Michael Luo, religion writer for the NY Times, wrote a piece that looks at various ex-gay options in the New York metro area (and not just Evangelical Christian groups). He focuses mostly on the words and lives of people who currently identify as ex-gay, but he also interviewed professionals who denounce gay reparative therapy.
Although Luo states that "for every ostensible success story, there are many other stories of people who have concluded they were deluding themselves, including some who used to be among the movement’s most visible leaders" he only includes one example of someone who had made that conclusion. That one would be me.
“There’s not a debate in the profession on this issue,” said Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York psychiatrist and former chairman of the Committee on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues of the American Psychiatric Association. “This is like creationism. You create the impression to the public as if there was a debate in the profession, which there is not.”The piece goes on to talk about LIFE Ministries in NYC, a ministry that according to Luo claims, "that complete “freedom” is available for anyone willing to put in the emotional and spiritual work."
Although Luo states that "for every ostensible success story, there are many other stories of people who have concluded they were deluding themselves, including some who used to be among the movement’s most visible leaders" he only includes one example of someone who had made that conclusion. That one would be me.
Read all of Some Tormented by Homosexualty Look to a Controversial Therapy.Peterson Toscano, 41, spent years in ex-gay ministries, including LIFE, during the 1980s and 1990s and eventually got married, only to see his marriage fall apart after he was unable to keep his homosexual urges in check.
He finally decided: “If you keep trying this, you’re fooling no one.” Now openly gay, Mr. Toscano lives in Hartford, attends a gay-friendly Quaker meetinghouse and performs solo comedy sketches around the country, including one that pokes fun at his experiences in the ex-gay movement.
Comments
willie, I turn 42 on Saturday (the fourth anniversary of the premiere of Homo No Mo :-)
Hey, Anna HP, we need to talk about dates in May in Malmo and Lund. Would love to come back to your neck of the woods. AND get to see you sing!
Gah. I just hate that. It's so insulting, as if I didn't want to work hard enough. Honestly, I'm not sure that there were many other people in my ex-gay circles who put in the "emotional and spiritual" work that I did...
But um, anyway, end of rant. Hi Peterson. :)
I actually like that quote. Not as it applies to the topic, but as it applies to spiritual freedom.
And Peterson, I hear you.