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 [...]
What you can’t pray away Conversion therapy: Leading and leaving an ex-gay ministry By: Kim Kemmis Published in Archer magazine Sep 18, 2021 Sometimes I dream of someone coming up to me in the street; someone I vaguely recognise from the past. They point at me and say, “You.” In that weird way dreams have [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Ex-Ex-Gay Pride By Zoë Schlanger and Elijah Wolfson Filed: 5/1/14 at 11:36 AM | Updated: 5/2/14 at 11:34 AM From the August 17, 1998 issue of Newsweek. Photo at left by Chris Buck. Newsweek On a Tuesday evening nearly 14 years ago, John Paulk walked into a gay bar in Washington, D.C. At another time [...]
Is saying 'sorry' enough? "Ex-gay" formal apologies have been happening for a number of years. They began in 2007 at the first "ex-gay" survivors' conference with former leaders Michael Bussee, Darlene Bogle and Jeremy Marks followed closely by former "ex-gay" leaders from Australia. Whilst these were significant, they didn't get the same attention as more recent ones [...]
One statement we have heard over and over again is that 1,000's have left the "homosexual lifestyle". Claims have even been made that there are 100,000's.But we have never been able to find these 1,000's of people or are they too afraid to come out as "ex-gay"? Statements about large numbers "leaving homosexuality" have been boldly declared regularly [...]
John Paulk admits it was a sham. "In 2003, I left the public ministry and gave up my role as a spokesman for the "ex-gay movement.” I began a new journey. In the decade since, my beliefs have changed. Today, I do not consider myself “ex-gay” and I no longer support or promote the movement. [...]
For the better part of ten years, I was an advocate and spokesman for what’s known as the “ex-gay movement,” where we declared that sexual orientation could be changed through a close-knit relationship with God, intensive therapy and strong determination. At the time, I truly believed that it would happen. And while many things in [...]