between starting to blog in 2007 and unanticipated involvement in situations involving the exposure of hypocrites harmful to the rights of of other gay citizens in 2003 and 2004 - i.e., ex-gay fraud Michael Johnston and former Congressman Ed Schrock - I unexpectedly was fortunate enough to get to know two activists who are never ceasing in their efforts to win full legal equality for LGBT Americans. One was Mike Rogers with whom I collaborated on the Ed Schrock story. While there are those who do not agree with Mike's campaign to "out" closeted politic ans who vote against their fellow LGBT citizens even as they solicit secret trysts for gay sex. I on the other hand applaud Mike's effort. If someone wants to remain in the closet, that's their decision - UNLESS they are actively seeking to impair my rights as a citizen and the rights of other gay Americans. Metro Weekly has a profile piece on Mike Rogers that looks at the many other things Mike does for the LGBT community in our struggle. The piece also looks at how Mike has mentored budding activists and helped create an amazing network for communications between activist, journalists and others via the invitation only list-serv that he maintains. Between putting together the 2008 LGBT Blogger Summit in Washington, D.C., which I was lucky enough to attend, and inviting me to the list-serv, Mike has helped me and my desire to make things better for our community to a huge extent. I hope everyone will read the full Metro Weekly piece. Here are some highlights:
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He's not much of a grandstander. In person, he's unassuming. He can laugh heartily, but he's otherwise fairly soft-spoken. His roots are in suburban New York, where he was raised in a two-parent household with two older siblings. And this is the guy the Washington Post dubbed ''the most feared man on the Hill?''
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Blow the whistle on a few closeted gay politicians and political operatives who are working to counter LGBT equality, and the title sticks. But while some corners of Washington may hate Rogers, he in turn loves the city.
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METRO WEEKLY: What's your involvement with Netroots Nation, exactly?
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MICHAEL ROGERS: I've been involved in Netroots Nation now going on my fourth year. The short of it is it's the national convention of new media, bloggers, activists – kind of the whole progressive left has been coming together at this convention that started out as more of an online blogger kind of thing. I do a number of things related to it. I run the LGBT caucus.
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I'm the director of the [independent] National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative. We raise money and send LGBT bloggers to these conferences. On this one, we're doing $16,000 in scholarships. I'm also running the first pre-convention day for the LGBT community. The 25 recipients of our scholarships will be there. Representatives of LGBT organizations are coming in – everyone from Get Equal to HRC, across the spectrum.
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In 2008, with Netroots and bloggers, I brought together 60 bloggers here in D.C. for a long weekend of training, support, education, networking. We also did some joint events with the Victory Fund conference that coincided with it. We took that and said, ''We have this whole bunch of people who've been reading each other.'' But nobody knew each other. What's key here is taking ''online'' and bringing it ''offline,'' bringing that connection.
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There's a great gain in that. Look at voices like Pam Spaulding. Where would Pam be without the blogosphere? Here's a woman in the Raleigh-Durham [N.C.] area, working at a university, and now she's a really important voice in the community.
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MW: Although the outings can get pretty nasty – McKelway's interview, for example – there's another platform you're involved with that I've also seen get pretty nasty. You manage a listserv with hundreds of LGBT activists, journalists, movement leaders, etc. Sometimes that list gets pretty contentious.
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ROGERS: The reason I created the list was because no one knew who I was. I was looked at as, ''Who the hell is this? Who is this guy, showing up and dragging people out of the closet?'' I realized that in the movement there were so many people that don't understand what they're doing, where they come from.
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[The list] is a wonderful thing for the various parts of our community. . . . When I founded the list, my goal was to bring together all of these different viewpoints and perspectives. You have some viewpoints that are more liberal, some are relatively conservative. But I'm more interested in perspectives. What makes the list really unique is not only does it have activists and leaders of professional things, but it also reaches into every state. . . . It's really a response to a need to have a rapid-fire communication system.
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MW: So you're an organizer at heart?
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ROGERS: I'm a change agent at heart. Yes, organizing is a huge piece of that, but so is reporting and telling the truth. So is fundraising.

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Mike, thanks for all you have done to help me do more to try to make things better. Keep up the great work that you do.

George Rekers' Delusional Downfall

The self-destruction of Family Research Council co-founder and NARTH potentate George Rekers (pictured at left) fits a pattern that is all too familiar: an outwardly violently anti-gay homophobe who makes a career out of denigrating and attacking gays or pressing for legislation denying gays equality under the civil laws turns out to be what they profess to hate and oppose: gay, except a self-loathing closet case. Be it high profile faux ex-gays such as John Paulk or Michael Johnston or homophobes politicians like Ed Schrock, Larry Craig, and numerous others, the more vociferous they are in attacking gays, the more likely it is that they are in fact gay and transferring their own self-hatred to normal gays who have come to terms with their God-given sexual orientation. (Based on this pattern, a possible candid for future outing is Virginia's new Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.) In fact, as Wayne Besen notes in a piece in the Falls Church News-Press, research has shown that there is indeed a correlation between virulent homophobia and being a closeted gay. Here's some highlights:
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In 1986, Dr. Henry Adams conducted a study at University of Georgia that found the men who were most outspokenly homophobic were the ones most turned on by gay porn.
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It is time that the mental health establishment and major universities invest ample resources to better understand the devastating affects of internalized homophobia and its societal consequences. I'm no expert, but I have observed enough anti-gay activists in person to believe that a sizable portion is gay. I also believe that suppressing their sexual orientation has possibly led, in some cases, to mental illness.
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How else do you explain men like Rekers who are obsessed with homosexuality and have written thousands of pages denouncing homosexuality - and then turn around and hire young male prostitutes? It seems they can't stamp out their own desires, so they lash out at the entire LGBT community. The only reason such behavior likely isn't labeled a mental illness in need of treatment is because the mental health community probably fears a ferocious right wing backlash.

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Adding to the irony of the delusional behavior of Rekers is that he still is trying to refuse to admit the truth about himself. Instead of admitting reality, he has made all kinds of ludicrous excuses, including hiring his rent boy to carry luggage or so that he could try to "convert him." Indeed, his excuses have been so lame and outlandish that Lucien, the rent boy has gone public and agreed to an interview with the Miami New Times and confirmed that Rekers was indeed gay. I respect Lucien's bravery and the fact that he has been willing to go public and put an end to Rekers' charade and serial lies. Here are some highlights from the latest Miami New Times story:

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The male escort hired by anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers has told Miami New Times the Baptist minister is a homosexual who paid him to provide body rubs once a day in the nude, during their ten-day vacation in Europe. Rekers allegedly named his favorite maneuver the "long stroke" -- a complicated caress "across his penis, thigh... and his anus over the butt cheeks," as the escort puts it. "Rekers liked to be rubbed down there," he says.
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In his first interview since New Times broke the story Tuesday, the 20-year-old escort, who prefers to go by the name Lucien, contradicts Rekers's contentions that he hired the escort to help carry his luggage and that he was trying to save the soul of a lost sinner.
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"It's a situation where he's going against homosexuality when he is a homosexual," Lucien says. (When New Times called seeking comment, Rekers had turned his phone off. An email was not returned. He has termed the New Times article "slanderous" on his website.)
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Lucien decided to speak out after a heart-to-heart with a friend, Michael, who alerted him to the grim realities of his client's anti-gay activities. Lucien, who had originally declined to speak about the trip, now says he can do little good by protecting his erstwhile, fundamentalist client.
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Check back this afternoon for stories detailing the trip, the document Rekers asked Lucien to prepare in the hopes of preventing any future disclosures, and a character sketch of what we think is a brave kid -- one who dawdled for less than 24 hours before opting to tell an exceptionally painful story.
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No doubt there will be some who trash Lucien for the line of work in which he engaged, but having been through outing Michael Johnston and Ed Schrock with Wayne Besen and Mike Rogers, respectively, it takes true courage and bravery to put himself out in the media as Lucien has done. Hopefully, his courage in confronting Rekers' lies and excuse will save young gays in the future from the poison that Rekers worked so hard to disseminate. Hopefully, other self-hating closeted gays will learn the lesson that their homophobia they use to disguise their true selves will eventually catch up with them. Are you listening Mr. Cuccinelli? You certainly behave like another Rekers.