Conversion therapy to change one's orientation.

[ladyinred]

Now I am curious about this one.. And I want to know if any of you have ever gone through this process, what it has done to you, how you were feeling at the time and what personal inner conflicts you had with yourself regarding your sexuality. Hope I am not being too intrusive....... But I am interested in this subject...

[Zerbie]

Check out Wayne Besen's book "Anything but Straight." Plenty of anecdotes and perspective in there.

www.waynebesen.com

[revtj]

Hey, I have known 2 people who have gone through "reparation therapy". One of them is like permanently screwed up with religious guilt. Somedays he is like a fundamentalist, full of guilt and bible verses, and other days he is OK. He has never had a regular same-gender relationship, they are always extreme drama & he gets hurt. My theory is that he subconsciously picks guys who it won't work out with because of the huge overload of guilt his spirit still maintains.

The other spoke at our press conference last week. He contributes regularly to a website Ex-gay Watch. After 2 years in therapy with Nicolosi, the chief purveyor of ex-gay psychology, he said it didn't work. He also said he would never have anything to do with organized religion again.

In the end I think the ex-gay thing is spiritual violence against LGBT and curious/questioning or confused people. I'm sure most Soulforcers would agree.

Wayne Besen's book has lots of research. Highly recommended. He also has a website, Truth Wins Out

[pnggrad79]

I knew of a guy who went through Exodus for 2 years. He was from a strict Southern Baptist background and of course, loaded down with guilt, and shame and a profound sense that if he remained gay, he was going straight to hell. He said that he graduated from the program and "thought" he was "cured". Then one night, he was praying and crying and God verbally told him that it was ok to be gay and that he wasn't to fight it any longer. I am not saying he doesn't still struggle with it, but we all have those insane tapes in our head.

Whatever happened to grace? mercy? love? reconciliation? Did we throw those things away?

[kara speltz]

Originally Posted by ladyinred

Now I am curious about this one.. And I want to know if any of you have ever gone through this process, what it has done to you, how you were feeling at the time and what personal inner conflicts you had with yourself regarding your sexuality. Hope I am not being too intrusive....... But I am interested in this subject...

I have several friends who went through Exodus. One of them attempted suicide shortly after finishing the program. He's now a happy healthy gay man with a long term partner and a child who is 2, created by a surrogate mother and artificial insemination. They are doing wonderfully.

Two other friends of mine met at an Exodus (type) organization and fell in love and they too, are amazing activists for gay rights.

I think all of us need to be aware of the internalized homophobia which exists within each of us. It would seem to me to deny it, would be just about the same as saying, I'm not racist, when we've been raised in a culture steeped in racism. We struggle to overcome it, but there probably will be a bit of it in all of us.

Hopefully, our next generations will have so much less of that to deal with.