Fraudulent "Ex-Gay" Programs Down Under

In addition to exporting extreme homophobia to Africa, American Christianists have also labored to export the fraudulent "ex-gay" myth across the globe. One such destination for peddling this snake oil has been Australia. As a Sydney Morning Herald story reports, these toxic and utterly fraudulent programs appear to be dwindling toward a much deserved death. Would that more Americans would open their eyes to the untruths being marketed by Christianist extremists for financial profit and political purposes such as blocking non-discrimination laws and blocking legal recognition of same sex relationships. In my view, nothing demonstrates to abject dishonesty of the Christianists than these programs which are rejected by all legitimate medical and mental health associations in America. Here are some highlights from the Morning Herald story (as is the norm, the purported "ex-gays" running these bogus programs always seem to have turned their supposed "cured" status into a money making venture) :

On the advice of his Anglican minister, and at the urging of his family, Shaun* enrolled on a course to ''cure'' himself of being gay.

The organisation that treated Shaun, Liberty Christian Ministries Incorporated, based in East Balmain, is one of the three main groups in Sydney that claim to ''heal'' homosexuals - the others are Living Waters at Ramsgate and Beyond Egypt at Carlingford. There are at least 15 such outfits across Australia. Modelled on America's ''ex-gay'' groups, all have fundamentalist Christian roots. Most view homosexuality as an illness that can be cured - an approach some describe as ''pray away the gay''. At the very least, they demand abstinence from gay sex.

Shaun grew up in an Anglican household, and after suppressing homosexual feelings through high school, at 21, he was willing to try anything to be the heterosexual his family, church and Christian youth group wanted him to be.

The three-month program cost $140, Shaun recalls, and was run by Keane, who had lived as an ''active homosexual'' for 15 years but was now happily, heterosexually married. After his successful conversion, Keane teamed up with his wife to run support groups for other Christians ''struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction''. Keane has since retired from Liberty Christian Ministries and written a book - Choices: One Person's Journey out of Homosexuality. Shaun remembers being unconvinced by Keane, who, while presenting himself as a ''former homosexual'', admitted to the group that he still had sexual thoughts about men.

At one stage during the course, Shaun was encouraged to ask a girl out on a date. . . . . On their second date, Shaun arrived to pick her up and she invited him into her house. They sat on the couch and talked a while. As much as he tried, Shaun felt nothing. Then her brother walked in. ''I was more attracted to him than her,'' Shaun says. ''I felt a little bit guilty about that.'' Shaun completed two of Keane's courses - each lasted three months - and says that rather than curing him of his homosexuality, the sessions helped confirm it.

Shaun is now 35 and in a relationship with a man. It has been 14 years since he quit the ''reparative'' programs and embraced his sexuality. He was helped by a support group for gay Christians called Freedom2b. The group was founded by Anthony Venn-Brown, a former leader in the Assemblies of God who for 22 years tried to change his homosexuality through psychiatric treatment, exorcisms, ''ex-gay'' programs and 40-day fasts. Married for 16 years with two daughters, Venn-Brown eventually conceded he could not change his sexuality. He has spent the past decade helping Christians who have gone through ''ex-gay'' programs and been told they were sick, dysfunctional and abnormal.

Venn-Brown believes ''ex-gay'' programs inflict deep psychological damage, and says he will not rest until every last one has been shut down. ''Where are their success stories?'' he says. ''You ask them.'' Of the three groups contacted by The Sun-Herald, only Haydn Sennitt, the pastoral worker at Liberty Christian Ministries, agreed to be interviewed. Sennitt says: ''We do not offer 'fixes' or 'cures' for homosexuality, but we do believe that it can be healed over time.''

Helen Kelly, producer of a new documentary about ''ex-gay'' therapy called The Cure, says her research uncovered many participants of so-called ''reparative'' programs struggling with depression, anxiety and self-harm. ''These groups never take responsibility for the fact that some people who've been through them commit suicide,'' she says. ''They're not registered and they have no duty of care.''

''I've worked with maximum- security prisoners in Pentridge, yet the people who've been through ex-gay programs are some of the most psychologically damaged people I've seen in my life,'' Martin says. ''I have a client who went through 35 years of these programs … One of the most crushing moments was when he said, in tears, 'I've just realised that I've never known what it's like to love or be loved.'''

Martin is especially critical of groups that point to the disproportionate rates of depression and anxiety among gay people. ''The irony is that they're actually creating the terrible emotional damage that leads to these statistics,'' he says.

It's the same old story: untrained and unlicensed far right Christians inflicting emotional damage on others and making a buck in the process. It's sick and it ought to be illegal. Kudos to Australians who are waking up to the evils of these snake oil programs.

What Kind of "Doctor" is Marcus Bachmann?

Just what kind of "doctor" is Marcus Bachmann? That's the question that more and more people, including Michelangelo Signorile are asking. And it looks increasingly like the answer may be that he isn't a doctor at all or that his degree is not in what he claims in his advertisements and on his clinic's web page. That's right, he may not hold the degrees claimed. As I have noted in prior posts, one of the biggest scams perpetrated by the Christianists and their "ministries" is that their supposed "experts" either don't have the degrees that they claim to possess or they have no legitimate credentials whatsoever that pertain to their supposed area of expertise (Linda Harvey mentioned in the previous post is a case in point). One can only hope that more digging is done to get to the bottom of what degrees Bachmann does hold. And GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann needs to be called out if it turns out that her husband is a fraud. Here are highlights from The Gist where Michelangelo looks at the facts surrounding Marcus Bachmann's alleged doctorate degree:
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On the web site of Bachmann and Associates, readers are invited to "meet Dr. Marcus Bachmann" who's been "a clinical therapist in the Twin Cities for more than 20 years." But what kind of "doctor" is Marcus Bachmann and where did he get his degree? In his bio Bachmann lists a masters degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia. The bio also lists a "PhD – Clinical Psychology, Union Graduate School, OH." As blogger JARS points out in a well-researched post, the punctuation is all wrong on "PhD" which should be Ph.D."
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[I]t's important because he may or may not have a doctor of philosophy. And the Union Graduate School no longer exists. Bachmann got a doctoral degree in something from a shady university that came under scrutiny from the Ohio Board of Regents and whose graduate school was dissolved:
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The Union Institute's Ph.D. program came under scrutiny by the Ohio Board of Regents in the late 1990s early 2000s which culminated in its 2002 Reauthorization Report. The report was critical of the Union Institute's Ph.D. program, noting in particular that " ... expectations for student scholarship at the doctoral level were not as rigorous as is common for doctoral work ... " (OBR 2002 Reauthorization Report, page 13) As a result, The Union was put on probation, the Union Graduate School was dissolved and the Ph.D. program was restructured.
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JARS goes on to write that it seems highly suspect that Marcus Bachmann has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology because, if you follow the timeline, the school wasn't offering it:
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What does all this mean? On his website Dr. Bachmann states he’s had 23 years experience. Simple math brings us to the year 1988. If Dr. Bachmann’s Ph.D. was completed prior to this date, he might have graduated from The Union Graduate School which offered ONLY a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. If he graduated later than 1986, then he would have graduated from The Union Institute (1986), or The Union Institute and University (2001) and his Ph.D. would have been in Interdisciplinary Studies.
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If in fact Dr. Marcus Bachmann graduated from this institute, whatever it was named at the time, he would not have graduated with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. The ONLY doctorate in Clinical Psychology was offered after 2001, and the degree is a Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology) and not a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy).
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Nobody lies and deceives more than the Christianists. They truly act as if the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness did not exist - even as they pretend to honor the Ten Commandments as part of their ploy to separate the ignorant, dim witted and intellectually lazy from their hard earned money. .

Undercover at Marcus Bachmann's Clinic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal Liability of Ex-Gay Programs

Truth Wins Out and Lambda Legal have teamed up to produce a booklet, 'Ex-Gay & The Law', that looks at the possible harmful effects of reparative therapy utilized by "ex-gay ministries" - which is condemned by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. More importantly, the booklet lays out steps those harmed by ex-gay ministries and their "counselors" should consider taking, including one or more lawsuits against the "ministry" and its counselors. Theories of recover of damages may vary based on the facts and laws of the state where the "therapy" is administered.

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By holding ex-gay "ministries financially liable for the harm they do through successful lawsuits will do much to put an end to these bogus programs and also educate the larger public as to the witchdoctor like practices that occur in these so-called ministries. The fact that (1) reparative therapy is condemned by the legitimate experts and (2) the ex-gay ministries are aware of the position of legitimate experts sets the stage for possible negligence law suits and/or complaints against any licensed professionals who put religious fanaticism over scientific knowledge and engage in therapy regimes condemned by the true experts. A copy of the booklet is available here. Here are some highlights:

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Anyone who may have been harmed by any sort of counselor or therapist should contact Lambda Legal or a local lawyer as soon as possible. All states have a “statute of limitations” which limits the length of time for filing a lawsuit. These periods vary greatly, and may have exceptions if the patient is a minor. To best protect your legal rights, it is very important to consult an attorney sooner rather than later.

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Whether or not someone can take legal action against an “ex-gay” counselor or facility will depend on factors including the law of the state where you met with the practitioner and the specific facts. There are many reasons “ex-gay” programs or practitioners may be liable for harm. If representatives of an “ex-gay” program make false claims, they may have committed fraud, breach of contract, or violated state laws against unfair business practices. If a practitioner does not adequately describe the potential harms of an “ex-gay” program, he or she may be liable for violating the duty to get consent from a person seeking care. If a practitioner is not qualified to provide therapy for a specific mental health condition and fails to refer to a qualified doctor or psychologist, he or she may be liable for negligence or violating rules governing professional licenses. If a counselor threatens to “out” you to your community if you decide you do not want to continue therapy, he or she may be liable under state law. If a practitioner tells third parties about details of your life or your same-sex attractions, that could
violate your right to privacy.

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It is impossible to list all of the factors that might be important in evaluating whether or not someone harmed by an “exgay” program or practitioner may be able to sue in court or take other legal actions, so it is important to consult an attorney. Minors as well as adults have legal rights, including the right to consult with an attorney.