His California Reparative Therapist Said He’d Be Straight in Six Weeks

Jim Burroway

October 8th, 2012

Mathew Shurka’s parents flew him to California for “treatment” when he came out to his father at sixteen.

“To see that the government is really taking action to put a stop to this, especially for minors who are usually put into this therapy because of their parents, is a great thing. I’m really happy to see that those kinds of actions are being taken.”

Regan DuCasse

October 8th, 2012

I think we can safely say there are more people who can and will testify to the damage this treatment did to their lives, than those who say it worked such wonders for them as claimed by NARTH.

Zach Stark was a chilling reminder of the forcible nature of this issue that can range from kidnapping and aggressive boot camps, to sessions involving unlicensed or unorthodox (often silly and undignified) approaches. Like Richard Cohen’s ‘hug therapy’ and tennis racket beatings of pillows. Or inappropriate exposure to porn and other sexual stimulant.

Recently here in CA, a sixteen year boy died from a beating he received in a boot camp setting, where he was kidnapped and was the only participant and his coach, former military. The boy had no criminal record, or incidents of delinquency.
Typical of young people placed in such situations. And without any incidence of anti social behavior: folks like us could rightly suspect that the kid was gay and his parents put him in this abusive situation to scare him out of it.
The coach was put up on criminal charges of battery on a youth, endangerment and other felonies.
But imagine the hell that poor boy suffered and the pain he was in.
I hadn’t heard that the parents are subject to any charges. Unless they show any regrets, the courts might decide they’ve suffered enough.

But the cold equations of some parents like this are sometimes, that they’d rather their child was dead than gay.
And they have NO intentions of suffering any guilt over their actions.

As I’ve mentioned before, those who claim being ex gay fall into very specific and easily recognized categories.
Ex sexual (celibate), or not pursuing ss relationships. Which are no indicators of altering sexual ORIENTATION, just changing sexual focus.
But the root is typically religious and eventually all ex gays sound alike, walk and talk alike and do the same things and are convinced of the same things regarding their sexuality and personal failures.

I don’t think many of them understand how they seem to certain people much more successful or determined than they are to being authentic. Or even to a well informed straight person like myself (she said modestly).
That is to say, hets can fail at relationships too and not blame THEIR orientation for it.
That is why it’s ridiculous to me to see oneself as het as an accomplishment. To an ex gay who is disciplining themselves, it would seem so. Like giving up something they thought should be pleasurable and easy for them, for something that isn’t.
Which is why I can see that selling heterosexuality as a holy grail, simply because there aren’t the same judgements and suspicions has an evil quality on it’s own.

And I have a question for the group here: I find those who are determined to convert Jews and gay people offensive. The reason why, is because Jews and gays are already minorities under constant siege. With factions everywhere traditionally wanting to see them disappear and die from the face of the Earth.
And as such a small minority, there aren’t enough of either group as it is. Meaning, rare and uncommon. And it’s those rarer and more uncommon things we should leave be, and respect as part of the diversity that is life as we know it anyway.
And it’s these very people who want this disappearance to occur, who have the least experience and expertise to make a judgement of any kind.

That anyone thinks it right to destroy by way of conversion, if not murder, a rarity, is such inconsiderate arrogance.

Y’all can correct me if I’m wrong, I welcome it.
But THAT is the reason I’m offended and I’m thinking it’s a fair reason to be.

David Wachter

October 8th, 2012

I hope that guilt, despair, sense of irretrievable, irrevocable loss, and an overwhelming sense of “what have we done?” come crashing through the parents’ defenses. Just maybe then their hearts of stone will turn into actual human hearts. I hope.

Jamie O\'Neill

October 8th, 2012

What about a tumblr or some such of “I’m sorry I sent my kid to RT”? Get parents involved.

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