ABC tackles gay therapy

ABC tackles gay therapy

With more than half a million spectators expected to turn out for the annual celebration of gay pride at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras this weekend, Australia would seem to be a country that’s pretty accepting of homosexuality. But there are some same-sex attracted people who aren’t proud at all – they actually wish they were straight.

The ABC’s Hungry Beast reporter Monique Schafter speaks to three same-sex attracted men whose Christian beliefs led them to attempt to reorient their sexual compasses through various ‘gay conversion’ techniques. And one succeeded.

Haydn, 29, is a devout Christian who admits to still having a sexual attraction to men despite being married with two children and leading a ‘heterosexual life’. Haydn believes his faith continues to ‘heal’ his broken sexuality which is a result of a fractured relationship with his father.

Haydn works through his ‘problem’ through prayer, abstinence and spending time with other heterosexual males to make up for the lack of connection between him and his father.

“I’ve had same sex attraction to men but it’s something that I see as an orientation that does not define me… It’s not who I am. I see it as being a spiritual regeneration as I trust God with my sexuality. He regenerates and changes me,” Haydn said.

Formerly a leader in the Assemblies of God and regular preacher in mega-churches of Australia and overseas, Anthony (59) tried a variety of methods over 22 years to change his homosexuality:

“I think I tried probably everything possible to become heterosexual. There was lots of personal prayer, counselling, I went through a live in ex-gay program for six months, I went through exorcisms, I fasted for 40 days twice and I was married for 16 years. So when people say to me ‘you didn’t try hard enough’ I want to hit them,” he said.

Anthony (59) is the co-founder of an organisation that offers support, information and contacts to GLBTI (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex) people from Pentecostal or Charismatic backgrounds, many of whom are ‘ex-gay survivors’ (the term used for people who have gone through conversion therapy but have come to embrace their sexual identity as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender).

He has also written an autobiography about his journey to find the truth that has inspired many same sex attracted people to live authentically, while retaining their Christian faith.

When 33-year-old Anthony came out to his very religious parents as a teenager they sent him to gay conversion therapy run by the Riverview Church in Perth. After months of guilt-ridden therapy and being told there was no such thing as a happy, monogamous gay relationship, he had an affair with one of the team leaders and left the program. He is now in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend.

“I did slip up during [gay conversion] therapy. I had an affair with the team leader. Coming out of it and living the life I live now… I just can’t believe I ever did that,” he said.


info:
Their stories can be seen on Hungry Beast this Wednesday, February 24, at 9pm on ABC1. Immediately after the program, Haydn and Anthony (59) will discuss gay conversion in a live forum on the Hungry Beast website. Go to www.abc.net.au/hungrybeast at 9.30pm to join in the discussion.

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17 responses to “ABC tackles gay therapy”

  1. this article I’m sure will shed further light on haydn’s journey

    “Situational Heterosexuality”
    The most misunderstood concept in the ‘ex-gay’ and Christian worlds
    By Anthony Venn-Brown © 2010

    INTRODUCTION

    ‘Situational heterosexual’ is a term I’ve used for several years to describe myself when people have asked how I could have been married for so many years and yet be gay. This term has also helped people gain a clearer understanding of what really happens when someone who is homosexual marries someone of the opposite sex and claims change. Confusion about what really happens in these situations still exists and often wrongly reinforces the ‘homosexuality is a choice’ and ‘homosexuals can change’ concepts.

    How often have you heard someone say something like this ‘They couldn’t be gay, they’re married’ assuming that having a wife by your side and produced children means a person must be straight. When someone says that to me, I just smile……remain silent for a while having been a gay man in a heterosexual marriage) and wait for what I’m actually thinking to sink into the consciousness of the person who made the naïve statement.

    read the rest here

    http://alifeofunlearning.blogspot.com/2010/04/most-misunderstood-concept-in-ex-gay.html

  2. To all the upset dissident gays: Nothing will change; we don’t have the numbers — get smart: minimize your taxes, maximize tax-free income and social services and simply don’t participate in str8-laced activities.

  3. Later in the day the ABC published better content. How ever on the Victorian ABC we had no mention of Mardi Gras.

  4. I awoke and tuned into the ABC website to see the coverage of the Mardi Gras was.

    Yes shock and horror again. The Evanglical fruit loops at the ABC have again kicked us in the head. It seems they have an nasty campaign to attack everyone in our community.

    I did not see how the parade went only the headline ”
    35 Mardi Gras revellers charged” and so on the article went. No photos, just a focus on the negative as usual. Not reflective of the national celebration of our community.

    Yes the ABC are utter bastards! The proof is in what they do.

  5. Sydney Anglicans are promoting Gay Conversion Therapy as seen on their website…

    1. Christianity, homosexuality and gay conversion was the subject of a segment on the ABC TV show, The Hungry Beast. Haydn Sennitt, who blogs for sydneyanglicans.net made the courageous, and risky, decision to speak out. He was interviewed (along with two others who took the opposite view) and was given a reasonably fair hearing. He is certainly to be congratulated on his willingness to stand up for his Lord and we should pray God will use his testimony. The ABC gave a list of sites, but all were in favour of homosexual sex. If you are struggling with this issue, or know someone who is, I would recommend this site (Liberty Christian Ministries Inc). By the way, the inside story is on Haydn’s personal blog
    http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/news/newsreview/sydney_anglicans_push_hot_buttons/

  6. What next? Hungry Beast decides to have a discussion on racism. Oh lets get members from the Australian National Front (aka racist organisation)and give them a free voice to sprout their views, and we will throw in a few ethnics, to make it look balanced. Hello, no that ain’t gonna happen is it. So why the hell is it okay to have a television segment on “gay conversion” that shows it as a viable option for some people. I am astounded that our community is not as outraged by this, as my friends and I am. Thank God for the likes of Anthony Venn-Brown. Someone who is actually doing real work in our community to counteract the Exodus ex-gay movement’s message and help those who have been traumatised by it. I am really pissed off at Andrew Denton, the behind the scenes producer. I would have thought he would have had an enlightened approach to this issue and not allowed it to be aired. Sure lets have a real discussion on Exodus and expose it for what it really is. A homophobic driven right wing fundamentalist Christian agenda to denigrate gay people. Mind you, there have been great documentaries on this before on SBS and the ABC. Why the hell are we still having to defend ourselves about it. sheeesh.

  7. Paul says the ABC is run by socialists and communists and Dave says the ABC is run by homophobic evangelical Christians. So, are to conclude that the ABC is run by homophobic evangelical Christian communists in cahoots with the Catholic Mafia? I LOVE a good conspiracy theory!

  8. This is exactly what I expected would happen. More suicides, another negative image of us, and all paid for by our billions in tax.

    When was the last time we were not joked about or shown as having a tragic life on the ABC?

    The ABC is run by homophobic Evangalicals only to willing to please the Labor and Liberal Catholic Mafia.

    I am fed up paying for discrimination in this country by the Catholic Mafia. We deserve a tax rebate as we do not get the full services of government.

  9. So now that people have watched the segment are they as appalled as I am by allowing anti gay sentiments to be expressed in a public forum and on our national broadcaster. The positive message from Anthony, who I respect dearly, was drowned out by the sickening display of homophobic self denial by Hayden. In the online chat afterwards, Hayden said all gay people are going to hell unless they repent. Is this the kind of healthy debate we want to see on television , in which countless young people watch? By giving Hayden a voice, without adequate critical analysis, it has fueled homophobic ammunition against our community and worse, has probably led to more young people being confused. It is a serious issue in which people have killed themselves over, and to be treated in such a glib manner by the producers of the show makes me very angry and upset.

  10. Andy and Mother Helen, may I respectfully suggest that you visit the OII Australia website to read about intersex right from the source rather than popular (often very far from the truth) beliefs?

  11. Tim,

    I guess if we pray hard enough we can be “Cured”. That is what not only the Conservative Christians say but also Catholic counseling for people who are gay or lesbian. I know a guy who just got out that shit. They only need to say one out of three can make it with enough prayers by my calculation from this program. What a great tool for them to fuck people up further.

    I am fed up of the ABC showing us as a distressed mob. If you search the ABC website for the Pride March for instance you get Pride bashing’s in other countries. Not the celebration that takes place in Australia.

    I would like to see content on the ABC that represents our community and not Philadelphia style sad cases as the only major representation of our lives. It is Mardi Gras time! Can you imagine the ABC doing a show on “No God” at Christmas time or how people managed to live good lives by not believing in God?

    Where is our content from the billions in Tax the government gets from our community? Are our celebrations not news worthy as the ABC put it? Last time I went to Mardi Gras I saw thousands of happy people celebrating our community.

  12. David….. as the Anthony (58) who will appear in the segment I think you should watch. I’m sure you will be pleasantly suprised….well hope so….I’m not sure of exactly what material will be used. But I’m sure the things you mention will be addressed.

    I for one am glad this topic is being aired….I’ve been trying to create interest about it in the mainstream media for years. The enemy is ignorance.

    I will be online with the ex-gay Haydn after the show…..maybe you should come on line and ask him a few questions.

    after the show….come back and tell us what you think.

  13. Well Dave, that’s quite the rant about something that hasn’t even screened yet! The article makes clear that Hungry Beast will be screening a segment (not an hour, a segment) featuring three people who’ve been through such re-orientation programs, of which one claims it “worked.” Mathematics wasn’t my best subject, but isn’t one of three a minority? Clearly, Hungry Beast plans on accurately portraying the fact that such programs in fact don’t “work” for most people, even before getting down to the dubious nature of what the sole dissenter claims to have accomplished. Considering the rise in hard-right churches in Australia that promote this kind of “therapy,” I’m bloody glad the ABC will be screening this segment, especially in a show that’s popular amongst young people.

  14. Mother Helen, people who are intersex are people born with gender indistinguishable genitalia (too small to be a penis and too large to be a clitoris). In the past doctors would surgically alter their genitals in early childhood, and their parents would raise them as girls, but many grew up to feel they had been given the wrong gender when they reached puberty or adulthood. It’s a very rare condition and I believe many intersex people don’t identify as part of the GLBT community, as I’ve heard is the case with some trans people as well.

  15. The ABC is an appalling abuser of people in our community through terrible reporting. It does not follow its charter at all and has been overtaken by Evil Christians, especially in the news department.

    Here we have an hour of television devoted to confused homosexuals. I am really disgusted that the homophobes who run the ABC are just reaching for the gutter here. What about confused Christians? They would never show that. Why show this sort of story at time when we are celebrating our community.

    Now they seldom ever report on Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and you have to really work hard to find anything about it on the news website. After writting to the editor I got a reply to say it is not news worthy. Imagine that! One of the biggest events in Australia is not news worthy?

    I am not interested in a picture of us as confused homosexuals as the ABC is so keen to point out to Australia. I am only interested in the truth that almost all people like us live normal lives and enjoy life. This reminds me of the Albury Xavier scandal. I asked someone who was studying at the High School about the homophobia, she said “it is not homophibic as they played Philladelphia to show what the homosexual life is like. If they were homophobic they would never show such movie”. The ABC is acting like that showing a tragic view of us.

    If the ABC was serious at all they would show the thousands of suicides by Christian people who are homosexual and have gone through the various “Therapies” Christian groups run. There are many many support groups for people who are Christian and have gone through these “Therapies” to cure them. The ABC should be looking at the damage these people do with no qualifications to cure people doing things like running exorcisms and why they feel a need to “Cure” us.

    People from our community should get a tax break as the ABC provides poor content for our community. It looks like are going overboard to please Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott.