In a post by Brad Sargent on the Exodus blog, the success rate of ex-gay therapy is addressed. 25 years ago, Brad became involved in Exodus. He started working for them in 1991, and was often addressed with the question, “What is your success rate?” Unable to give any numerical result, he was forced to respond thusly:
That question popped up so often, it became a frustration. There were no formal studies available from Exodus ministries then – who had funds or time to conduct such research? And yet, callers were anxious to know: If I’m going to invest myself in a transformation process, will it pay off? It’s just part of human nature to want a guarantee, but there was (and is) none we could give. What was our success rate? I was at the point of saying, “Well … 100 percent for those who follow Jesus Christ the rest of their life.”
Unable to give a clear, solid answer then or now, Exodus relies on the false dichotomy that “gay” and “Christian” oppose one another. And in fact, they incorrectly interpret- and therfore, deflect – the question at hand:
…I had to realize the REAL question hidden underneath the surface question. It was not ultimately about success rates, but about hope. Can I change? Can things be different? Can I live a normal life? Can I have hope?
Actually, when someone asks what the success rate is, it’s probably fair to assume that this is exactly what they’re asking for. They want some kind of hard data to assess whether it would be worth spending years – sometimes decades – of their lives and possibly thousands of dollars on therapy that will ultimately not make them any more opposite-sex attracted. If somebody gives a success rate of 15%, that person might not think it worth it to enter into a ministry. Others might cling to such a number, thinking they might be in the lucky 15% that wins the heterosexual lottery, so to speak. But giving an answer of “unknown” does not generally instill confidence.
What is your success rate? The answer never really was a WHAT. It always is a WHO. Jesus Christ is “success” because He was obedient to the Father’s plan. When we find our identity in Christ and not in our own strengths or weaknesses, we too can find success in living. Not perfection, but perseverance. Not absence of temptation, but freedom from feeling we have to give in. Not a guarantee by following rules, but genuine hope empowered by grace.
This ignores, of course, the many LGBTQ’s who indeed have a strong relationship with Jesus and their Creator. If “Jesus Christ is ‘success'” and those sexual minorities indeed have an “identity in Christ,” then would Exodus consider those people to be success stories? Probably not, because in their view, being “gay-identified” – in other words, honest about one’s attractions – is identifying with one’s “weaknesses.” Plenty live “normal” lives and are fulfilled spiritually.
One can, however, be romantically and sexually honest about their attractions without acting upon them, if they find that is contrary to their convictions. This is known by many in the gay Christian community as “Side B.”
Perhaps the deepest success of Exodus has been in restoring a sanctified imagination to those who’ve grown devoid of hope. From that beginning point, we can engage in a trajectory of transformation toward overcoming, restoration, and wholeness.
So it can be deduced that Exodus’ greatest success is not in making a gay person change into a straight person. Otherwise, they would have mentioned it. But this is what many people are looking for when they turn to an ex-gay ministry. This article gives the impression that Exodus is unable to provide this.
At the end of the post, Brad mentions a “scientific study” that they at long last have to reference – the Jones and Yarhouse Study. But this publication has been repeatedly exposed for its glaring flaws in the manner in which it was conducted. Even if the results of the study – a “23% success rate” – are to be taken at face value, that still points to a 77% fail rate. And even the authors themselves admit that said “success” does not necessarily mean “opposite sex attracted,” it means “chastity or celibacy.” Not one “success” story is reported to have relinquished their same sex attractions.
If Exodus’ goal is to help gays live a celibate life, they should say so outright. Touting a false dichotomy and a flawed study as evidence of “success” hides a non-existant gay-to-straight success rate and misleads those looking for such results.
23% success rate — they should be so lucky. I think they would be doing hand stands if the level was actually that high. But even their “best” cases did not move more than one point on the Kinsey scale and heterosexual desires did not change at all. Jones in particular has shown his hard bias on the matter with his interactions with the media after the last results were released.
The lack of any data didn’t stop Sy Rogers, head of Exodus in the late 80s, from quoting an absurd 71% success rate. I’ve never heard the current leadership at Exodus apologize for the years of misinformation. On the contrary, they don’t even acknowledge it. We will never know how many lives were left in ruin, or even — God forbid — ended after failing at what was quoted as a “71% chance of success.”
Instead of asking for forgiveness for these lies, they have simply rephrased the meaning of change. Now it is so vague that it can mean anything.
Well done. Exodus essentially sponsored the Jones-Yarhouse “research” that was presented to APA (they provided the subjects). The sampling and methodology would not stand up to the scrutiny afforded a high school science project.
https://www.tips-q.com/1233309-exodus-reality
The bottom line to all of this is that there is no independent research that supports any conclusion that differs from the APA’s findings. Let alone any that is published and submitted to the referee process.
David, that’s spot on. Jesus said “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” None of these philosophically sophisticated answers that seek to cover up the truth, but be straight forward. The reality is that if a person doesn’t believe they can change, they’re most likely not going to waste their time. But here is where their false advertising comes in. They have to lure them in first before they start the whole thing about what real change means, because until they reframe the person’s mind to look at the issue from their own theological viewpoint, people would not be willing to accept a life of celibacy. But if you can get them into the program using this initial bait and keep them there long enough to convince them that Jesus is against that behavior and that’s all that matters, then the logical conclusion follows that in order to love Jesus, I have to be celibate. Conversion therapy is a good name for it, because this whole gimmick is really about converting people to their own theological position and nothing more. Again, typical of the religious right, it’s about imposing one group’s particular theology on an issue on the masses, and the fact that they have to resort to deception is proof enough that God is not in it!
Success rate for homosexual to heterosexual transformation via Exodus?
Much less than 1%.
That’s right, guilt people into the ministry by implying that something’s wrong with them because they want hard numbers and won’t just take what
youJesus says on faith.Nobody would buy a car or a house this way, but they expect you to sign something even more precious to them–your very life–based on nothing. And the sadder part is, people do it. Emily, what you said about the “heterosexual lottery?” People do at least win the lottery occasionally, and the state lottery officials have to share hard numbers.
On the Exodus FAQ page, under “What’s your ‘success rate in changing gays into straights?”, they boast of a 30-50% success rate:
They then cite the Jones and Yarhouse study. And despite the qualifier in regard to “measurement of change,” I think that 30-50% would sound pretty encouraging to someone who’s desperate for “change” (or anything else), Which, as David Roberts said:
And isn’t that the whole point of their political mission, to dupe an unsuspecting public into
votingthinking that same-sex attraction is a choice?Clearly, the ambiguity of terms is intentional, or their political power would be negligible.
“Change” implies gay to straight.
“Temptation” implies 100% heterosexuality with bouts of same-sex attraction.
“Struggle” implies an attainable goal.
“Leaving homosexuality” implies entering heterosexuality.
When pressed, the truth begrudgingly comes out, but even then it requires a discerning mind to understand the
“nuance”meaning behind their language.Alan Chambers calls our relationships “a counterfeit,” and says, paraphrased: “And as we all know, counterfeit money spends for years.”
Code-speak for our love is fake, which implies that we’re too stupid to realize it, which further implies that our long-term relationships are just extensions of that stupidity.
They must think that since our love is fake, so too is our sorrow in its absence.
Conscience clear (*smacks hands*).
In that case it’s not an answer to the question, but simply an evasion – exactly the same sort of evasion that we hear almost daily on radio and television from politicians who want to dodge the interviewer’s question.
As the BBC’s Eddie Mair so often says, “Forgive me, but do you think you could answer the question?”
Oh man, if that isn’t a great example of Exodus-Speak. Then they use an awful piece written by George A. Rekers and posted on the NARTH website to explain the “nuance” of these study results. Rekers testimony on these matters was found to be hopelessly biased and unusable by two different judges in two separate trials. Exodus paid $100K for the Jones and Yarhouse study, I suppose they need to make sure no genuine experts foul up whatever mileage is left in their investment.
After all that we now know concerning “change” it is beyond irresponsible and bordering on fraudulent that Exodus would place this on their website. One wonders how much liberty is taken with the facts during their closed events, including the future all-Exodus LWO conferences. The truth is obviously not their goal as they have had so many chances to align themselves with it and still do not.
I think it’s high time Penn & Teller did a feature on Exodus, NARTH and all the other witchdoctors who make up the ex-gay movement
This whole dispute of Exodus’ alleged “success rate” really hinges on definitions. The people who succeed at framing the terms of the debate often have the advantage.
Those of us who are well-adjusted and comfortable with our sexuality, who might read Advocate or post comments to Joe.My.God might identify ourselves as “Gay” or “Lesbian” or “LGBT.”
Exodus and other conservative Christian organizations don’t like the term “Gay.” They see it as too culturally and politically charged. To them, someone who identifies as “Gay” is someone who takes inordinate pride in his or her sexual identity. Such groups much prefer the term “homosexual,” since it’s much more pathological-sounding … as in, “Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I’m afraid your son has been diagnosed as a HOMOSEXUAL.”
Then there is that subset of conservative Christians who claim that there is really no such thing a “homosexual” per se. They insist that everyone is heterosexual, but certain wicked people succumb to the temptation to have sex with people of the same gender … and if they can just get people to stop doing that, everything is hunky-dory.
Those of us who are involved in HIV education and prevention use the term “MSM” (meaning men who have sex with other men). This has less to do with emotion and cultural identity than it does with specific behavior. But many self-identified Gay men object to this term. Once, at a Gay Men’s Health Summit in Boulder, Colorado, I heard one participant say, “I am a proud Gay man, and if I hear one more person refer to me as an MSM, I’m going to fucking EXPLODE!”
How one defines “Gay” or “homosexual” for statistical purposes makes all the difference in the world. Alfred Kinsey might focus purely on sexual arousal and aesthetic appeal, in which the percentage of people who are of a homosexual orientation might be ten percent (if not considerably higher, depending on the number of beers consumed). But if Exodus’ definition is based purely on being out of the closet and marching in Gay Pride, the number will probably be significantly smaller.
My guess is that if you asked the people at Exodus if there’s a difference between “ex-Gay” and “ex-homosexual,” the answer would easily be YES. Exodus may succeed at changing a person’s behavior; certainly you can get a person to do or not do ANYTHING if you succeed at threatening them with the fires of Hell. And if you are convinced that it is pleasing to God to engage only in heterosexual behavior, however much you have to suppress your own impulses, that belief will probably exert it’s own unique power over your identity.
But as long a some male executive at Exodus admits that another handsome man will occasionally cause his head to turn, in my opinion nothing has really changed.
Interesting. “Ex-homosexual” and “post-homosexual” would imply an ex-“temptation” / post-“temptation” status. Hmm…
here were no formal studies available from Exodus ministries then – who had funds or time to conduct such research?
What a load, lets not pretend Exodus is some lone crusader. Alot of people have stock in their ‘science’, people like Focus on the Family and their $100 million+ budget. Of course thats the entire reason they don’t have hard numbers, they don’t want hard numbers. They aren’t idiots, they know they never sat down and chose to be straight, they know no amount of prayer could ever make them gay, they don’t seriously think it works for gays but not them. As long as theirs no real numbers you can claim it to be wildly successful, which helps it succeed at the real goal of this ‘research’, reassuring bigots that its okay to treat gays like crap because they chose to be gay.
PS: what about the hundred or so years between the founding of psychology and homosexuality being removed as a mental illness? No one managed to get the time or money then either?
I have a friend who was one of the leaders of an ex-gay ministry for many years. He is now an openly gay Christian. Like a heterosexual, God calls us to not have sex before “marriage” and to practice being monogamy. It would imply that those who are homosexuals are admonished to do the same.