A few days ago I highlighted a couple of stories about Zach, and his brush with "reparative therapy." Today I stumbled across the first two parts in a four part serious on Salon.com about the "ex-gay" movement, titled Turning Off Gays. In the first part the author, Mark Benjamin, provides an overview of the movement and how it started. One thing that stood out, though not entirely surprising, is that most of the "ex-gay" facilities are entirely unregulated. The organizations claim, according the Benjamin, that "[they] are not hospitals or any other facility that would require regulatory oversight or licensing." Benjamin disputed that by quoting the website of Love In Action (the group Zach was sent to) which states the group promotes "the prevention or treatment of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults, and adolescents." Furthermore, there seems to be mounting evidence that these programs actually cause lasting harm to the people enrolled in them, something the state should definitely take a vested interest in preventing.
In part two, the author pretends to be gay and has a session with a repartive therapist in Rockville. Definitely interesting stuff and worth a read.
I will update you on parts three and four when they a printed. Also, Salon is generally a subscription site but you can usually view the aricles by watching a short ad. Definitely worth it.
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