Ever since our successful petition to have Exodus International’s iPhone app deleted from the app store, untold numbers have had a chance to learn about the insidious “ex-gay” industry and what it actually does to people. So Peterson and some of the other “ex-gay” survivors have started a hash tag on Twitter — #exgaysurvivor — to share their stories with each other and the world. Here’s some of what they have so far:

Whenever I make a mistake, I still fight the voice in my head that tells me it’s because I’m evil and possessed by a demon – @cylestnichole

After my gay-related exorcism, the only thing that went away was my love for myself – @vcervantes

My family was deeply wounded by Exodus International staff – @p2son

Has barely begun to scratch the surface of the ways they have been harmed by their ex-gay past… it is all too painful… – @never_again4

In ex-gay ministry, I was told if I wasn’t changing to str8t then I wasn’t trying hard enough – @gaysexpert

The twisted Emotionally Dependent Relationship teaching is an invasive species that digs into the brain. Awful – @MJaneB65

The thing is, the silent or implied messages were often more insidious than the direct and explicit ones. – @JarredH

I became depressed and suicidal after ex gay therapy. – @jeraskew1

Never would I have considered that there was a problem with the system. I was made to believe I WAS the problem – @gaysexpert

Being told not to form Emotionally Dependent Relationships kept me in fear of love. http://t.co/97hetHL – @MJaneB65

It was awful because so often ex-gay leaders blamed ME for not trying hard enough or trusting Jesus – @p2son

The only time I’ve ever felt separated from God was during my ex-gay experience – @cylestnichole

I was told that if I was gay, God would utterly reject me – @gaysexpert

God is not the author of confusion, but of love. My time in reparative therapy produced nothing but confusion and hate – @never_again4

They told me that I had gay demons. Then that abuse made me gay. Then my parents failed. #exgay ministers misled me -@p2son

They told me my “boy” was too much and my “girl” was not enough. I became nothing. @MJaneB65

college sent me to ex-gay therapy & all I got was a hospital bill after trying to kill myself bc they told me I was sick&sinful – @never_again4

After 10 years of reparative therapy I was hospitalized because I was suicidal – @MJaneB65

Actual Suicide note: “God would rather have me die now than to live with another gay thought.” – @gaysexpert

‘Love Won Out’ came to my college. After that, I attempted suicide 3 times within one year. I never told any of my friends – @cylestnichole

My counselors didn’t believe I existed. And, like Tinkerbell, poison and disbelief almost killed me. I do believe in fairies! – @connoley

If you have a story to tell, or genuinely want to learn more about the horrific lies perpetuated by the “ex-gay” industry, get thee to the Twitters and join in, and keep up with Peterson’s blog in the meantime.  AND speaking of Twitter, since I haven’t mentioned it on the blog in a while, you should also follow me and Truth Wins Out, if you want, and you should want to, because come on.

The “ex-gay” industry is on the ropes and holding on for dear life. Following the George Rekers “rent boy” scandal, last year’s damning American Psychological Association report, and last week’s JONAH nude therapy debacle, we are on the cusp of permanently discrediting the poisonous “ex-gay” industry. The ex-gay business harms many people each year, destroys lives and shatters families. It needs to be shown for the ruinous and unrighteous lie that it truly is.

The only thing standing in the way of forcing many of these dangerous groups to close their doors – IS YOU.

I know that each day many people who are victims of “ex-gay” therapy read this website. You have stories that, if told, would severely damage the credibility and standing of the “ex-gay”myth. The time to come forward and tell your story is NOW.

Think about this.

Pedophile priests in the Catholic Church were able to get away with raping children for decades because no one spoke up. Once a few brave souls found the courage to tell their stories, a flood of other victims came forward. These profound revelations have changed the world and forced the Vatican to admit its horrible sin.

We can have the same affect on the “ex-gay” industry — IF YOU SPEAK OUT.

I know it can be difficult. I know it can be scary. However, you have the power to stop future clients – including children – from being victimized. You have the power to change the world. You have the ability to shut down this awful, big lie that causes suffering and suicides.

Please, be strong. Be brave. Come forward and let the truth win out. Tell your story today. Make a video. Hold the charlatans and scoundrels accountable.

Can you imagine a world without fraudulent “ex-gay” programs ripping apart lives? I certainly can.

Only with your help,  can we take major steps towards making this dream a reality.

Have a great tip?

Please contact me at wbesen@truthwinsout.org

We mourn the loss of Tom Murray, whose death today from a heart attack was announced by partner Vince on Tom’s Facebook page.

Murray was an award-winning documentary filmmaker who focused on stories exploring the LGBT experience. His recent projects examined “the variety of ways people find spirituality in our community.” His films included “Farm Family: Rural Life in Gay America,” “Fish Can’t Fly,” “Almost Myself,” “Tell,” “A Portable Tribe,” and “Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone.”

His 2005 documentary Fish Can’t Fly was a full-length exploration of the lives of people of faith who have endured and survived the spiritual and emotional traumas that are inflicted upon gay and lesbian people and their families by the “ex-gay” movement.

The film was instrumental in making religious audiences aware of the spiritual lives of LGBT people — and in alerting these same audiences to the religious and mental-health fraud that is Exodus International.

According to Murray’s website:

Tom Murray openly admits to getting a late start in life with filmmaking. Having studied filmmaking in his college years, and long term fan of documentary films, it was only in his “50+” years that he tackled his first feature length work. Inspired by his upbringing on a dairy farm in northern Illinois, “FARM FAMILY…in search of Gay life in rural America” was voted Best Feature Length Documentary at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 2004 and has been acquired by Viacom as part of the initial acquisitions for LOGO TV, the new Gay and Lesbian cable channel. Now a resident of the Gulf coast of Florida, in 2005 Tom completed his second feature, “FISH CAN‘T FLY” which takes a look at the way in which Gay people of faith go about putting their spirituality and sexuality in harmony.

Murray continued to refine his filmmaking skills with subsequent efforts, and this year he was planning to complete work on a film exploring spirituality in the LGBT community.

Fish Can’t Fly is available from Amazon.com and Netflix.

Our thoughts are with Vince and with Tom’s extended family and many friends.