This past July, John Becker of Truth Wins Out signed up for ex-gay therapyin Marcus Bachmann’s clinic in order for that Becker to secretly tape his sessions and reveal Bachmann for the quack he is.
Becker signed a standard contract promising to pay for any missed sessions. He missed two after he got the footage he wanted and now Marcus himself has been calling Becker to collect the $150 that Becker still owes him.
But should Becker and Truth Wins Out avoid credit problems and just pay the $150 as a business cost for their reporting? Or should they refuse to pay as a way to keep Bachmann’s anti-gay clinic in the public eye?
More to the point, shouldn’t Bachmann drop the charge to avoid bad press? Or should he collect to make an example to Becker and to show his wife’s constituents that he’s hard on “barbarians in need of discipline”?
Via Jezebel. Image via Gage Skidmore
randy
Don’t pay! First, he called to cancel the appointments, so he followed their own policy. The secretary screwed up. There is no legal basis to pay, and if Marcus wants to filed a lawsuit to collect the money, it will only embarrass himself even more.
Second, he’ll just use the money to continue his anti-gay therapy. Or to buy Michelle some hideous new frock. Either way, it’s an affront to our community.
John Becker
As Randy pointed out, a critical component of the story is missing here: the missed appointments WERE canceled before they were scheduled to take place. That’s why we’re fighting the charges: because they’re baseless. Marcus is just using this as an excuse to snipe at and harass TWO because he’s embarrassed that we exposed him.
MKe
well is he straight now? you get what you pay for.
ke
He should because he went to an ‘ex-gay’ place to begin with. He should pay $150 billion.
Jim Hlavac
No, don’t pay — drag the whole thing into a court — expose the fraud. Complain to ever agency of gov’t that might have a hand in the matter, too. And keep up the good work, Mr. Becker.
Fitz
It doesn’t take a genius to see that some part of Marcus
WANTS to be exposed and publicly humiliated over and over and over.
Another man would have wanted this to go away.
Ogre Magi
What a bitchy old queen Ladybird Bachmann is
Mk_Ultra_Again
“Hello John, this is Marcus Bachmann. I was wondering if you’re gonna be free Saturday night…”
TMikel
Since Bachmann’s practice and its so called healing is fraudulent, there is no reason for Becker to pay anything. I hope the Bachmanns make a big thing out of this for they would be further exposed and the publicity will hurt their clinic. The are two of the foulest of human beings.
TMikel
Ike – what sort of self-loathing person are you? Did you miss the fact that Becker went to expost this fraudulent clinic and its practices? He should pay nothing. He did not go to be converted into a heterosexual but bravely went to show the world that the Bachmann’s are practicing quakery and are not helping people. Unless you are of their ilk, you shoudl support Becker!
Cam
The fact that he holds up his therapy as valid, and yet the American Psych association says that not only is it not valid, but that therapies like it are dangerous, would seem to indicate that he can easily avoid charges by charging them with fraud.
Additionally, the fact that Bachman HIMSELF is calling to collect would seem to indicate an unhealthy obsession, this is something that normally would be handled by a form letter sent out by an office staff or an outside collection company.
DMint
I remember somebody suggesting we get 15,000 gays to send him a penny. Sounds like the best idea to me.
Ogre Magi
You know why the call him Ladybird? Cause Ladyhog would be cruel (though more accurate)
rf
Send Bachmann a $150 rentboy.com gift card.
Inna Toybele
Dear world community: I am writing to you in the hope of receiving your help, which is greatly needed for this matter. The ruling political party in Russia is preparing to pass a law which diverges from the global human rights standards, norms, healthcare and the Russian Federation Constitution! I urge you to help us! If this bill passes millions of innocent people
will be negatively affected. Help us!
dvlaries
LOL. wonkette did the story today too; you gotta see their photoshop of Marcus as Big Gay Al.
http://wonkette.com/456462/marcus-bachmann-asks-gay-guy-to-pay-for-services-not-performed
B
No. 9 · TMikel wrote, “Since Bachmann’s practice and its so called healing is fraudulent, there is no reason for Becker to pay anything.”
Did Marcus advertise that he’d “cure” you of being gay or did Becker walk in and say that he was gay and needed some help to change? That would seem to make a difference regarding any claims of a fraudulent practice.
If a guy goes to a psychologist, says he’s gay and wants to change for religious reasons, telling the patient to pray is not unreasonable: it won’t work (of course), but after a reasonable effort, he can tell the patient that maybe “God” doesn’t want the patient to change, since the prayers were not answered. It’s a trick, of course, but with a goal of getting the patient to be comfortable with himself. The problem is that, while Becker’s video could be an accurate depiction of what went on, it could also be an example of selective editing, and unfortunately, without being there or at least seeing all the footage, it is hard to tell. If asked about it by a professional organization, Bachmann or his staff could simply claim that they were merely trying to avoid scaring away a patient who needed help by not challenging the patient’s religious beliefs.
The other question, of course, is whether Becker is obligated to pay under the terms of whatever contractual agreement they had. Has anyone actually seen a copy? (Becker’s web site claims he doesn’t have to pay, but that is only one side of the story.)
Henry
John looks happy, which is such a rare commodity in Protestant, gray, compressed American life. I wish the best of luck to him.
D Smith
@Inna Toybele:
a good idea would be to include a link, or a search term to use in google so that people would know why you are asking for help.
Chuck
Tell ya what. He should pay the day James O’Keefe buys ACORN a new headquarters.
Chad
Wait! I thought the Bachmans were not running an ex gay therapy program. Now They are? hmmmm?????
Mike Hipp
Marcus, who?
Move on – that boat has sailed. No need to give press to this closet case.
Mav
He should pay if he signed a contract agreeing to do so – a man should honor his word, as far as I’m concerned, no matter how others in the situation might honor theirs.
For the scandalously useful information he gleaned, $150 bucks should be worth it. Becker should give Bachmann the full fee plus a $10 tip, then tell him to go get himself something pretty.
Richard H
Less Mr. Sue.
the crustybastard
When Jesus taught his followers to pray, the prayer he used included the line “…forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”
Admittedly, I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure what Jesus was saying there was that Christians and Christian clinics should “sue the shit out of everyone for everything.”
Stay winning, devotees of Jesus!
Jack T
so what’s the rest of the story? Not enough info here for me….
Ned Flaherty
Given the following FACTS . . .
1. Bachmann & Associates does not appear to have adequate professional certification for a facility that sells mental health cures.
2. B&A sells a mental health product consisting mainly of prayer, hope, wardrobe suggestions, advice to get new friends, and instructions to look at persons of the opposite gender.
3. B&A falsely claims that its product actually changes clients’ sexual orientations.
4. No credible scientific evidence exists to show that B&A’s product changes sexual orientation.
5. B&A does not publish its product’s relapse history, failure ratio, or suicide rate.
6. B&A advertises its products as “quality mental health care.”
7. B&A commits consumer fraud.
8. B&A commits medical/mental health malpractice.
9. B&A does not publish proof of insurance coverage amounts that are appropriate for a firm selling a discredited, disproved, unscientific product with an extremely high mortality rate.
. . . Becker should pay the $150 for the 2 cancelled sessions that he missed ONLY after Bachmann refunds fees already paid for selling sessions that were really nothing more than medical/mental health malpractice (a quack cure based on junk science).