Ted Cox wrote a very good article at AlterNet exploring the bizarre world of “ex-gay” therapy. According to Cox, “Thanks to the unscientific, unregulated underworld of ex-gay therapy, frauds and hacks of all stripes are getting away with any kind of therapy they can think up.”

Check out the article.

Journalist Ted Cox went undercover to explore Journey into Manhood (some call it Journey into ManHunt), a campy “ex-gay” camp that practices bizarre techniques and traffics in outdated stereotypes.

This creepy program sends gay men off into the woods, for a hefty fee, to become more macho (group picture left) and to share each other’s pain. Of course, much of the heartache and suffering is caused by anti-gay teachings, but they won’t tell you this obvious fact as your roast weenies by the candlelight, uh, I mean campfire.

Cox posed as a gay man for two years and attended weekly meetings for several months at two churches in California and a two-day camp at a ranch in northern Arizona in February. Alternet interviews Cox about his experience in these “pray away the gay” programs.

Needless to say, these groups never return the money when the program fails – which it inevitably does. This is why I define “ex-gay” groups as consumer fraud.