Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out has discovered some very troubling information about ex-gay therapist Christopher Doyle. Doyle is the successor to the outlandish ex-gay guru Richard Cohen and his International Healing Foundation. However, while Doyle has his hands in many pies, his main project always seems to be the Institute for Healthy Families. From the IHF website Doyle offer’s all sorts of things for which one can pay him money.
According to records uncovered by Besen, Doyle’s own life with his wife and family has been less than ideal. Doyle married his wife, Sherry Montgomery, in 2006, and they have five children. Since then there have been alleged fights and physical confrontations, even with his own kids. From her counterclaim:
On June 21, 2020 the Husband became enraged and grabbed two of the children by the throat and threw them up against his motor vehicle. One of the children stated, “Dad, you’re hurting me” in distress while he was being choked. The Wife had to intervene and slowly and gently lower the Husband’s hands as to not enrage him further.
via Truth Wins Out
Besen also reveals some romantic text messages between Doyle and a long-time friend Charles “Chuck” Peters. In these there are things like “Hey Boo Boo,” “I love you,” and “Daddy.” They were apparently going to meet at an ex-gay conference in Orlando. With this and more, Sherry has filed for divorce and in the meantime there are protective orders in place. Doyle sounds like an angry man who should not be anywhere near his own children, much less someone else’s.
Normally, the romantic bits would not be relevant here, and indeed make me uncomfortable even now. However, Doyle and others like him put all of it into play by using their families as proof of their change from gay to straight. They then use their alleged change of orientation as proof of their therapeutic abilities from which they make their living. All this while promising what they simply cannot deliver, leaving their clients with shattered lives.
This is the crux of ex-gay therapy, whether we call it sexually oriented change efforts (SOCE) or conversion therapy or just plain talk therapy — if it even tacitly promises orientation change, there will be, at the very least, disappointment at the end of the process. When all of that is found to be built on a foundation of lies, it is more than relevant here.
Read the full account at Truth Wins Out.
No surprise on this one, sadly. I hope his wife and children find peace going forward.