In 1979,Exodus International's co-founder Michael Bussee and his partner, Gary Cooper, quit the group and held a life commitment ceremony together.[9] On June 27, 2007, Bussee, along with fellow former Exodus leaders Jeremy Marks and Darlene Bogle, issued a public apology for their roles in Exodus.[10] Exodus disbanded as an organization on June 20, 2013.
Günter Baum founded an ex-gay ministry inGermany. Later he formed Zwischenraum, which helps gay Christians to accept their sexuality and to reconcile it with their beliefs.
Christine Bakke. In April 2007, Toscano (below) and Bakke founded Beyond Ex-Gay, an on-line resource for ex-ex gays. In June 2007, together withSoulforce and the LGBT Resource Center atUniversity of California, Irvine, Bakke participated in organizing the first-ever Ex-Gay Survivor Conference.[citation needed]
Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, co-founders ofExodus International, left the organization and in 1979, held alife commitment ceremony. Bussee went on to become an outspoken critic of Exodus and the ex-gay movement.[9][11] In June 2007, Bussee issued an apology for his part in the ex-gay movement.[12]
Yvette Cantu Schneider spent fourteen years working for the "ex-gay" movement, including as a researcher for the Family Research Council and the director of Women's Ministries at Exodus International. She later came out as bisexual and is an outspoken advocate against the ex-gay movement.[13]
Alan Chambers, who formerly served as president of Exodus International, later acknowledged his gay orientation and apologized in 2013.[14]
McKrae Game founded Hope for Wholeness, one of the largest conversion therapy programs in the United States. He came out as gay in June 2019, two years after being fired from the program.[15][16][17]
Ben Gresham is an Australian man who went through three years of ex-gay therapy starting at 16 years of age.[18] He does media appearances, includingABC TV'sThe Hack Half Hour,SX News andTriple J (radio) regarding what he sees as the dangers of ex-gay programs and the psychological harm associated with them.[19] Along with this, Gresham is a part of "Freedom2b", which offers support toLGBTQ people from church backgrounds.
Noe Gutierrez appeared inWarren Throckmorton's ex-gay videoI Do Exist in 2004. This garnered some notice, as Gutierrez had previously appeared in a video for gay youth known asIt's Elementary. Gutierrez later left the ex-gay movement and wrote about his experience.[20]
David Matheson, a counselor who ran a weekend program offered by Rich Wyler's conversion therapy organizationBrothers on a Road Less Traveled, came out via Facebook in early 2019 after a different private Facebook message by Wyler was obtained by the LGBT non-profitTruth Wins Out.[14]
Julie Rodgers was a former member at the conversion therapy institute Living Hope Ministries, and speaker and blog writer at Exodus International. She left the ex-gay movement, came out as a lesbian, and published the bookOutlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story.[22]
John Smid is the former director of theMemphis, Tennessee, ex-gay ministryLove In Action, a position in which he was a leading spokesperson for converting homosexuals into heterosexuals.[23] In 2011, years after having left his Love In Action post, he stated that he was homosexual, and that he had "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual."[24]
Peterson Toscano is an actor who was involved in the ex-gay movement for 17 years. He performs a related one-mansatire titledDoin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House, and withChristine Bakke runs Beyond Ex-Gay, a support website for people coming out of ex-gay experiences.
Anthony Venn-Brown is an Australian former evangelist in theAssemblies of God and an author whose book,A Life of Unlearning, describes his experience in Australia's first ex-gay program.[25] Venn-Brown co-founded Freedom2b, which offers support to LGBT people from church backgrounds who have been displaced from the ex-gay movement.[26] In 2007, he co-ordinated the release of a statement from five Australian ex-gay leaders who publicly apologized for their past actions.[27] Venn-Brown has been a leader in monitoring ex-gay activities in Australia, New Zealand and Asia and countering the "ex-gay myth".[28]
^abTheir story is one of the foci of the documentaryOne Nation Under God (1993), directed byTeodoro Maniaci and Francine Rzeznik.
^"Apology from Former Ex-Gay Leaders".beyondexgay.com. June 27, 2007.Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. RetrievedJanuary 6, 2009.As former leaders of ex-gay ministries, we apologize to those individuals and families who believed our message that there is something inherently wrong with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Some who heard our message were compelled to try to change an integral part of themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families. Although we acted in good faith, we have since witnessed the isolation, shame, fear, and loss of faith that this message creates. We apologize for our part in the message of broken truth we spoke on behalf of Exodus and other organizations. We call on other former ex-gay leaders to join the healing and reconciliation process by adding their names to this apology. We encourage current leaders of ex-gay programs to have the courage to evaluate the fruit of their programs. We ask them to consider the long-term effects of their ministry.
^Simon, Stephanie (18 June 2007). "Approaching agreement in debate over homosexuality; More conservative Christians say being gay isn't a choice that can be changed by prayer".Los Angeles Times.
