Critic Ignores Whole Truth About Ex-Gays

FROM CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA Critic Ignores Whole Truth About Ex-Gays By Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D. 'Gay' activist claims change doesn't last, but the facts prove otherwise.

"The founder of every ex-gay ministry in America has proved to be an extraordinary failure. The two founders of Exodus International [the world's largest 'ex-gay' organization] divorced their wives to move in together." – Wayne Besen, as quoted in an October 8, 2004, article by Natalie Troyer of The Washington Times.

The article containing the above quote was titled, "Film Depicts Gay Reorientation" and discussed the recent documentary I Do Exist, which explores the lives of people who have changed from gay to straight. However, columnist Wayne Besen, a gay man and critic of ex-gays, staked out a different perspective. He made two claims in this quote: First, all ex-gay ministry founders have reverted to a homosexual life and, more specifically, that the founders of Exodus International left their wives and became homosexual partners.

Are these claims accurate? Let me cut to the chase. Mostly, they are not true. In fact, after investigating the matter, I found that of the original board members of Exodus International, only one reverted to homosexuality. Furthermore, one of the two men referred to by Mr. Besen was never in leadership with Exodus. Here are the details. Exodus International is a distinctly religious organization offering services and referrals to people who are in conflict with their sexual feelings and Christian beliefs. However, detractors often say that the message of Exodus is compromised due to the failure of the co-founders of the organization to remain heterosexual. In a recent Cleveland Plain Dealer article, also on the subject of sexual orientation change, Mr. Besen claimed that Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper were the co-founders of Exodus International. He noted again that the men became gay partners.

The second claim is true. As documented in the 1992 film One Nation Under God, the two men did indeed leave their families in 1979 and engaged in a commitment ceremony in 1982. However, the first claim is false. Mr. Cooper and Mr. Bussee were not the co-founders of Exodus International.

Why do Mr. Besen and others (including the above-mentioned film, One Nation Under God) claim they were? While I cannot judge motivation, it appears to be a deliberate effort to discredit the concept of sexual orientation change. In no way can Gary Cooper be considered a founder of the organization. Mr. Cooper, who died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1989, was a volunteer with Mr. Bussee's ministry, called Exit (Ex-gay Intervention Team) based in Anaheim, California. By all accounts, he was never on the Exodus board. Mr. Bussee however, did help arrange a meeting of ex-gay leaders that eventually came to be considered the first Exodus conference. According to Exodus incorporator, Ron Dennis, Mr. Bussee was one of the people who saw the need for a collegial relationship between independent ex-gay ministries.

The original board of Exodus included five formerly gay-identified people, including Mr. Bussee. The incorporators of the group included Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis and Greg Reid. None of these men have returned to homosexuality and two of the three are still in ex-gay ministry. One other original board member, although still straight, requested his name not be included in this article. Let's do the math: Four out of five of the original board members have not returned to a gay identity.

The truth is that some people who were ex-gay ministry leaders or participants have reverted to a gay or lesbian identity. Ex-ex-gays exist. However, the majority of people who began with Exodus have not returned to a gay identity. Speaking of Exodus, Mr. Besen and those detractors who say all ex-gay leaders are "extraordinary failures" are simply ignoring the whole truth.

Just so this is clear, let's re-cap. Gary Cooper was not one of the co-founders of Exodus. Michael Bussee was on the original board. The men were involved in an ex-gay ministry in Anaheim, were married, left their wives and children and returned to a public gay identity. Of the five formerly gay men on the original board of Exodus International, four have not reverted to homosexuality. Frank Worthen and Ron Dennis continue to lead ex-gay organizations. The other two original board members were rumored to have returned to a gay identity but, according to both men, this is not true. Thus, 80 percent of the original Exodus board members are still ex-gay after 30 years.

Why are these facts important? Most people involved with Exodus and other ministries report that ex-gays can experience lasting change; it matters for our understanding of sexual orientation and human nature to know the whole truth. Although critics-for-a-living such as Mr. Besen may not be able to change their thinking, others may not be so close-minded.

Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D., is associate professor of psychology and director of college counseling at Grove City College (Pennsylvania). His articles have appeared in over 50 newspapers and he is a contributing columnist with Crosswalk.com. Dr. Throckmorton is the producer of a recently released documentary titled I Do Exist concerning sexual orientation. Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 E-mail: mail@cwfa.org CLICK HERE FOR CWA Back to Table of Contents

there are lots of men who are 0 on the scale, and some men who are 6 on the scale, but not so many in between.

That’s not true, using the Kinsey scale he concluded that only 50% of the population were at "0" and 60% of all men had some type of homosexual relationship before age sixteen. His discredited junk science, based on faulty data derived from crazy sampling, has been pushed for years by the pro-homo propagandists with little to no fact checking of their legitimacy. Using the Kinsey scale to demonstrate the “degree” of pathology is irresponsible and disingenuous.

…other researchers weren't able to replicate it.

Hmm…You sure went a long way to support your theory, using two self-serving discredited homosexual researchers and then you discredit yourself in one fell swoop? Curious approach, kind of reminds me of the throw it all against the wall philosophy of what ever sticks serves to further confuse the public and blur the lines over behavioral life choices and their consequences.

Other lines of investigation strengthen the psychological explanations. I recall reading that youngest sons are somewhat more likely to turn out gay. I also recall reading about a study that tracked boys identified by their peers as "sissies" -- 75% of them turned out to be homosexual when they reached adulthood.

Got a cite for those studies? I’ve never heard of either of those conclusions or those even being floated by the pro-sodomy crowd? Seems like the random sampling for the “sissy” kids might be difficult to achieve and the control group would be what…non-sissy boys?

Evidently, things that interrupt or interfere with the social development of boys amongst their peers sets the stage for the development of homosexuality.

Now that’s the most intelligent thing I’ve heard you say yet.

I wasn't quoting Kinsey's research, I was quoting Hamer's research. It was Hamer who concluded (contrary to Kinsey) that most men are basically completely straight or else completely gay but relatively few are genuinely bisexual. Hamer stated his research results in terms of the Kinsey scale, but he wasn't using Kinsey's data.

Here's what I scared up on AskJeeves.com:

Green, R. (1987). The "Sissy Boy Syndrome" and the Development of Homosexuality, Yale University Press, New Haven CT. (Cited in D. Bem, Exotic Becomes Erotic: Interpreting the Biological Correlates of Sexual Orientation, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29 (2000).)

This link will bring you to to end of my FR profile which contains links of the latest research on genetics and homosexuality.

The entire database is too large to post on FreeRepublic so I'm trying to come up with better ways to post the information. It may be that posting the database in sections (based on category) is the only alternative... but even this solution is only temporary as the database continues to grow.

The entire database is too large to post on FreeRepublic so I'm trying to come up with better ways to post the information. It may be that posting the database in sections (based on category) is the only alternative...

Good Morning, Scrip! I've been thinking about that for some time, too. There just doesn't seem to be many good options. Perhaps, for now, you could post it as a Version 1.2 with only the articles added since version 1.1, and then have a link back to version 1.1. That would preserve the 'article listing by year' format, which is very useful!

Thanks again for the outstanding effort you've put into your "Index of Links" - we'd be lost without it!!

:o)

Mornin', ER. I've been thinking along the same lines. There's only one problem - I don't have a listing of what's been added since version 1.1. It would work if the only articles added into version 1.2 were from 2004, but articles have been added for 1995, 2001, etc. that were not in version 1.1.

Keep those ideas coming! I've also considered adding in the author and source site, but that's just more work. J

I wasn't quoting Kinsey's research, I was quoting Hamer's research....Hamer stated his research results in terms of the Kinsey scale,

The Kinsey scale was derived from his research, Hamer using it validates Kinsey which you indeed "quoted". Garbage in Garbage out.

Here's what I scared up on AskJeeves.com:

You gave me a reference not a cite, at link to the "study" would also be helpful. If you didn't read it on the web can we assume you're well researched night owl at the NIH library?

I'm afraid you are still missing my point: Hamer's research directly disproved Kinsey's claim (expressed using his scale) that male sexuality falls along a smooth continuum. Hamer showed that rather, most men are completely straight, some men are completely gay, and there aren't many in between. Expressed in terms of Kinsey's scale: Lots of 0s, some 6s, very few 3s. This directly contradicts Kinsey, who thought there were plenty of 3s as well as plenty of 6s. Kinsey's research was poorly done if not dishonest, but his scale is a purely descriptive device that doesn't need "validation".

May I offer an analogy: Suppose I invented a scale, from 0 to 6, to describe how conservative a person is. 0 means completely conservative; 6 completely left-wing. Suppose I then did some research, where I surveyed hundreds of people, to find out what the distribution of conservative or liberal was, on my scale. I then announced, based on my results, that not very many people are 0s, 1s or 2s, but there are lots of 4s, 5s and 6s. But then you come along, and notice that my research was shoddy: I only interviewed people at college campuses on the west coast. You do an honest, careful study, which shows actually most people are in the 0 to 3 range. You express your results using my scale. This gets the message across. This is what Hamer did using the Kinsey scale.

Here is the link to the Bem article: http://www.dbem.ws/Biological%20Correlates.pdf. In this article, he mentioned research that showed that 75% of "sissy" boys grew up to be homosexual men; he also mentioned other studies that arrive at figures such as 63%. (The cited reference is to a monograph that includes the 75% study.) Bem is a Cornell psychology professor; his homepage is http://www.dbem.ws/.

For curiosities' sake, I might mention I originally happened across Bem while reading about parapsychology. Apparently, Bem is a very prominent psychologist, who startled his colleagues in the early 1990s by co-authoring an article that argued for the reality of paranormal phenomena.

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