WAYNE
BESEN,
A
former
spokesperson
for
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,
first
captured
the
national
media’s
attention
in
September
2000,
after
snapping
a
photo
of
“ex-gay”
poster
boy
John
Paulk
in
Mr.
P’s,
a
gay
bar
in
D.C.
Paulk,
an
outspoken
advocate
for
“ex-gay”
ministries,
appeared
on
the
cover
of
Newsweek
with
his
“ex-lesbian”
wife
in
1998.
But
after
widespread
news
reports
about
his
apparent
aberration
from
Exodus
International,
a
conservative
Christian
group
for
individuals
who
support
the
controversial
claim
that
the
sexual
orientation
of
gay
people
can
be
changed
with
counseling
and
prayer,
Paulk
was
removed
as
board
chair.
Besen’s
interest
in
the
“ex-gay”
movement
resulted
in
a
seven-month,
55-city
book
tour
to
promote
“Anything
but
Straight:
Unmasking
the
Scandals
and
Lies
Behind
the
Ex-Gay
Myth,”
which
the
Harrington
Park
Press
recently
published.
“
This,
to
me,
is
more
than
a
book
tour.
I
have
this
feeling
that
the
right
wing
is
going
to
use
this
more
than
ever
this
year,”
says
Besen,
33,
of
a
potential
backlash
from
the
religious
and
conservative
right.
Referring
to
opposition
gays
in
the
U.S.
are
facing
from
the
Episcopal
and
Roman
Catholic
churches,
as
well
as
the
recent
Massachusetts
ruling
in
favor
of
same-sex
marriage,
he
says:
“The
right
wing
base
might
turn
to
these
ministries
as
evidence
in
their
favor.
I
want
to
make
sure
people
have
this
resource
in
case
conditions
produce
a
rebirth
of
the
ex-gay
ministries.”
Besen
is
no
novice
when
it
comes
to
unearthing
the
foibles
of
ex-gay
ministries,
or
what
he
termed,
“politics
under
lies.”
HIS
INTRODUCTION
TO
reparative
therapy
happened
at
home
when
he
was
18.
After
he
told
his
parents
he
is
gay,
they
left
a
disturbing
cassette
on
his
bed
for
him
to
listen
to.
“Gay
and
Unhappy”
was
a
combination
of
new
age
music
and
anti-gay
monotone
messages.
Besen
listened
to
the
tape
three
times.
He
came
up
with
this
conclusion
in
his
book:
“All
I’ve
got
to
do
to
become
straight,
according
to
the
tape,
is
figure
out
when
you
and
Mom
became
lousy,
distant
parents.”
Since
then,
Besen
said
his
parents
have
not
subjected
him
to
reparative
therapy.
Besen,
who
says
he
has
a
happy
and
healthy
relationship
with
his
parents
—
and
always
has
—
even
dedicates
his
book
to
them.
While
working
for
HRC,
the
largest
national
gay
political
organization
in
the
nation,
Besen
published
“Finally
Free,”
an
exposé
on
the
“ex-gay”
movement.
He
has
spent
four
years
examining
“ex-gay”
ministries
and
reparative
therapies.
After
interviewing
leaders
such
as
Dr.
Robert
L.
Spitzer,
a
Columbia
University
professor
who,
in
1973,
helped
persuade
the
American
Psychiatric
Association
to
stop
defining
homosexuality
as
a
mental
illness,
but
then
reversed
this
stance
in
a
more
recent
study,
Besen
concluded,
“it
was
a
stunt
to
possibly
get
him
back
into
the
news.”
Spitzer’s
latest
study
claims
that
through
therapy
gay
men
and
lesbians
can
change
their
sexual
orientation.
“Dr.
Spitzer
recruited
the
vast
majority
of
his
subjects
in
his
terribly
flawed
study
from
the
right
wing,”
says
Besen.
“It
really
amounted
to
the
Family
Research
Council
who
sent
him
[Spitzer]
ex-gays
on
the
payroll.”
Spitzer
defended
his
sampling
by
saying:
“There’s
no
doubt
that
large
numbers
of
gays
who
enter
[reparative
therapy]
are
unsuccessful.
These
people
[in
the
study]
were
recruited
because
they
were
claiming
benefit,
and
had
offered
to
be
in
the
study,”
he
told
the
Columbia
Spectator.
Others,
who
also
considered
the
subjects
too
biased,
criticized
his
findings.
Ninety-eight
percent
of
the
subjects
described
themselves
as
“devoutly
religious,”
pointing
to
recruitment
of
the
subjects
by
the
ex-gay
ministry.
Of
Spitzer’s
most
recent
findings,
Besen
added:
“Once
[Spitzer]
was
very
well-respected.
Now,
he
tarnished
his
image.”
BESEN
ALSO
IMMERSED
himself
in
meetings
of
“ex-gay”
groups.
Although
he
would
not
divulge
which
group
he
infiltrated,
he
references
Love
in
Action,
Exodus
International,
and
Homosexuals
Anonymous
in
his
book.
“One
woman
comes
to
mind
who
exemplified
what’s
going
on
here.
She
talked
of
committing
suicide
—
she
thought
she
was
going
to
hell.
She
knew
[reparative
therapy]
wasn’t
working
but
she
was
afraid
to
leave
the
ministries.
She
was
stuck
in
a
purgatory
of
pain.
The
conversation
was
heartbreaking.
She
thought
it
was
her
fault,
for
not
praying
enough,”
Besen
said.
Techniques
like
playing
sports
to
make
one
heterosexual,
Prozac
prescriptions
and
gaining
weight
were
brought
forth
as
cures
from
the
ex-gay
ministry,
wrote
Besen.
Randy
Thomas,
a
spokesperson
with
Exodus
International,
does
not
agree.
“What
I
can
say
is
that
gender-affirming
role
modeling
is
way
simplistic.
I
don’t
think
that
is
an
elemental
part
of
the
ex-gay
ministry,”
said
Thomas
of
the
125
ex-gay
ministries
dotting
North
America.
 |
| Wayne
Besen’s
introduction
to
reparative
therapy
began
at
home
when
he
was
18
and
told
his
parents
he
is
gay.
They
left
the
cassette
tape
‘Gay
and
Unhappy’
on
his
bed.
The
33-year-old
author
says
the
tape
offered
new
age
music
and
anti-gay
messages
he
rejected.
He
and
his
parents
remain
close,
however. |
Besen
said,
“Exorcism
is
a
hallmark
of
these
ministries.
People
go
through
many
exorcisms
and
spend
a
lot
of
money
on
doctors
who
give
them.”
He
insists
that
many
figureheads
for
the
ex-gay
ministry
enjoy
working
with
the
media
—
the
gay
media,
in
particular
—
because
it
is
the
only
contact
with
gay
men
and
lesbians
they
can
still
retain
as
ex-gays.
“I
think
what
the
culture
war
has
done
was
try
to
make
ex-gays
the
opposite
of
the
gay
community,”
Thomas
said.
“The
media
and
a
few
people
have
made
us
into
the
perceived
enemy.
Just
because
I’m
ex-gay
doesn’t
mean
that
I
haven’t
faced
discrimination.”
Thomas,
who
is
a
...
