Ex-ex-gay
Encyclopedia
The term ex-ex-gay is used to describe people who at one time participated in the ex-gay
movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation
to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly accept that their sexual orientation
falls under the LGBT
umbrella. Ex-ex-gay people may publicly declare to have ended the attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexuality
, and to have embraced their sexual orientation as lesbian
, gay
, or bisexual.
Organizations in the ex-gay movement such as Exodus International
offer conversion therapy, with the claim that an LGBT person's involvement in the programming can change their sexual orientation to heterosexual. This type of programming is opposed by all major medical organizations, including The National Association of Social Workers
, The American Psychological Association
, The American Psychiatric Association
, The American Counseling Association
, and The American Academy of Pediatrics
.
The American Psychiatric Association
describes conversion therapy as ineffective at changing sexual orientation, and as harmful to the LGBT person's well-being.
Three publicly ex-ex-gay people are Günter Baum
, Peterson Toscano
and Christine Bakke
. In April 2007, Toscano and Bakke founded Beyond Ex-Gay
, an on-line resource for ex-ex gays. In June 2007, together with Soulforce
and the LGBT Resource Center at University of California, Irvine
organized the first ever Ex-Gay Survivor Conference.
In 1979
, Exodus International
's co-founder Michael Bussee and his partner Gary Cooper quit the group and held a life commitment ceremony together. On June 27, 2007, Bussee, along with fellow former Exodus leaders Jeremy Marks and Darlene Bogle, issued a public apology for their roles in Exodus.
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly accept that their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
falls under the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
umbrella. Ex-ex-gay people may publicly declare to have ended the attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexuality
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
, and to have embraced their sexual orientation as lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, or bisexual.
Organizations in the ex-gay movement such as Exodus International
Exodus International
Exodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...
offer conversion therapy, with the claim that an LGBT person's involvement in the programming can change their sexual orientation to heterosexual. This type of programming is opposed by all major medical organizations, including The National Association of Social Workers
National Association of Social Workers
The National Association of Social Workers is a professional organization of social workers in the United States. It had over 150,000 members as of January 2008 and provides guidance, research, up to date information, advocacy, and other resources for its members and for social workers in general...
, The American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
, The American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
, The American Counseling Association
American Counseling Association
The American Counseling Association is a professional organization of counselors in the United States. It is the world's largest association exclusively representing professional counselors....
, and The American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics is the major professional association of pediatricians in the United States. The AAP was founded in 1930 by 35 pediatricians to address pediatric healthcare standards. It currently has 60,000 members in primary care and sub-specialist areas...
.
The American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
describes conversion therapy as ineffective at changing sexual orientation, and as harmful to the LGBT person's well-being.
Three publicly ex-ex-gay people are Günter Baum
Günter Baum
Günter Baum is an openly gay man, who founded two Christian ministries in Germany.The first organization which Baum founded was Wüstenstrom, which is part of the ex-gay movement. The organization's program was originally based on the U.S. program Desert Stream Ministries, though the group has...
, Peterson Toscano
Peterson Toscano
Peterson Toscano is a playwright, an actor, a blogger, a stand-up comedian, and a gay activist. Before accepting his gay orientation, he spent nearly two decades submitting to ex-gay treatment and conversion therapy designed to alter his gay orientation and gender differences...
and Christine Bakke
Christine Bakke
Christine Bakke spent four years in the ex-gay movement attempting to alter her sexual orientation through conversion therapy...
. In April 2007, Toscano and Bakke founded Beyond Ex-Gay
Beyond Ex-Gay
Beyond Ex-Gay, or bXg, is a website devoted to people who at one time participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to acknowledge their sexual orientation as falling under the LGBT umbrella. These people are also...
, an on-line resource for ex-ex gays. In June 2007, together with Soulforce
Soulforce (organization)
Soulforce is an American social justice and civil rights organization that supports acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people through dialogue and creative forms of nonviolent direct action...
and the LGBT Resource Center at University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
organized the first ever Ex-Gay Survivor Conference.
In 1979
1979 in science
The year 1979 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* February 7 – Pluto enters a 20-year period inside the orbit of Neptune for the first time in 230 years....
, Exodus International
Exodus International
Exodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...
's co-founder Michael Bussee and his partner Gary Cooper quit the group and held a life commitment ceremony together. On June 27, 2007, Bussee, along with fellow former Exodus leaders Jeremy Marks and Darlene Bogle, issued a public apology for their roles in Exodus.
People who no longer support the ex-gay movement
- Günter BaumGünter BaumGünter Baum is an openly gay man, who founded two Christian ministries in Germany.The first organization which Baum founded was Wüstenstrom, which is part of the ex-gay movement. The organization's program was originally based on the U.S. program Desert Stream Ministries, though the group has...
originally founded an ex-gay ministry in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Later he formed Zwischenraum, which helps gay Christians to accept their sexuality and to reconcile it with their beliefs. - Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, co-founders of Exodus InternationalExodus InternationalExodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...
, left the organization and in 1979, held a life commitment ceremonySame-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. Bussee went on to become an outspoken critic of Exodus and the ex-gay movement. In June 2007 Bussee issued an apology for his part in the ex-gay movement. - Ben Gresham is an Australian man who went through three years of ex-gay therapy starting at sixteen years of age. He does media appearances including ABC TV’s The Hack Half Hour, SX News and Triple J (radio) regarding what he sees as the dangers of ex-gay programs and the psychological harm associated with them.Along with this, Gresham is a part of "Freedom 2 b[eFreedom 2b(e)Freedom 2b[e] is an Australian based network that supports GLBTIQ people from Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelical backgrounds. It helps them resolves issues of faith and sexuality and works to promote understanding and acceptance both in the church and within the wider community...
]" which offers support to LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people from church backgrounds and is also the co-founder of ‘The Hope Alliance‘ which confronts ex-gay programs in Australia and offers hope to people displaced from the ex gay movement. - Anthony Venn-BrownAnthony Venn-BrownAnthony Venn-Brown is a former Australian evangelist in the Assemblies of God and an author whose book describes his experience in Australia’s first ex-gay program....
is a former Australian evangelist in the Assemblies of GodAssemblies of GodThe Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
and an author whose book describes his experience in Australia's first ex-gay program. Venn-Brown co-founded "Freedom 2 b[e]" which offers support to GLBT people from church backgrounds and who have been displaced from the ex gay movement. In 2007 he co-ordinated the release of a statement from five Australian ex-gay leaders who publicly apologized for their past actions. - Noe Gutierrez appeared in Warren ThrockmortonWarren ThrockmortonE. Warren Throckmorton is an associate professor of Psychology at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He is a former advocate of sexual orientation change efforts and the creator of the documentary I Do Exist, about people who say they have changed their sexual orientation.Throckmorton...
's ex-gay video I Do Exist in 2004. This garnered some notice, as Gutierrez had previously appeared in a video for gay youth known as It's Elementary. Gutierrez later left the ex-gay movement and wrote about his experience. - John SmidJohn SmidJohn J. Smid is the former director of the Memphis, Tennessee ex-gay ministry Love In Action, a position in which he was a leading spokesman for converting homosexuals into heterosexuals...
is the former director of the Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
ex-gayEx-gayThe ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
ministry Love In ActionLove In ActionLove In Action is an ex-gay, Christian ministry founded in 1973 by Frank Worthen, John Evans, and Kent Philpott. The program was originally founded in Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco.-History:...
, a position in which he was a leading spokesman for converting homosexuals into heterosexuals. In 2011, years after having left his Love In Action post, he stated that he was homosexual, and that he had "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual." - Peterson ToscanoPeterson ToscanoPeterson Toscano is a playwright, an actor, a blogger, a stand-up comedian, and a gay activist. Before accepting his gay orientation, he spent nearly two decades submitting to ex-gay treatment and conversion therapy designed to alter his gay orientation and gender differences...
is an actor who was involved in the ex-gay movement for 17 years. He performs a related one-man satireSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
titled Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House, and with Christine BakkeChristine BakkeChristine Bakke spent four years in the ex-gay movement attempting to alter her sexual orientation through conversion therapy...
co-runs Beyond Ex-GayBeyond Ex-GayBeyond Ex-Gay, or bXg, is a website devoted to people who at one time participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to acknowledge their sexual orientation as falling under the LGBT umbrella. These people are also...
, a support website for people coming out of ex-gay experiences.
See also
- Queer theology
- Wayne BesenWayne BesenWayne Besen is an American gay rights advocate. He is a former spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign and the founder of Truth Wins Out.Besen says he has interviewed hundreds of former and current "ex-gays," and is an outspoken critic of organisations such as Homosexuals Anonymous.- Photos of...
, gay rights activist and author of Anything But StraightAnything But StraightAnything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth is a book written by Wayne Besen, a gay rights advocate.-External links:**...
External links
- Former Exodus leaders' apology
- Anything But Straight official site
- Evangelicals Concerned - Western Region, "Creating safe places for GLBT Christians." (National site at Evangelicals Concerned)
- J. G. Ford, "Reparative Therapy -- A PseudosciencePseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
" - Ex-Gay Watch