America’s most infamous Mormon gay conversion therapist, David Matheson, has apparently quit the “ex-gay” movement and has come out as gay himself, according to media reports.
Matheson is the author of several high-profile “ex-gay” programs and materials, as well as bogus gay conversion studies, and had been director for the Center for Gender Wholeness.
Related: Logan Paul Defends ‘Going Gay’ Comments…
The news was first discovered from a private Facebook post by a man named Rich Wyler, who revealed to a group on the social media network that Matheson had come out as gay, because “living a single, celibate life just isn’t for him, so he’s seeking a male partner … he has gone from bisexuality to exclusively gay.”
WOW!!!
Matheson later confirmed the news himself to the media, telling Truth Wins Out (below):
“My time in a straight marriage and in the ‘ex-gay’ world was genuine and sincere and a rich blessing to me. I remember most of it with fondness and gratitude for the joy and growth it caused in me and many others. But I had stopped growing and was starting to die. So I’ve embarked on a new life-giving path that has already started a whole new growth process. I wasn’t faking it all those years. I’m not renouncing my past work or my LDS faith. And I’m not condemning mixed-orientation marriages. I continue to support the rights of individuals to choose how they will respond to their sexual attractions and identity. With that freedom, I am now choosing to pursue life as a gay man.”
Wait, wait, wait…. WHAT?!
It’s great that Matheson can feel free to come out and be who he actually, truly is (yay!), but he’s not denouncing the negative effects of conversion therapy or the bogus conversion work he did in his past? Really?!?!?!?!
Shocking!!!!
TWO executive director Wayne Besen reacted to that part in a statement for the outlet (below):
“If conversion therapy does not work for authors like David Matheson who write books on the discredited practice, it is naïve to expect it to work for those reading such deceptive publications. Conversion therapy employs guilt and shame to browbeat desperate and vulnerable people into renouncing their humanity. This is the latest evidence that conversion therapy is consumer fraud and ought to be outlawed in all 50 states.”
Amen!!!
Crazy that Matheson doesn’t have something stronger to say against conversion therapy, and his own direct work in the harm that it’s caused… but at least he’s being true to himself now!
Hope he’s happier because of it!
[Image via WENN.]
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