If you heard about a group of people who went around the country trying to "de-gay" people – using such techniques as cuddling "therapy," hitting pillows with a tennis racket, lipstick seminars for lesbians and touch football courses for gay men -- you'd probably be laughing uncontrollably. And with good reason: the notion that you can de-gay someone is as ridiculous as it sounds.
So why do those who actually market these absurd, discredited schemes continue, year after year, to garner mainstream media attention?Despite scientific consensus by medical and mental health authorities that sexual orientation is neither voluntary nor changeable – and that attempts to turn gay people straight are actually quite harmful – so-called "ex-gay" activists and their long-discredited attempts to de-gay people are routinely legitimized through mainstream media coverage. In many cases, the reporters covering these groups approach them as if their politically motivated attempts to de-gay people were being discovered for the first time.
This site offers an overview of organized so-called "ex-gay" groups and their discredited de-gayification techniques. And it shows how they use them to divide and destroy loving families, alienate gay people from their faith, and make it harder for loving, committed couples to take care of each other. It also provides important frameworks and questions for use whenever media are asked to promote these absurd yet dangerous claims in their coverage.