Inside An "Ex-Gay" Torture Camp

Vice reports:

Regardless of a nationwide battle toward the acceptance of same­-sex marriage and equal rights for gay people, conversion therapy is still a problem, and it's being practiced every single day in the United States and throughout the world.

In this special report, VICE gets exclusive access to one of the hundreds of gay-conversion-therapy organizations, groups, and sessions in the United States. At the Journey into Manhood program, men pay more than $600 to attend a weekend retreat where they participate in exercises and activities the staff members claim will help them battle their same-sex ­orientation. The only qualification to become a staff member is to have successfully completed the program.

The report meets with the founder of reparative therapy, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, who is illegally practicing on minors in the State of California, and investigates the controversial legal battle to fight conversion therapy for individuals under 18 years of age. We also travel to the annual Gay Christian Network Conference, speak with former "ex-gay" leaders including John Smid of Love in Action, who is now married to his gay partner, and hear the grueling stories of the individuals who have survived this brutal practice.

Below is the trailer for their report. Click over and watch the first full installment of their video report.

(Tipped by JMG reader Claudio)

NEW JERSEY: Judge Bars Key "Ex-Gay" Witnesses From SPLC Case Against JONAH

The Southern Poverty Law Center won a key victory yesterday in their consumer fraud suit against New Jersey-based JONAH, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality. From the SPLC:

Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. excluded Joseph Nicolosi [PHOTO], Christopher Doyle, Dr. James Phelan and Dr. John Diggs as witnesses for the defense, holding that their opinions are based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder. Bariso wrote that “the theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but – like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it – instead is outdated and refuted.” In New Jersey, scientific expert opinions must be based on premises and methodology generally accepted within the relevant professional field. Trial in the lawsuit against the New Jersey-based Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) is scheduled to begin in the early summer of 2015. The judge’s ruling shows that much of the JONAH experts’ planned testimony is irrelevant.

Nicolosi is the founder of NARTH. Equality Case Files provides some quotes from the judge's ruling:

"The overwhelming weight of scientific authority concludes that homosexuality is not a disorder or abnormal. The universal acceptance of that scientific conclusion -- save for outliers such as JONAH -- requires that any expert opinions to the contrary must be barred."

"[T]he theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but -- like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it -- instead is outdated and refuted. Homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder in the DSM until its removal in 1973. Although the DSM has added newly recognized disorders as a result of evolving understandings of the medical field, this case presents the opposite situation: the APA removed homosexuality from the DSM upon concluding that it was not a disorder. JONAH has not identified any case that provides a standard for the admission of obsolete and discredited scientific theories. By definition, such theories are unreliable and can offer no assistance to the jury, but rather present only confusion and prejudice."

"The existence of a minority of conversion therapy proponents does not and cannot negate the fact that the DSM and its exclusion of homosexuality are generally accepted in the mental health field. Furthermore, a group of a few closely associated experts cannot incestuously validate one another as a means of establishing the reliability of their shared theories."

BOOM. Maggie Gallagher is the chairperson of the legal group defending JONAH.

TEXAS: "Ex-Gay" Plank Was Proposed By Man "Cured" With The Help Of NARTH

Lone Star Q reports that the "ex-gay" plank inserted in into the Texas GOP party platform last week was proposed by a local man who renounced his homosexuality with the help of NARTH.

His name is Jeremy Joel, according to his Facebook page, and he’s the founder of an ex-gay ministry called Joel 2:25 International. Joel, who lives in Dallas, isn’t using his full name in media interviews — due to fear of retaliation, according to KRLD — but it’s readily available online. Joel tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy that the GOP platform amendment he initially proposed to Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, is being distorted by the media. In a post on his “My Journey” blog on Tuesday, he explains further. “There are many of us who experience Same-Sex Attraction, but do NOT want to embrace the modern ‘Gay’ label and have moral beliefs that mean Gay Relationships are NOT an option for us at all,” Joel writes. Joel goes on to argue that reparative therapy is not harmful and can be effective — despite the conclusions of the American Psychological Association.

Joel claims that NARTH founder Joseph Nicolosi referred him to the infamous Journey Into Manhood retreat, where he reduced his attraction to men by 50% in just one weekend. Uh huh. Here's how straight reporter Ted Cox reported the "touch therapy" at his undercover visit to Journey Into Manhood:

At one point, the staff members all sang out in unison, their voices filling the high walls of the camp lodge. Somewhere in the room, a man sobbed over the sound of the music. It was the first night of “Journey into Manhood,” a 48-hour weekend retreat designed to help gay men become straight. In that room, about fifty men — some thirty “Journeyers” and fifteen staff members — sat on the carpeted floor of a ranch lodge two hours outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the men, except for a few of the staff members, struggled to overcome their attraction to other men. Sometime during all that holding and touching and singing, while I was cradled in the Motorcycle position, I felt it: the unmistakable bulge pressing through his tight jeans. It was the first time in my life I had a felt another man’s erection.

Jeremy Joel's website is here.

"Ex-Gay" Group: If You Hook Up At Our Convention You Totally Don't Get A Refund

The Restored Hope Network, which arose from the ashes of Exodus International, will hold its annual convention in Portland, Oregon during the last weekend in June just in case anybody was planning on attending gay pride. And should you totally by accident find your mouth on a cock during your late night wanderings around the host hotel? No refund! From the convention code of conduct:

Restored Hope Network requires that all participants at the Restoring Hope Conference adhere to standards of conduct in keeping with Christian professional standards. This includes abstaining from all forms of immoral behavior. Disruption of the conference in any form is not acceptable, including but not limited to: interrupting conference presenters or activities; distributing literature, materials, or audio or video recording at the conference that have not been pre-approved by Restored Hope Network Board of Directors; campaigning for alternative religions, philosophical or political views; on-site demonstrations; seeking sexual contacts; harassing others; using alcohol or narcotics; or sharing registration with other persons. Persons asked to leave for violation of the Code of Conduct will not be eligible for refunds.

RELATED: Today's notice comes from Anne Paulk, the ex-wife of former "ex-gay" poster boy John Paulk, who last June apologized for his time with the "ex-gay" industry and denounced the work now being carried on by the still-totally-lesbian Anne.  Scheduled to speak at the event is NARTH co-founder Joseph Nicolosi, who presumably won't mention the other NARTH co-founder who was caught in the Miami airport returning from vacation with a lithe young male prostitute.

Petition Of The Day

Sign the petition. (Tipped by JMG reader Justin)

Stephen Fry Meets "Ex-Gay" Therapist

Joseph Nicolosi is the co-founder of NARTH.

(Tipped by JMG reader Daniel)