Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies of the Ex-Gay Myth by Wayne R. Besen; Harrington Park Press
Washington, DC-based gay activist Wayne R. Besen comes with an impressive journalistic pedigree. Besen has written for a number of gay publications around the country and has worked in the newsrooms of several television stations. He has also worked closely with the Human Rights Campaign. With the important Anything But Straight, Besen sets out to expose one of the religious right's most insidious anti-gay hate campaigns, the "ex-gay" movement. Through interviews and research, the author digs up a lot of dirt on the self-serving charlatans who claim to have the "cure" for homosexuality.
Besen's book is deeply disturbing and, on occasion, strangely humorous. It opens with a lengthy chapter on ex-gay poster boy John Paulk. Once a cross-dressing prostitute named Candi, Paulk "found Jesus," became straight (or did he?) and married an ex-lesbian. The couple have since dedicated their lives to leading other LGBTs to the "cure" they'll find in Jesus. Paulk was, for a number of years, a keynote speaker for the Colorado-based right-wing group Focus on the Family.
Besen and a friend found Faulk cruising Mr. P's, a divey DC drag bar. Paulk's claim that he stopped in to use the bathroom and didn't know that he was in a gay bar is laughable. Readers might wish they could have seen Paulk charging out of Mr. P's faster than a speeding bullet, with Besen and camera in hot pursuit. It's an hilarious account. When Atlanta's LGBT paper Southern Voice broke the story, Paulk's career as a hypocrite was over.
Ex-gay ministries may seem like a harmless annoyance here in the Bay Area, but in towns where it's still not safe to be gay, they inflict a great deal of harm. "Therapists" like Richard Cohen, who claim to have the "cure" but don't have any actual credentials, hide behind Jesus to justify the browbeating mind games they inflict on vulnerable, lonely LGBT people. Relationships are destroyed, people are isolated from loved ones and brainwashed. Cohen and others like him do "God's work" with no regard for the harm and pain they are causing.
Ministries dupe LGBT people with "outreach" programs. Disenfranchised people are "welcomed" in, then told how dirty they are. But don't worry, Jesus still loves you, and he'll help you. Anecdotal stories of the tragedies caused by these lies are heartbreaking. One gay man committed suicide after his lover of 10 years left him for the "cure." The surviving partner still cries 25 yeas later as he recalls how he was duped, and what the lies did to him and his late lover.
Some of these charlatans clearly know how full of shit they are, but their ministries make too much money from the ex-gay scam. Others, like Richard Cohen, appear to believe in what they're doing and may be mentally ill.
The stories are shocking. The things these ministries do to achieve their goals are sometimes so over the top, some readers may question the validity of Besen's claims. But his research is meticulous. He quotes his sources by name. In cases where he interviewed subjects, he names the location where the interview took place. He offers addresses and website information on the groups he exposes.
Most courageously, Besen suggests that we in the LGBT community could put these groups out of business by being more welcoming towards each other. He cites examples of LGBTs who joined these groups because "at least I could get a hug there." We can't all look like Brad Pitt, Besen observes. Pretty or plain, we all deserve to be welcomed into our own community.