Beyond ex gay

Michael Fifty years ago when I was beginning my struggle to come to terms with my homosexuality there were no Christian ex-gay programs, at least none that I was aware of. In ex-gay programs, some of us have discovered people who became life-long friends and fellow travelers as we integrate our sexual desires and identity with the rest of our lives.

In April of , Beyond Ex-Gay launched its site, and joined Soulforce and the LGBT Resource Center at UC Irvine to put together a conference that was the first of its kind in the . Middle-aged with thick, graying black hair, Nicolosi grew up in New York City and spoke with a faint Bronx accent. So often healing comes through community and through sharing our stories and experiences with each other.

The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship. Christian churches were unanimous in condemning homosexuality as a sin.

But maybe this was something I had power over. So often healing comes through community and through sharing our stories and experiences with each other. I threw them away. Brusque but affable, he put me at ease. Beyond Ex-Gay is an online community and resource for those of us who have survived ex-gay experiences.

Three publicly ex-ex-gay people are Günter Baum, Peterson Toscano and Christine Bakke. Three publicly ex-ex-gay people are Günter Baum, Peterson Toscano and Christine Bakke. Some attended ex-gay ministries or received treatment through a counselor. Beyond Ex-Gay is an online community and resource for those of us who have survived ex-gay experiences.

Afraid to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, we found the ex-gay experience to be a middle ground in the coming out process. Nor was there any gay rights movement, and books treating the subject were few and hard to find. I agreed to fly with my father to Los Angeles from our small town on the Arizona-Mexico border for an initial consultation.

Early in my freshman year of high school, I came home to find my mom sitting on her bed, crying. It’s frustrating when stores use the wrong letters for their sites, like KountryKitchenDotCom, or . Beginning with the founding of Love In Action and Exodus International in the mids, the movement saw rapid growth in the s and s. In April , Toscano and Bakke founded Beyond Ex-Gay, an on-line resource for ex-ex gays.

For the last half of the session, I talked with Nicolosi alone. Through “therapy” and “prayer” I learned that even good things can be used against us when in the hands of manipulative people. My mom is a problem solver, and the next day she handed me a stack of papers she had printed out from the Internet about reorientation, or "ex-gay," therapy. Nor was there any gay rights movement, and books treating the subject were few and hard to find.

My ex-gay experience ultimately lead me to getting my doctorate of education in sexology. Beyond Ex-Gay was initially conceived by Peterson Toscano and Christine Bakke-O'Neill in Both Christine and Peterson were ex-gay survivors looking for a way to communicate the harm . Michael Fifty years ago when I was beginning my struggle to come to terms with my homosexuality there were no Christian ex-gay programs, at least none that I was aware of.

I learned about ex-gay therapy when I was only 12 years old. I admitted that life would be easier if such a pill existed. When my father and I first sat down, Nicolosi explained what he meant by "cure. Others created their own programs imposing a regime . His confidence in the outcome made me hopeful. Some of us have learned about how to address issues of addiction and unhealthy relating.

Nicolosi's acknowledgment that change wouldn't be absolute made the theory seem reasonable. I said I didn't see how talking about myself in a therapist's office was going to make me stop liking guys. I read through the papers my mom had salvaged from the trash. In April , Toscano and Bakke founded Beyond Ex-Gay, an on-line resource for ex-ex gays. So often healing comes through community and through sharing our stories and .

Narratives Many people have survived ex-gay experiences. Nicolosi's corner office had emerald-green carpet and mahogany bookshelves lined with titles like Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far and Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth. The psychiatric profession listed it as a severe but. Until I had spoken with Nicolosi, I had resigned myself to the idea that, desirable or not, my life would have to accommodate the fact that I was gay.

Beyond Ex-Gay is an online community and resource for those of us who have survived ex-gay experiences. They were interviews with Nicolosi's patients, who talked about how therapy helped them overcome depression and feel "comfortable in their masculinity. Many of us entered into an ex-gay program feeling isolated by society and at times even by the people who love us most.

Her resignation didn't last long. My mother responded by asking whether I wanted a family, then posed a hypothetical: "If there were a pill you could take that would make you straight, would you take it? In fact, I had always imagined myself middle-aged, married to a woman, and having a son and daughter-didn't everyone want some version of that?

Christian churches were unanimous in condemning homosexuality as a sin. I hadn't thought about how my infatuation with boys would play out over the course of my life. She told me about Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, a clinical psychologist in California who was then of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality NARTH , the country's largest organization for practitioners of ex-gay therapy. She said Nicolosi had treated hundreds of people who were now able to live "normal" lives.