Undercover at a Christian Gay-to-Straight (JiM) Conversion Campe

[Caoimhe Fayre]

Undercover at a Christian Gay-to-Straight Conversion Camp

Oh. My. God.

I have so many friends who go to JiM retreats. I never had any idea what goes on at them, as a woman with SSA I've never been invited to anything similar, and now I'm thanking God I wasn't.

How can they not see the kind of damage a weekend like that would do? How cult-like that is? New Father? Old Father? WTF? Are they for real?

I am still undecided about the majority of the ex-gay movement, though I agree kids should be excluded from any ex-gay "ministry", but I definitely think anything leaning towards THAT type of experience should be illegal. He paid $900 to go through that?

[Revan]

All Ex-Gay camps are damaging in some way, shape or form. It's just not a proper thing. I don't even need to explain WHY it's not proper.

[Level75]

I imagine the staff gets more out of it than the "journeyers". Like the opportunity to relive high school. The chance to sound smart by asking open ended questions with no real answers. And the chance to rub their loins on impressionable men.

[Level75]

...speaking of The Good Men Project, I remember reading something else on it once. Comes to mind when I read about this bizarre conversion camp experience. Mostly the backwards notion that being gay means we eroticize normal male/male interactions because daddy didn't love us or whatever.

From Hugo Schwyzer on gay-straight male friendships

My friend Cole is straight, and often played basketball with a group of buddies, of whom two were gay. They changed and showered in the same locker room after their games. Cole often wondered how his gay buddies handled seeing so many naked men. “I know if I were in the women’s locker, seeing a lot of good-looking women naked, I’d be turned on. I figured it had to the same for gay guys, and the thought creeped me out.”

But as Cole found out when he finally asked, most gay men in our culture grow up surrounded by naked male bodies. They tend to learn to separate nudity from sexuality in a way that straight men don’t. (Ask anyone who grew up in a nudist family, and they’ll tell you the same thing.) Though some gay men are attracted to their straight friends, many aren’t. And those that are are usually very good at keeping that attraction boxed away so that it cannot hurt the friendship.

That's at least my experience of it. Nudity, on its own, does not excite me because that's really all it is- the absence of clothes. So if anything, I would think gay people would know the difference between "intimate" and "erotic" better than most.

[thedreamwatch]

This is horrifying. I always read that these camps were damaging, but I never knew what actually occurred there. It makes me wonder what the kids' camps are like...

So all I have to do is combine two Halloween costumes (The Grim Reaper & Gandalf) and I can set up a private retreat and charge homosexuals $100s of dollars to fix their emotional problems? And I get to hold them, and touch them while they have boners?

Oh my God! All this time, I've been posting on web forums, and its become apparent that I've been doing this all wrong!!! Where do I sign up?

[sguyc]

Originally Posted by Level75

...speaking of The Good Men Project, I remember reading something else on it once. Comes to mind when I read about this bizarre conversion camp experience. Mostly the backwards notion that being gay means we eroticize normal male/male interactions because daddy didn't love us or whatever.

From Hugo Schwyzer on gay-straight male friendships

That's at least my experience of it. Nudity, on its own, does not excite me because that's really all it is- the absence of clothes. So if anything, I would think gay people would know the difference between "intimate" and "erotic" better than most.

Ya thats my experience as well, regardless of any of the shower fantasies I have lol. Same with sports and the contact there.

[FuryOfFirestorm]

I could have gone to a therapist and a hustler and gotten the same experience for less money.

The writer seemed oblivious that Dave wanted to do some "follow-up therapy" with him.

And of course, the ex-gay apologists and Evanderpicals have already dropped their turds in the comments.

[Lad123]

Originally Posted by ArcherySet

So all I have to do is combine two Halloween costumes (The Grim Reaper & Gandalf) and I can set up a private retreat and charge homosexuals $100s of dollars to fix their emotional problems? And I get to hold them, and touch them while they have boners?

Oh my God! All this time, I've been posting on web forums, and its become apparent that I've been doing this all wrong!!! Where do I sign up?

Lmao!!! I didn't see it that way

The article though is just disturbing in so many ways...

[speedracing22]

Originally Posted by FuryOfFirestorm

The writer seemed oblivious that Dave wanted to do some "follow-up therapy" with him.