NPR has been doing a delightful expose of the whole bogus ex-gay therapy industry. Much of the attention to this discredited "therapy" comes from the fact that Michele Bachmann's husband runs one such practice. Now Salon.com has expanded the look into one of the fringe treatments offered by these hucksters, "cuddle therapy".
I have previously blogged about the bizarre practices of the group called JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality) and it's founder Allan Downing. He has been accused of having clients stand naked in front of him and masturbate. This would somehow desensitize them or some such clap-trap. What it most likely did was give Downing a nice thrill.
Meanwhile, the Journey into Manhood, a weekend retreat where men hug, wrestle and then beat pillows with baseball bats. All part of some sort of connecting with their absent fathers crap. For the record, my father and I were close, he hugged me and we spent lots of time together, and I am still gay.
It's a good thing that these bunco artists are being reexamined, because apparently exposing them in the news and on the Daily Show didn't take. These therapists are most likely, in my opinion, troubled gay men who can't reconcile their attractions with their rigid fundamentalist beliefs, so they act out by trying to project their "cure" on other unhappy gay men. The problem is not because they are gay, the problem is because they cannot accept their sexuality and that is a sad truth for a lot of people both straight and gay.
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