Survivor Recalls Leading Ex-Gay Therapist’s HIV/AIDS Superstitions and Research Fraud

by Michael Airhart
Truth Wins Out

Ex-gay survivor Daniel Gonzales remembers being forced to sit with his father as a leading ex-gay therapist tried to make them falsely believe that Gonzales had been abused as a child. The same therapist later urged Gonzales to help him rig the results of a flawed 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer.

Former ex-gay Peterson Toscano was horrified to discover that the same therapist — the longtime president of a supposedly secular organization that promotes ex-gay therapy — has been using his phony claim to be secular to spread blatant religion-based bigotry having nothing to do with science or mental health.

Now, from 2006 Yale University graduate Gabriel Arana, comes word that the therapist — Joseph Nicolosi of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality — mis-counseled him for three years, teaching him superstitions instead of truth.

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Peterson Toscano going on tour

For awhile now my keyword hits keep sending me over to Peterson Toscano's blog. I've even crossposted some of his articles.

One mere website would not be sufficient for Peterson, so here's his homepage.

On his blog he describes himself as "a theatrical, performance, artist, a very queer and quirky Quaker, and an ex-gay survivor. I've lived on four continents in my life and currently live in North America in Connecticut. Que mas? Just read the blog baby and all will be revealed."

Conversion therapy/Reparative therapy is a dangerous thing.

Peterson has experienced it and shares those experiences with us.

Now Peterson Toscano is going on tour. Here is the tour schedule.

One of his productions is Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House.

Aussie former "ex-gay" leaders denounce conversion therapy

Five former leaders of "ex-gay" ministries Down Under have publicly condemned converstion/reparative therapy, according to the Sydney Star Observer.

The Aussie leaders said they were inspired to make their comments by the recent apologies of three former "ex-gay" leaders at an "ex-gay" survivors conference in Los Angeles.

"There was not one person that I met or worked with who, in any genuine way, achieved the fundamental transformation from homosexual to heterosexual," Paul Martin, former leader of Exodus in Melbourne, told the Observer.

According to some of the former "ex-gay" leaders, conversion therapy teachers in Australia believe men become gay because they had emotionally distant fathers. Their therapy included "minders," who would follow the enrollees to make sure they were behaving themselves.

"Some people have suicided," Anthony Venn Brown, who spent 22 years trying to be straight, told the newspaper. "But most people have now come to terms with their sexuality. There is no success rate [with conversion therapy]." (The Advocate)