Ex-Gay ‘Success’ Story Slams Christian Community For ‘Exploiting’ His Sexuality

Ex-gay, conversion, or reparative therapy is a form of pseudo-scientific therapy that is aimed at changing a non-heterosexual individual’s sexual identity to heterosexual. I make no compunctions about calling it pseudo-scientific; the so-called therapy has been slammed by the American Psychiatric Association?(APA) and a large variety of other organizations for operating on the premise that sexuality can be changed, or that it should be. Still, the concept persists, and it continues to hurt the very people it claims to help.

Christian Schizzel, an alleged ex-gay conversion success story, has come out as a victim of the harmful pseudo-science whose sexuality has never changed.  Photo credit: canyonwalkerconnections.com
Christian Schizzel, an alleged ex-gay conversion success story, has come out as a victim of the harmful pseudo-scientific practice whose sexuality has never changed.
Photo credit: canyonwalkerconnections.com

In an interview with the Religion News Service (RNS), Christian Schizzel, one such victim of the ex-gay “therapy,” describes what the process was like, and how he came to ultimately reject it. The most horrifying part is that many of these processes?Schizzel describes is textbook indoctrination. Read this excerpt from the interview:

There was a psychological ?breaking-me-down? and isolation process from my friends and family because they were considered unhealthy. They did this to achieve complete domination over me to build me up and mold me from there. ?I had to do activities that were stereotypically manly and I couldn’t have too many female friends that would encourage me to be effeminate.

I was kept from attending the funeral of the mother of one of my closest friend because, they said, the devil was using this funeral to lure me back out to become reacquainted with non-believers. I’didn’t?talk to my mom for almost a year and?a half. I was told it was my family’s fault I was gay because of how I was raised. They demonized my entire support system until I had no one to turn to except them. After roughly two years of the break down I was finally on the same page as them and I began conforming to their wishes all on my own. Being young and impressionable, I was unknowingly being groomed as the next leader of the next generation of ex-gays. All I was seeking was acceptance.

The emphasis is mine. I point it out because there are very specific commonalities between the tactics of these ex-gay “therapists” and?the processes used in indoctrination and mind control. I’ve researched cult activity and mind control?in the past, and several statements Schizzel makes are eerily similar to their techniques. While it’s debated whether or not these techniques are fully effective, the fact that they’re being used shows intent:

  • Isolation.?Without a support group, the individual has no choice but to turn to his or her indoctrinators.
  • Black-and-white thinking. In this case, you’re gay or you’re straight, and gay is wrong.
  • Taking advantage of the impressionable.?This kind of manipulation works best when targets are young and/or vulnerable.
  • Dangle acceptance.?Complying with the indoctrination and accepting the tenants of belief is rewarded by being accepted by the group.

According to Schizzel, he was sexually abused by his step-father who used the Bible to justify and silence the boy. The ex-gay “therapists” chose to zero in on this incident as the cause of his homosexuality, which is obviously patently false. They then dangled acceptance in front of him (his own church banned him from singing in front of the congregation because of his “struggle”). With the line baited, they reeled him in, coached him on how to act, and sent him off to be a poster child for reparative therapy. The entire time, Schizzel was never straight; sexuality doesn’t change, nor does it need to.

When asked why Schizzel decided to come out of the closet, he told RNS?that “my sexuality has been exploited my whole life by the Christian community both knowingly and un-knowingly.” He hopes to further reveal the dangers and harms of this fake therapy so that “people who have?used my story against other gay people won’t have it as a weapon anymore.”

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david phamDavid Pham is a proud Gaytheist, Gaymer, and Iraq veteran who staunchly supports minority rights and the separation of church and state. When he’s not writing or researching, he can usually be found reading, gaming, and cracking jokes at inappropriate times. He is a former Combat Medic and EMT who now studies Psychology and is pursuing a Ph.D. in the field with the goal of teaching at the college level.

David Pham is a proud Gaytheist and Gaymer, and an Iraq Veteran who staunchly supports LGBT rights and the separation of church and state. When not reading or researching, he's usually found with his nose in his Kindle or Wii U Gamepad. He studies Psychology with the intent to provide therapy to Veterans and teach at the college level.