Nationally known activist Wayne Besen spent four years examining the phenomenon of “ex-gay” ministries and reparative therapies—interviewing leaders, attending conferences, and visiting ministries undercover as he accumulated hundreds of hours of research. The result is Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, a groundbreaking exposé of the controversial movement that's revered by independent religious groups and reviled by gay and lesbian organizations. The book presents a historical perspective on the dispute, examining “ex-gay” groups such as Love In Action, Exodus International, Homosexuals Anonymous, and profiling a cast of characters that includes Pat Robertson, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, “ex-gay” poster boy John Paulk, National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality activist Richard Cohen, and psychiatrist Dr. Robert Spitzer.
An in-depth, well-researched, and historically significant account, Anything but Straight is full of startling facts and alarming surprises. The original content and novel material in the book includes:
- a first-ever comprehensive history of the “ex-gay” ministries and “reparative therapy”
- the inside story of the night the author photographed “ex-gay” poster boy John Paulk inside a gay bar
- the author's discovery that Anne Paulk lied about being a lesbian and has admitted to having a strong attraction to men BEFORE she became “ex-gay”
- previously undisclosed bizarre techniques used by the “ex-gay” ministries and “reparative therapists”
- the author's exclusive in-depth interviews with leading “ex-gay” leaders—they disclose their deepest secrets, hidden desires, and true motivations
- an extraordinary new study that shows that most “ex-gay” leaders have suffered from substance abuse or severe emotional problems—while many “ex-gay” leaders claim they were “unhappy being gay,” this report helps prove that their dissatisfactions came not from their homosexuality, but from poor life choices and irresponsible behavior
- new revelations that one of the nation's leading “reparative therapists” hailed from a secretive cult that was scandalized for practicing nude therapy
Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth is an essential read for activists on both sides of the “ex-gay” fence, family members of gays and lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian, and Transgender church members, psychiatric and social science professionals, and anyone who has dealt with “coming out” issues. An appendix of resources and a helpful bibliography make it easy to find additional information on this fascinating topic.
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85 of 100 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Grand Uncovering of Covering Up,
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This review is from: Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth (Hardcover)
For the past few years, the ex-gay movement has started to take it's hold on the United States. Several prominent people have lined up to say that under therapy, with a distinct desire to change, homosexuals can honestly wake up one day to find out they are straight. Wayne Besen disagrees with that thought. Besen loads up his ammunition and fires at pointblank range at the ex-gay movement with his powerhouse of a book called "Anything But Straight". Besen, employed by the Human Rights Campaign, spent four years examining this strange turn of events in American politics, the end result being this book. Dividing up the topic into four distinct sections, Besen starts with a frontal assault on nationally t outed ex-gay John Paulk, and his infamous "bathroom break" at Mr. P's, a local gay dive in Washington, D.C. He uses that incident as a spring board into the ex-gay ministry movement itself, revealing all of its ugly flaws in the process. He then moves into the practice of reparative therapy, and how it developed with the support of psychiatrists in the field. Next, Besen bashes the political movement behind the ex-gay myths, ripping down the religious right as a primary motivator in bringing to light this fallacy. He ends the book talking about the future of this movement, writing both hopeful and frightening predictions. Originally, I purchased this book wanting to get a more well-rounded viewpoint on the ex-gay theories. One way to combat them with your family, friends, and in society, is to be able to honestly understand where the other side is coming from. Besen's book is more of an assault on this movement, which at first turned me off, but then, as his rhetoric died down a bit, made for some interesting reading. At first, Besen would liberally interject his own opinions about what he was writing, sometimes with a cutting remark or a put-down. We as readers are fully aware of the insanity of some of the things he writes, and don `t need an author to point that out for us. Perhaps some self-editing in that area would improve the book a bit. However, the information that Besen presents is incredibly horrible in and of itself. What he presents is an incredibly thorough book, bringing to light all the negative, nasty things this movement has brought to people's lives. The ex-gay movement is essentially a house of cards built on a pile of lies, and exposure of that will help bring ruin to it eventually. In the meantime, a bunch of people, many of them struggling with their own identity, will be run over by this machine and destroyed. Besen's book is an honest, real attempt to give those people hope and some information to save themselves. "Anything but Straight" is very much a one-sided look at this contentious issue; but when only the other side is presented in the media, in advertisements, commercials, and television, our country needs books such as these to balance out the hateful damage they do.
59 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I cant think of a better ex-gay resource,
By
This review is from: Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth (Paperback)
Despite years of hearing, reading, and writing about this topic, I can't think of a better ex-gay resource than Wayne R. Besen's book Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. Besen not only gives an accessible and easy-to-follow history of the sham's path of destruction but also makes it clear why so many gays and nongays choose to believe its obvious lies. He also exposes the many people who profit monetarily, politically, or even sexually from ensnaring more ex-gay followers. Still, Besen also shows how most of the people who become involved with or lead these ministries probably mean well. More importantly, he shows how gays and their allies can expose these hurtful groups, which rely heavily on wild semantics, shaky statistics, pseudo psychology, and highly questionable science, all the while trying to appear Bible-based. Besen also shows how gays can make their communities less vulnerable to ex-gay groups, while warning those communities about insidious new tactics that the increasingly media-savvy ex-gay leaders use to lure parents into forcing children to join the ex-gay circus. For groups that keep claiming that all of their members come there voluntarily, they certainly keep taking advantage of parental pressuring and other fears of rejection! Best of all, Besen offers resources and alternatives for people who might want to join these groups. He even defends, to my satisfaction, his undercover efforts to capture all of the information that appears in this sometimes shocking but always fascinating volume. I suggest Besen's study for all gays, all of their allies, and anyone who thinks the ex-gay movement needs support or more recruits. I also suggest Ronald L. Donaghe's scathing fictional treatment of the ex-gay movement, The Salvation Mongers, as well as the disturbing documentary One Nation Under God and-for some needed levity on the topic-the silly yet likable comedy But I'm A Cheerleader.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second read.....thats a good sign,
By Anthony Venn Brown "Author, Speaker, Coach & ... (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth (Paperback)
I'm reading `Anything but Straight' for the second time. With my busy life......that's about the best vote of confidence I can give any book.
Wayne has done and excellent job researching the ex-gay movement, history, programs and connections. He's read the materials, interviewed people, gone to meetings undercover to make sure he has all the facts. His work is extremely valuable. The homosexual debate has become much more than a religious issue and is now more complex since it has been politicized; often the key players being men with multi-million $$$$$ ministries with hidden agendas. Wayne helps us shift through the maze and get some clarity on what is really going on. Having spent 22 years unsuccessfully trying to change my sexual orientation I know first hand, much of what he writes about. Therapy, counselling, exorcisms, 40 day fasts, months in an live-in ex-gay program and 16 years of marriage were just some of things I was told would help make me heterosexual. The result.......I'm still gay.......but at last happy about it....and realise that same sex attraction is no different to left handedness or red hair. It's just the way we are.......different but not abnormal. In Australia, the ex-gay ministries lack funds, success stories, charismatic leaders and political connections so are not the threat experienced in the extremist/fundamentalist/Judaeo/Christian culture of some parts the US. this work is still valuable to us however to ensure we don't follow America down the Golden Arches Road into a country constantly harassed by Christian extremists whose worldview has not moved past Genesis. The wise have learnt by your mistakes. I'm glad Wayne has devoted himself to detailing these things because I wouldn't want another human being to go through the torment that I did. If `Anything but Straight' was out years ago maybe many of us would not have wasted years of our lives trying to do the impossible and change our sexual orientation and learnt to be true to ourselves. Against all the research and understanding today, many in fundamentalist churches still hold on to the archaic belief that being gay is a sin, a choice and the result of being brought up in a dysfunctional family. Thanks Wayne for reminding us again how futile and damaging those beliefs have been. Anthony Venn-Brown Author of `A Life of Unlearning - A Journey to Find the Truth'
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I was readying myself for bed late one Tuesday evening when my phone rang. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
antigay coalition, reparative therapists, reparative therapy, antigay activists, gay ministries, former homosexual, therapy industry, mental health establishment, conversion therapy, touch therapy, gay agenda, gay people, ministry leader Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Paulk, Jesus Christ, Human Rights Campaign, Paul Cameron, Family Research Council, Los Angeles, Coral Ridge, Homosexuals Anonymous, San Francisco, Southern Voice, Exodus International, Janet Folger, Love Won Out, Richard Cohen, Anthony Falzarano, Wade Richards, Alan Chambers, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson, Associated Press, Evangelicals Concerned, Matthew Shepard, New York City New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
- Love Won Out by John Paulk on 10 pages
- Not Afraid to Change: The Remarkable Story of How One Man Overcame Homosexuality by John Paulk on 7 pages
- The Broken Image: Restoring Personal Wholeness Through Healing Prayer by Leanne Payne on 6 pages
- Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual by Andrew Comiskey on page 52, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s by Christopher Bull on page 214, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 59 books this book cites
- Scandal: Infamous Gay Controversies of the Twentieth Century by Marc E. Vargo in Front Matter
- Bi Men: Coming Out Every Which Way by Ron Jackson Suresha in Back Matter
- Speaking for Our Lives: Historic Speeches and Rhetoric for Gay and Lesbian Rights/1892-2000 by Robert B Ridinger in Front Matter
- Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement by Tanya Erzen in Back Matter
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