Wayne Besen, Founding Executive Director
Wayne Besen is the Founding Executive Director of Truth Wins Out and author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth” (Haworth, 2003).
In 2006, Besen was named one of the Advocate Magazine’s “People of the Year” for his work with TWO.
Besen has appeared as a guest on leading news and political talk shows including: the NBC Nightly News, CNN’s Talk Back Live and The Point, Fox’s O’Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes, MSNBC News and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Prior to founding TWO, Besen served as a spokesperson for five years with the Human Rights Campaign. He also worked in corporate communications for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, and served as a press secretary on a U.S. Senate primary in Maine. In 1992, Besen co-founded Sons & Daughters of America (SDA), a gay and lesbian public awareness campaign based in Fort Lauderdale. Besen graduated from University of Florida in 1993 and is still a big fan of UF football and basketball.
However, he is best known for stepping outside of academic and media settings to prove that ex-gays are not who they purport to be. Besen has an unprecedented record of exposing ex-gay ministries as a hoax and has a demonstrated record of success:
- Photographed Focus on the Family’s ex-gay poster boy John Paulk in a gay bar. Before his downfall, Paulk had been on the cover of Newsweek, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America and Oprah.
- Helped Uncover Rev. Jerry Falwell’s personal HIV+ ex-gay leader, Michael Johnston, picking up men on the Internet and having unsafe sexual relations. Johnston also worked with the American Family Association and Coral Ridge Ministries. He was forced to step down and enter a sex addiction facility in Kentucky.
- Helped orchestrate the public “coming out” of ex-gay poster boy Wade Richards, who was working with right wing activist Peter LaBarbera, Love In Action and Saviors Alliance for Lifting the Truth (SALT).
- Revealed that PFOX’s President, the ex-gay therapist Richard Cohen, had been kicked out of the American Counseling Association.
- For his efforts to expose ex-gays, The Advocate magazine named Besen one of America’s “Most Innovative Activists” in 2001.
- Spoken at more than 100 universities, churches, business groups and community organizations on this topic, including Harvard Law School, Johns Hopkins University and University of Florida.
Note: Click Besen’s photo for a high quality image.
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