I Live in Colorado. Conversion Therapy Destroyed My Life. By Sami Tacher At 12 years old, upon returning home from school, I saw my dad sitting in the living room. I immediately knew something was wrong. “Come here,” he said, with my computer in his lap. He proceeded to show me the pictures of [...]
In 2014, a homophobic sermon at my mother’s church caused me to have an emotional breakdown and eventually led to my coming out that same day. My mother took me to two different counselors in Oklahoma at two different Christian counseling institutions. In the meantime, she began to seek comfort through her preacher, who [...]
Lucas Wilson’s Shame-Sex Attraction stands out as an essential and deeply moving work on several levels. For anyone seeking to understand the reality of ex-gay/reparative therapy or LGBTQ conversion “therapy,” this book is a time-saving alternative to scouring thousands of survivor stories online or purchasing countless individual memoirs. Wilson’s compilation offers a profound and [...]
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 [...]
Suicide has a devastating impact on families, friends, and whole communities. An estimated 65,000 Australians make a suicide attempt every year In 2022, more than 3,200 Australians died by suicide, an average of 9 per day, which is more than double the road toll The higher risk of suicide among LGBTQ+ individuals, including suicidal [...]
"Continually chasing ‘healing’ is the only way forward many LGTBQ Christians can see, with practices that subtly brainwash individuals into believing their core identity is sinful. I’ve attended multiple conferences where speakers urge people to come to the stage for “freedom” from the “sin of homosexuality and sexual perversion”. Often hundreds of people run to [...]
Jeremy, as a gay teen, experienced a dangerous mix of Opus Dei, a committed Roman Catholic family and school, a Catholic suppression/celibacy organisation and misguided priests and therapists. I knew I was gay from 13 years old, and came out to my friends and family a few years later. I grew up in the conservative [...]
My life is over. Somehow I’m born this way. I cannot change. I’m totally unacceptable to God and the “church” and destined for hell because of who I am. Before 1990, I was a youth leader in a few different NSW church youth groups. I asked the senior leadership about homosexuality. They made it VERY [...]
I am now 41 years old and a married gay man, but my journey has been fraught with turmoil, pain, and confusion, primarily due to my upbringing in a very religious household that rejected my sexual orientation. In 2007, after ending my first serious gay relationship of 18 months. I reached out to an organization [...]