The Gay Thing: Exodus International to Shut Down, Apologizes

There are big chunks of the internets still inhabited by people who think that being gay is a choice, and not only can be changed, but should be changed. It's a disturbingly loud, and curiously fixated slice of the populace who feels this way, and for avowed heterosexuals, they sure claim to know a lot about what they mistakenly refer to as "the lifestyle." And when pressed--provided they're not presently foaming at the mouth, and typing in badly-spelled all capital letters--they'll point to groups like Exodus International as proof that "thousands and thousands" of (undocumented, of course) gays have "changed."

By "changed" they can be vague though. Did these "ex-gays" actually change into heterosexuals? Did they merely become celibate? Were the success stories perhaps bisexual or not even gay to begin with? So many questions, so few answers. But by and large, these organizations are seen as a colossal waste of time, and even possibly damaging to their clients. Very often, those who have claimed to "change," have changed back. And more often than not, ex-ex-gays report the entire experience to be a fraud.

So, should this story come as much of a surprise?

Image from source, BuzzFeed

[Excerpt]

Group That Had Aimed To "Change" Gays To Shut Down, Leader Also Offered Apology

“Exodus International, the oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality, issued an apology to the gay community for years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the Church as a whole,” the group stated on its website Wednesday. Update: The group has announced it is closing down.. .

Read more at: BuzzFeed

Bachmann Gets 'Em Over Guys! (Rocky Mountain Mike Ad Parody)

Another funny one from Rocky Mountain Mike (of The Stephanie Miller Show). I know that Marcus and Michele Bachmann haven't been in the news all that much lately. But with the flurry of gay news here and elsewhere over the last couple of weeks, it's worth remembering that there's a guy out there trying to de-gay the gays! Using Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Takin' Care of Business as a starting point, hear a commercial for Marcus' de-gaying clinic!

"The Gay" is Not a Choice (Duh)

More than a decade ago a psychological study seemed to show that certain gay and lesbian people were capable of "changing" their sexual orientation to "straight." The rabid right--several certified hate groups, usually with "Family" in their names--latched onto this study, and used it as the basis for their anti-gay agenda. But the guy who released that study has now denounced it. He's not very happy it was used that way, and really wishes he had never released it in the first place.

So, without that study, what do these groups now base their agenda on, besides hatred?

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Marcus Bachmann Still Trying to Pray Away the Gay

Oh, Marcus! You can't get rid of your outsized gayness with any regular-strength prayer. You're going to need Industrial Strength God in a Drum for that kind of job! Sweetheart, dump Crazy Eyes, change the clinic's purpose to a support-centered place, and come out! You might get a game show on Bravo, or a fabulous reality series on Logo!

[Excerpt]

Bachmann clinic continues ‘pray the gay away’ treatment

Kristina Lapinski, a documentary film-maker who is contributing to “Gay U.S.A. the Movie,” a documentary project, went undercover, and attended a session with Bachmann & Associates, the counselling clinic in Minnesota owned by Michele and Marcus Bachmann. Mrs Bachmann was a contender for the Republican Presidential Nomination, though she pulled out of the race at the beginning of the year. . .

Read more at (yes): Pink News

Countdown with Keith Olbermann Puts Spotlight on Marcus Bachmann

Michele Bachmann has a problem, when it comes to a path to the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. That problem is named Marcus Bachmann. Part of the problem is that the Bachmanns have a "Christian" mental health clinic. Yes, mental health. Mrs. Bachmann isn't--as far as I know--a patient herself. This religion-based clinic takes Medicaid payments from the government, and Michele lies about it. That part of the story we know already.

But more than that, the meat of the story is that a good chunk of the business the Bachmanns apparently undertake is religious conversions of gay people. Reparative therapy. It's a practice that is condemned by all of the major medical associations, and should be a dodgy sort of thing to give government money to. Add to this the extraordinarily um. . . *f-a-a-a-a-abulous!* flamboyance of Marcus Bachmann himself, who destroys gaydar sensors, and you've got a political powder keg. This one is just on simmer right now. But there is no freaking way this thing doesn't blow up.

Bachmann & Associates and the Strange Company They Keep

Okay, back to Crazy Eyes. If you didn't know, Michele Bachmann and her husband have an enterprise, creatively named Bachmann & Associates. "We believe in providing all clients with quality Christian counseling in a sensitive and loving environment." So says their listing in DexKnows.com.  Dex doesn't seem to know that they also specialize in the "pray away the gay" reparative therapy nonsense, and that they apparently get federal money. Which goes against what Mrs. Bachmann herself is allegedly against--and has actually denied.

But that's not important right now. This post is about what DexKnows thinks are similar outfits in the vicinity. Freaking hilarious.

Anderson Cooper: The Sissy-Boy Experiment

I don't know which thing is more startling: a) that there is a show on CNN called "The Sissy-Boy Experiment," b) that parents would put their child through the abusive treatment that is reparative therapy, c) that Anderson Cooper would allow his name in the title, d) that Anderson Cooper would tackle the issue or e) that the kid in the photo looks just like me as a kid.

Don't Want to Be Gay? Why Not Go Camping With a Bunch of Guys?

The logic of this fails me.  Assume you're a guy who gets all tingly around other guys. But you don't want to feel that way (likely for religious reasons). So, why not go off to a camp with a bunch of other guys who share your troublesome tinglies?  If there isn't at least one hookup between two guys (and who knows, maybe several guys) at each of these events, I'd be shocked. Seriously, it'd be easy pickings, and after you could try to "pray the gay away" to "cleanse" yourself. What a perfect setup!

Honestly, if you've got the gay, you've got it. You don't learn it, and you can't unlearn it.  For every "ex-gay," there are several "ex-ex-gays" who are much, much happier for accepting who they really are.  As Sharron Angle might say, man up you guys. . .pun definitely intended.

[Excerpt]


From Gay to Straight? Controversial Retreat Helps Men Deal With 'Unwanted Attraction'



Read more at: ABC News

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Ex-gay Therapy Doesn't Work. Duh.

The whole "ex-gay" movement strikes most actual gay people as ridiculous. Mostly because the terminology they use, and the examples they cite seem so foreign to most gay people. Or in some cases, painfully familiar. In my experience, most people who seek to leave the "gay lifestyle"--a misnomer if ever there was one--are the people who swung out of the closet on a rope, and dove head-first into partying, whoring around and drinking and/or drugs. This, while not unheard of, is not the typical experience.

In my personal opinion--and that's all I can offer--most of the people who are pulled into the "ex-gay" movement are a) raised very religious, b) party-boys who took it too far, c) those who had a heartbreaking breakup, d) "perfect" kids of parents who expect certain things of their children, or e) bisexuals who are capable of isolating their sexuality into "straight." Only e) is capable of a successful "transition." Everyone else in the movement is just fooling themselves.

Most gay people go through a sort of delayed adolescence. We didn't get to date who we wanted to in high school, didn't get to express who we were while growing up, or maybe didn't recognize or fully acknowledge it until we were much older than the typical heterosexual's sexual awakening. Consequently, we do the whole dating scene much later than our peers. And, given that guys (and I'm sorry, ladies, I can't relate the lesbian experience with any authority) will say "yes" with almost no reservations, sex is easy and plentiful to gay males if they want it.

This leads to guilt in some people. Maybe shame. Most of us learn from that, and temper our sex drives, whittling down what we want until we end up with the person we want to be with. But some overdo it, and then they freak out. Thus--again, in my opinion--they seek out "reparative therapy." Which is a bad idea, because it doesn't work.

This is, as I've said, all in my opinion. I've only known one person who claimed to be "ex-gay," and that person went through it twice. He was ex-ex-ex-gay! And guess what? He turned out just plain gay.

[Excerpt]

APA: Ex-Gay Therapy Doesn't Work

Citing 83 studies performed since 1960, yesterday the American Psychological Association declared that "reparative therapy" for homosexuals does not work and should not be attempted. But you knew that. . .

Read more at: Joe. My. God