When Americans think about religiously motivated conversion therapy, they usually think of conservative Christianity. Organizations such as the Changed Movement, Restored Hope Network, and Focus on the Family are prominent voices in conservative Christian discussions of sexuality, religious identity, and…
For three decades, Stephen Black occupied an increasingly prominent place in the American Christian conversion therapy movement. He rose from work at an Oklahoma City ministry to leadership in Exodus International, helped establish the Restored Hope Network after a bitter…
Twenty-four years ago, I launched Ex-Gay Watch, then using blogs.salon.com as host, with two posts (via archive.org) that, in retrospect, make an interesting pair. And now, the closure of Salon.com offers a timely opportunity to look back. The first post,…
Reference: Pachankis, J. E., et al. (2026). Harms associated with “conversion therapy” (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression change efforts): A systematic search and review. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001794 If you’re thinking about ex-gay counseling, or you’re…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced October 27 that Texas Children’s Hospital has opened a “detransition clinic” required by a settlement with his office. The clinic is accepting appointment requests for people seeking care related to detransition. Paxton calls it…
A new report from The Trevor Project brings additional research to that discussion. It follows LGBTQ+ young people over two years and finds that those reporting threats of conversion therapy or actual exposure had substantially higher odds of suicidal thoughts,…
When watching political and religious groups tear each other apart in circular firing squads, it is tempting to write it off as simple vanity or personal selfishness. We see this same pattern inside the modern conversion therapy subculture—especially in groups…
Why do people sometimes become more entrenched when confronted with better evidence? And if direct argument doesn’t work, is there anything friends, family members, critics or churches can do? There is no technique for making another person self-reflective. Some people…
For decades, the ex-gay movement has produced a striking number of former leaders who eventually repudiated some or all of what they once taught. John Paulk did. John Smid did. McKrae Game did. Randy Thomas did. Yvette Cantu Schneider did….
Patrick Fitzgerald, who wrote for Ex-Gay Watch from 2009 to 2013, died May 11, 2026, in Naples, Florida. He was 57. Patrick’s obituary describes a man whose interests ranged well beyond the subjects he covered here. He was a gardener,…
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