Sunday, February 17, 2008

Conversion therapy revealed

Via Ex-gay watch, the Winnipeg Sun tells the story of an ex-gay minister eventually convicted of sexual assault on one of his patients. Copying from Ex-gay Watch...

A young man is found by family to be sexually attracted to men and coerced through a fear of hell to seek “therapy” to go straight. This is the story that led a young Canadian man to seek out the help of Terrance Lewis, a minister and (former) counselor at Providence College and Seminary.

The man said Lewis started a program of “touch therapy,” which included the two kissing and fondling each other and engaging in sexual roleplaying.

“He said I was to tell no one about it because no one would understand,” the man testified.

During “touch therapy” sessions in Lewis’ car, Lewis asked him to masturbate, the man said. Lewis also admitted to fantasizing about him, the man said.

Many ex-gay therapists have practiced what they call “touch therapy,” including Richard Cohen, who extends this from touching to hugging or even cuddling on the couch. Dr. Chris Austin carried touch too far and was convicted of sexual assault, as was Terrance Lewis in the story above. While certainly not all ex-gay therapists go to this extreme, starting with the premise that sexual orientation should, or even can, be changed has led to unorthodox and at times, illegal “therapy.”

A-ha! So, the much hyped therapies to become ex-gay are only intended to become a closeted gay guy with your personal therapist, eh? Five to seven sessions of touch therapy weekly and you will be able to live a perfectly normal non-gay life. Reminds me to assaults on choirboys, which wouldn't be judged by courts because, in many cases, wouldn't be understood, or be just a matter of the divine, ethics, and moral. Religion, you know. Religion which wants to keep The Only Truth, The Key to Proper Sexual Life, The Authorized Science Guidelines, and The Door to Eternal Salvation. Were I to engage in such conversion therapies, at least I'd choose two or three hot therapists. Ex-gay ministries can call at my door with Jensen Atwood as touch therapist.

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