In 1973, when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, religious leaders joined by a small group of mental health practitioners broke from the organization to continue treating gays and lesbians with “reparative” or “sexual conversion” therapy. Throughout the 70’s, treatment centers began cropping up across the country being led by Frank Worthen’s Love in Action centers, followed by Exodus International in 1976.
Over the next two decade, there was a marked increase in funding and support of Christian-run ministries, bolstered by support from Christian-right organizations like Focus on the Family among others. The movement became spearheaded by Exodus International, an umbrella organization that oversees hundreds of Christian-based ministries and is also expanding into non-Christian organizations like PFOX, Parents of Ex-gay People, and Jonah, a program for Jewish ex-gays. In 1992, they formed the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality in an attempt to legitimize the “clinical work” of such organizations. Since then the movement found new traction, bringing “ex-gay” centers solidly into the on-going debate over same-sex issues.
In 1998, many of the ex-gay groups and the religious right, led by Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council, launched a massive newspaper campaign highlighting the work of the ex-gay ministries. The campaign even landed then Exodus International presidents John and Anne Paulkon the cover of Newsweek. But in 2000, John Paulk was photographed inside a Washington D.C. gay bar, forcing him to step down from Exodus and plunging the organization into public embarrassment.
After quietly existing in over a hundred centers across the country throughout the turn of the century, the number of “ex-gay” ministries began to increase due toan increase in funding around the 2000 elections. Focus on the Family began pouring money into the creation of additional sites bolstering their numbers to over 200 including sites in Canada and around the world and in 2003 Love in Action introduced the first structured program specifically for teenagers.
But in summer 2006, the national debate over “reparative” therapy, in particular the teen program, broke out again over the MySpace blogs of a teenager named “Zach”. A 16 year-old boy in Memphis, Zach recently came out to him parents in the Spring to which they sent him against his will to Refuge, an intensive Love in Action program. Before leaving home, Zach detailed several of the rules for clients such as reporting sexual fantasies, no eye contact for the first three days and having their belongings searched every morning. Zach’ sentries quickly spread from friends, to filmmakers, to the media eventually leading to an investigation of Love in Action by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
In August 2006, the American Psychological Association issued another warning about the practices of such institutions:
“The APA’s concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”
The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers all deny reparative therapy’s very premise. “We are finding that the number of people claiming to be harmed by reparative therapy are increasing, says Dr. Jack Drescher, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s committee on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues. The APA even went as far as endorsing gay marriage to help reverse the gay stigma, citing evidence that stable, monogamous relationships are beneficial for mental health.
As recently as November 2006, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Reverend Ted Haggard, was exposed by a male escort who went to the media detailing their sexual encounters, forcing Haggard to step down from both his church and position within NAE. He is now being guided through a sexual conversion therapy by religious leaders. And in December 2006, Rev. Paul Barnes, from the Grace Chapel, resigned from his post though a taped message to his congregation admitting to his long-standing “struggle with homosexuality”.
Following the disclosure of both Haggard and Barnes’ sexuality, The New York Times published a series of articles on sexuality and religion in December 2006. The first article (published December 12, 2006), entitled “Gay and Evangelical, Seeking Paths to Acceptance,” deals with the issues confronting gay Christians trying to find a place within both worlds, gay and Christian, seemingly intolerant of each other. The second article “Pastors’ Disclosures May Stir Empathy, Some Evangelicals Say”, published on December 13, 2006 looks at the response from other Christians as their associates fall from grace and the effect it might have on the church going forward. See Oliver “Buzz” Thomas Opinion piece in USA Today, “When Religion Loses Its Credibility” for further debate on the subject.
So as the country moves into the latter part of our decade, the debate over homosexuality and religion, from gay Epispical bishops, to same-sex marriage and the “ex-gay” movement, wages on.
Additional Resources
- "For The Bible Tells Me So" , Documentary by Dan Karslake
- Peterson Toscano – “DoinTime in the Homo No Mo Halfway House”.
- Rev. Mel White. “What theBible Does – and Doesn’t Say – About Homosexuality”
- Wayne Besen “Anything ButStraight”
- Tanya Erzen “Straight toJesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement”
