"In his grip". That's how Love In Action Reverend John Smid signed his emails to homo-journo Joshua Lyon, who went undercover to cover conversion therapy for August's Jane.

After shelling out $3,500 of (hopefully) Conde Nast's dough, Lyon put his homosexuality on the line at LIA's Memphis HQ. Apparently Smid and his cultish company enjoy restraints as much as leather loving Reverend Mark Sorvillo.

As we pull in LIA's A-framed church headquarters, we're surrounded by at least 10 residents, who promptly disappear with my luggage. No one makes eye contact with me. Inside, I'm given a black binder with more than 100 rules listed in it. [We] sit in a large circle in the basement and take turns spouting off the most important ones from memory.

"You must have two other people with you at all times - even when you go to the bathroom - for accountability," says a beefy-looking jock.

LIA may sound like a God awful drag, but the Bible thumpers know how to have a good time. Lyon's suburban sanctuary came complete with Reader's Digest Treasury of Great Show Tunes. Rocking!

CONTINUED »

Broadway's the gayest street in all the land. Unfortunately, the ex-gay parasites have already launched a successful invasion:

A wacko group claiming to "cure" gays of their homosexuality is running secret meetings for closeted Broadway stars, according to a new documentary, "Gay No More?" Bill Hussung - who produced and directed the film with his wife, Mashara Canino-Hussung - says audiences will be "shocked" to see 20 popular Broadway dancers and actors who belong to the Life Ministry support group meeting twice weekly in underground locations. "It's an ex-gay movement with the core belief that you are gay because of a sexual trauma in your background. When you discover what that is, you can release it and be cured of gay desires," Hussung said. "People will be shocked to learn how widespread among the New York theater community this is."

Watch your backs, theater fags, the ex-gays are coming for you…

Surgeon General nominee Dr. James Holsinger goes before Senate today, where he'll have to defend himself against some tough questioning, including inquiries into his homo-hating past.

Holsinger helped homophobes when he penned a United Methodist Church-endorsed piece entitled, "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality". In that paper, Holsinger dissects gay misdeeds - and their medical discontents.

While ex-gays may love Holsinger, some pretty powerful folk are coming out against him.

CONTINUED »

Michael Glatze may have disavowed his homosexuality, but he's certainly not above sitting down with a homo-journo for a little chat, as he's done with Gay City News' Doug Ireland.

Of course Glatze talks about his conversion, how he saw the light and concluded that faggotry's but a sinful distraction from God's "path". Glatze also offers his thoughts on his same-sex relationships, particularly with his ex-boyfriend, Benjie Nycum. Though Glatze describes their love as "divine", the bad outweighs the good: "In the homosexual desire, there is a craving that has a sense of need and along with it the sense that we are doing something wrong." Um, right. Isn't all sex somehow influenced by feelings of taboo? All good sex, at least.

CONTINUED »

Former Young Gay America editor and newly ascended ex-gay Michael Glatze has some serious daddy issues.

Consider this excerpt from his open letter, entitled "To My Friends Who Are Trapped In Homosexuality":

God is right there, within you, whether you like to see Him or not. Can you humble yourself to Him? It's a really nice feeling. I know that, in some small way, you want to. We all do. We don't like being separated from our Father; it makes us sad and lonely, forcing us to be angry, to act out, to get vulgar…

Vulgar like butt sex or vulgar like proselytizing turn coat zombie?

Read the rest of Glatze's letter, after the jump. Peter LaBarbera splooge not included…

CONTINUED »

Wayne Besen and his homo homies over at Truth Wins Out have produced a new video aimed at exposing the ex-gay movement. While certainly it's intriguing to hear an ex-gayer talking about how he and his pious peers lurked about malls drooling over men, we're entirely distracted by the announcer's wavering, yet always sensational tone.

Is this the trailer to a horror movie, an action flick or a non-profit dedicated to exposing the controversial conversion therapists?? We're confused…

The Hate Crimes Bill has a new enemy: ex-gay country singer Dennis Jernigan. Like so many conservatives, Jernigan that the bill threatens his free speech:

I was able to come to a level of freedom the homosexual community never told me was possible. Yet, through faith in God, I successfully walked out of that way of thinking and have met thousands of other men and women who have done the same. What about our civil liberties? To pass such a bill as H.R. 1592 is to invoke fear that I could be prosecuted for my religious beliefs and speech.

The father of nine (!) goes on to claim that H.R. 1592 discriminates against him and his ex-gay brethren:

If this bill passes, Congress is telling me that I and countless others who have discovered they don't have to be homosexual are of less value now than when we were living as homosexuals. If we look down the road of this slippery slope, this legislation would actually pave the way to make it a criminal offense to think differently than someone else or to have religious convictions that are opposed to this politically correct ideology. Do we really want such thoughts to be illegal?

Oh Jernigan - when will you and your ilk learn that violent crime and political stance are not the same thing? Although we suspect he doesn't care: his politically-minded press release reminds readers that Jernigan has a new album on the way.

There's no shortage of criticism for reparative therapy: the so-called conversion therapy employed by ex-gayers in their efforts to cleanse the world of the homosexual scourge. While a number of psychologists have come out against the controversial treatment - the same treatment used on Ted Haggard - the American Psychological Association's upping the ante by establishing a five-person task force to examine the method's potentially hazardous repercussions.

Though the head-shrinking group's yet to select members for this task force, they are considering including at least one person who claims to have been successfully transformed. One doctor, Grove City College's Dr. Warren Throckmorton worries that if the APA comes out against reparative therapy, "homosexuals who are discontented with their lifestyle will have fewer options," according to The Christian Post. Throckmorton tells them:

What we're talking about is the right of clients who are unhappy with their feeling (of same-sex attraction). Those people have the right to seek therapy to help them live the way they want to live - the way they value.

Well, yes, they have the right to seek therapy, but do therapists have the right to pursue methods that have been called harmful and, even worse, ineffective? We think not…

Tim Hardaway's seemingly endless apology campaign may not win him any votes with a fellow named Bryan Jones. As an eagle-eyed reader pointed out, if you google Hardaway's name, you'll find an ad for a website Tim Hardaway 4 President on which Jones lauds Hardaway's homophobic revelations. But don't worry, Jones isn't completely deranged, the stunt's just his way of fighting against the Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools.

Tim Hardaway is my new hero. It is not easy to speak your mind when others (the liberal media) may not like it.

Understand that I am using this website to get your attention about an issue that I feel is important. Hate speach is not something I support.

I don't hate gay people but I do hate how Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools are trying to teach that people can be born gay. There is no conclusive scientific evidence to support this.

No, there isn't. Then again, there's no scientific evidence to prove Jones is an asshole, but there's certainly enough empirical evidence.

He also apparently doesn't know how to pick his battles. While Montgomery County schools may teach about homosexuality, they've also agreed (however begrudgingly) to distribute pamphlets from pro-ex-gayers, PFOX. So, really, the school isn't only teaching about gay people, but how to get rid of gay people. You'd think Jones would be thrilled…

When Pastor Christopher Beard stepped down from Ted Haggard's former stomping ground, the Colorado Springs based New Life Church, associate pastor and potential king Rob Brendle said "there will be increased scrutiny of our church in the wake of the scandal". We took that not as a statement of fact, but as a directive.

Thus, we found ourselves poking around the Evangelical church's website and came across a section for kids. We knew there'd be something good in there, but little did we know we'd find Weird and Gross Bible Stuff, a book we think should be entitled, Queer Bible Shit. Seriously, that cover screams gay erotic art. Who the fuck is that? Daniel? Whoever it is, he looks like he's about to get a mouthful…of locust, of course.

As if that's not enough, read the accompanying description:

DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK if you don't have the stomach for the bizarre and absolute gross. It's only for boys with an appetite for learning about weird-even grotesque-facts in the Bible. Only a real boy could appreciate it and want to tell about it.

It's action and adventure straight from the pages of the Bible! As part of the 2:52 Soul Gear? collection these high-energy, fast-paced stories will encourage boys in their quest to be smarter, stronger, deeper, and cooler as they develop into young men of God.

This reads like the back of a fucking porn! Or, at the very least, some gay pulp novel. New Life Church may be the gayest place ever!

But, what of the women? Don't worry, they get their place in the church's bibliographical canon…

CONTINUED »

Today's New York Times has an article on reparative therapy. There's really nothing new offered - the same old rundown of how people can't cope with their homosexuality, go to a therapist to rid themselves of their faggot burden and the connection between ex-gays and religious movements - there are two things that we'd like to point out.

The first is a quote from Dr. Jack Drescher, who once headed the American Psychiastric Associations' Committee of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues (what, no trannies?). Speaking of repartative therapy, Drescher notes:

There’s not a debate in the profession on this issue. This is like creationism. You create the impression to the public as if there was a debate in the profession, which there is not.

His words, we think, fit quite nicely with what we were saying this morning with regard to pro ex-gay group PFOX and proponents of intelligent design.

Our second selection speaks for itself:

Robert Schaeffer, 44…is a former pastor who spent years secretly having sex with hundreds of men. After he discovered he was H.I.V.-positive, he divulged his secret to his Pennsylvania church and his denomination sent him to LIFE [Living in Freedom Eternally] Ministry. He began dating a woman after two years of counseling and eventually married her. He now proclaims himself to be completely free of homosexual desires.

“This ministry pointed me toward the emotional roots of homosexual desire,” he said. “The ungodly reactions to pain in my early formative years are really what I had to look at to get free of this.”

Hmm, we wonder if they have sex. If so, do you think they use a condom? We certainly hope so. Also, do you think his wife's a lesbian or just really wanted to get married?

Activist author blogger Wayne Besen has taken his longstanding quarrel with the ex-gay movement to new heights this week by starting Truth Wins Out, a new non-profit organization focused at countering right-wing, ex-gay propaganda and also "educating America About Gay Life." That seems ambitious to us, but it must be working because Mr. Besen has already been painted as a Jewish Hitler by some crackpot ex-gay "preacher" named DL Foster.

Despite the sound of progress, a part of us is sad that some day, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Besen and other activists, there will be no more crackpots trying to cure homosexuality by beating a pillow with a tennis racquet.

Website compares community leader Wayne Besen to Adolph Hitler [PageOneQ]
Truth Wins Out [Official Site]
Wayne Besen Blog [Official Site]

Just because ex-gays are clueless about human nature doesn't mean they have to be clueless about fashion as well. Non-profit organization PFOX (Parents and Friends Of eXgays) have a very sharp line of t-shirts available at Cafe Press, available in all sizes except small because tight t-shirts are a bit too faggy. And what could be cuter than spreading dangerous ex-gay propaganda via your own little dog!

Ex-Gay Store [CafePress]

NGLTF, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is calling out the alledged "gay prevention" programs, saying their "counselors" are actually causing more psychological harm than they are helping people.

According to a report by NGLTF, "some Christian-based gay prevention and treatment groups have used the First Amendment protection of religion to avoid sanctions by state health officials seeking to enforce regulations on counselors who offer therapy without a license."

We applaud the NGLTF for actually putting their donation money to worthwhile use in battling this problem. It's good to know those checks we write may help change some parents' minds, and save a kid or two from having to live the horror of a gay-conversion camp. And judging by the oh-so-masculine appearance of their success story poster-boy, Alan Chambers (picture above), their legitimacy is dubious at best. Our boy Alan there makes Johnny Weir look like Rambo.

Gay Prevention Camp Counselors Are Frauds [AP]

• You probably won't tune into The Ellen Degenres Show tomorrow for a Grammys wrap-up. But you will for the Madonna gabfest. [The Ellen DeGeneres Show]

• China has published its first report on homosexuality. Apparently they’ve neglected to include a centerfold which will only ensure they'll accumulate dust on the newsstands. [Shanghai Daily]

• Jacob Robida wasn’t shot by police. After murdering a cop and a female companion, the lunatic turned the gun on himself. [NY Times]

• We don’t really like those queers who insist that everybody is gay. Zogby Polling is one of those queers. [UPI]

• “Ex-gay” and sometime unicorn John Paulk claims that his weight gain turned him straight. Sure. Tell that to our pal Bruce Vilanch. [Sovo]