A reflection on the arrest of former Exodus International leader Alan Chambers, and an examination of his history, the ex-gay movement, and its long shadow. News of alleged sexual offences involving minors is always confronting and disturbing. When it involves someone you know and consider a friend, it brings an added level of shock [...]
James Dobson and Focus on the Family – the lies and the legacy. Dobson’s Ignorance and Advice John Paulk George Rekers Robert L. Spitzer Love Won Out Conferences (Pray the Gay Away Expos) The Love Won Out defectors John Paulk’s Recent Statement James Dobson passed away this week. James Dobson was the founder of [...]
You've heard of "Pray the Gay Away", now it's "Gay Without the Lay" There are three ways you could understand how celibacy became the new ex-gay. You could have lived through the evolution You are a researcher/historian, or You can read this article. I was born in 1951. In the 50’s and 60’s gay [...]
On Thursday, June 20, 2013, I sat in the chapel at Concordia University in Irvine, CA, attending the Exodus International “True Stories” conference. Alan Chambers, the President of the organisation he'd led for the past 13 years, said he'd love me to attend as it would be like no other previous conference. (Read [...]
Occasionally a seminal work appears that becomes a defining piece, a turning point, or breakthrough in a particular area. Considering the religious LGBTQ conversion movement, the documentary Pray Away, released on Netflix August 3rd, could very well be that work. After mental health professional organisations realised that gay and lesbian people were not sick and [...]
'Beyond Egypt' Closes Lessons from the rise and demise of an LGBTQ conversion organisation Anthony Venn-Brown (Updated 22.01.21) Abstract Reflecting on the history and closure of yet another conversion "therapy" organisation has several benefits. It creates an opportunity to educate people about the beliefs, practices, and language of the LGBTQ conversion movement. It also enables [...]
Conversion Therapy in Australia The state of the nation ‘I have been through conversion therapy including help from pastors, counsellors and Christian acquaintances, I have been at this attempt to change for 14 years. I am currently in a relationship with a woman who I love, but down deep I am in a lot of [...]
'I am profoundly unsettled': inside the hidden world of gay conversion therapy "Gay conversion" is discredited in Australia yet "fixing" same-sex attraction remains a mission for some groups – often with tragic results. By Farrah Tomazin 9 March 2018 It’s been 25 years since I realised I was gay, and for the first time in [...]
There are three ways you could understand how celibacy became the new ex-gay. You could have lived through the evolution, you are a researcher/historian, or you can read this article. I was born in 1951. In the 50’s and 60’s gay men were either imprisoned or institutionalised as they were considered sexual perverts. Mental health [...]