ABC affiliate WFTS in Tampa, Fla., reports that a former Exodus affiliate, New Hearts Outreach, will continue performing discredited and counterproductive “conversion therapy” upon unsuspecting families.
The most common form of conversion therapy, reparative therapy, teaches counselees that their parents are to blame for the counselee’s homosexuality. But neither the patient nor their parents are pre-warned about this blame game, and the resulting anger and retribution often permanently damages patients’ families.
NHO’s website masthead accuses sexual minorities of being “sexually and relationally challenged.”
The founder of the Tampa-area antigay group, Mark Culligan, asserts that ex-gay and antigay people — but not necessarily people who affirm sexual honesty — “should have a right to self-determination. If they want to seek change from homosexuality, wow, they should be able to! This is America!” Certain forms of conversion therapy have been banned in California due to deceitful marketing claims, high failure rates, and permanent emotional damage done to patients and their families.
Culligan equates loving same-gender relationships with “addictive behavior or desire like drugs or gambling,” according to WFTS. He believes that if people commit to his fee-based counseling and small groups — praying away the gay — then God’s unconditional love will overcome sexual minorities’ need for human companionship.
In the local news story, Culligan claims to have reduced his sexual drive, but he does not claim to be attracted to the opposite sex.
Culligan is not getting rich from his profession, but he makes a living, according to his web site and IRS records.
In 2011, Culligan reported gross revenue of about $66,000, of which $37,000 was spent in salaries, according to the IRS 990 form of Culligan’s shell organization, Soli Deo Gloria International.
Culligan’s web site accepts donations and offers merchandise for sale. His 17-week DVD curriculum costs $150, books sell for $8-$20, and Culligan’s fee for a 15-week Living Waters counseling program are not disclosed.