Last month, Truth Wins Out released a shocking video. It told the stories of two young men who were victims of sexual impropriety by a shady Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) “ex-gay” therapist, Alan Downing. Since the news broke, the organization has changed its name to Jews Offering New Alternatives to HEALING.
Even a cynical name change, however, could not stanch the flow of people out of this organization. Since the scandal, JONAH’s online list serve has decreased from 140 people to a sorry 86 members.
If this keeps up, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the groups co-founder and convicted felon, might have to get a real job and stop masquerading as an “expert” on homosexuality.
In February, a brave gay Ugandan living in exile, Kushaba Moses Mworeko, appeared at the National Press Club in Washington with a paper bag over his head to denounce Uganda’s deadly Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He wore a mask to conceal his identity because he feared for his life. At the DC press conference, he decried the interference in Ugandan affairs by intolerant American evangelicals, including the “ex-gay” organization Exodus International.
The catalyst for the infamous “Kill the Gays Bill” was a 2009 conference in Kampala featuring Scott Lively, who wrote The Pink Swastika, a book that blamed gay men for the rise of Nazism in Germany, and Don Schmierer, a board member for Exodus International.
Looking back, these were heady days for Exodus, with high-profile television appearances and globetrotting to exotic lands to evangelize the “ex-gay” myth. The good times were rolling with Exodus living by the economic rules of “God’s Economy”, where strong faith trumps smart finances.
The spiritual drunkenness of Exodus had led the organization to foolishly trade its leased offices in favor of a building with a million dollar mortgage. Now, deep into the recession, the organization is left begging the Lord for a loan and asking God’s helpers for a helping hand. On Monday, Exodus wrote on its blog, “Will you pray and ask if God would use YOU to extend His hand of generosity to our ministry during this challenging season?”
In this same Internet post, the organization announced layoffs. The downsizing mirrored severe cuts by Focus on the Family, which sold its financially strapped “ex-gay” road show, “Love Won Out”, to Exodus last year. Apparently, it was not such a wise investment for Exodus, judging by the group’s latest plea for help.
“Dear friends, please pray for us at Exodus,” wrote the organization’s President Alan Chambers. “We have experienced an unexpectedly low giving season this summer coupled with much higher expenses (insurance, utilities, etc). Sadly, we have had to let several staff go. Your prayers are appreciated. For those who are also having to endure this unfriendly economy, our prayers are with you!”
Those who do not follow the “ex-gay” industry must have been surprised by Exodus’ poverty plea. After all, on Aug. 10, the organization’s President Alan Chambers told CNN’s blog that, “Our calls are increasing. Our ministries say we’re busier than ever.”
Exodus’ Vice President, Randy Thomas, also appeared to be oblivious to the cliff ahead. On Aug. 7, he posted a flamboyant video where he gregariously sang, expressed horror that his deodorant smelled too gay, and ordered a designer Starbucks “iced venti, skinny vanilla latte”.
However, the shortfall wasn’t a shock to those of us who study these groups. In late January, I first warned that Exodus was in trouble, evidenced by its moribund website and tardy press releases – which suggested there had been staff cuts. At that time I wrote, “The group’s last press release posted on its sluggish website is dated November 16, 2009. Memo to Exodus, the New Year’s ball has dropped. You can come out of your slumber.”
Exodus financial downturn seems to be echoed by Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), which recently begged supporters to send old clothes, so the group could resell them, presumably at second-hand stores or flea markets.
The reason for the relative decline of these groups is that they are selling a fraudulent product. If they had really “cured” self-loathing homosexuals, these groups would be swimming in money, donated by satisfied clients and ecstatic relatives. All they offer, however, is an infomercial for false hope and their seedy scheme is beginning to catch up to them.
Unfortunately, failed American “ex-gay” outfits can still do enormous damage overseas. For example, Hong Kong’s Society for Truth and Light just published a 52-page booklet citing the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) This is the organization best known for George Rekers, its anti-gay board member who had to step down this year after vacationing with a prostitute he had met on Rent Boy.com.
This week, Kushaba Moses Mworeko released a new video, courageously taking off his mask to call attention to the plight of LGBT people in most African countries. He implored Anglican bishops attending the All African Bishops conference in Entebbe, Uganda, to denounce the “Kill the Gays Bill.”
While it may take Exodus a while to fix its financial mess, the global wreckage it has left behind will not be so easy to clean up.
The scandalized organization, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), is hatching a new scheme. Its slick con artist, Arthur Abba Goldberg, and his shady sidekick, Elaine Silodor Berk, are sending lesbians to an exciting, new workshop — for a hefty fee of $795 — in hopes of making them lipstick ex-lesbians. (I’d love to know if they are getting kickbacks)
This workshop is one that will change your life and free up the core feminine inside of you to be all that you are meant to be….Celebration of Woman is Raw, it is Real and it will Rock your Soul.
The problem is, the ladies at the Celebration of Woman Workshop in San Rafael, CA appear to have no idea that they are in the business of converting lesbians. I called the organization to ask a few questions. An irascible woman became audibly upset and roared, “we don’t have any lesbians in our workshops.”
Won’t she be surprised when a legion of lesbians from JONAH coming through the door to find their inner-feminine self? I’d love to be there for that Kodak moment!
Either Celebration of Being US is lying and is working hand-in-hand with this “ex-gay” hate group, or JONAH is secretly attaching itself to an organization that is not familiar with its outrageous and offensive efforts to “cure” LGBT people.
Please contact Celebration of Being US and tell them that they should immediately get out of bed with JONAH.
Anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera billed his three-day “Truth Academy”, that took place in a Chicago exurb last week, as “one of the most thorough pro-family, educational seminars on homosexuality ever held in the United States.” The event was heavily promoted for weeks on right wing websites, such as World Net Daily, which had an article headlined, “Exposed: Gay Brainwashing of America’s Youth.”
On the eve of his hate seminar, LaBarbera got a gift from God. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8, which prohibited marriage equality in California, was unconstitutional. Surely, a spontaneous outpouring of rage against this so-called “gay activist judge” would swell the ranks of angry conservatives at the Truth Academy.
My organization, Truth Wins Out, sent a “spy” to document what we expected – based on the hype — to be a large event. The thrust of the conference was to teach an army of young culture warriors how to beat back the gay agenda. These students would then return home equipped to turn back the clock on gay rights in their communities.
What we found, however, was an event that looked more like a poorly attended condo board meeting than a youthful resurgence of the anti-gay movement. The crowd vacillated between 20-30 people, who were considerably older than the “students” the conference claimed it was trying to reach. I’m not sure how LaBarbera plans to win his culture war, when he can’t even fill one buffoon platoon
“Since how we are born clearly does not justify all behaviors. For example, what if someone is born a gay basher? Instead of diverting our attention and focusing energy how homosexuals are made and born, wouldn’t it be more effective for us to instead concentrate on explaining why homosexual activity is wrong and explaining how homosexuals may be born is ultimately irrelevant?” LaBarbera asked during a panel discussion.
A few years ago, I dubbed LaBarbera “Porno Pete” because of his bizarre fascination with naughty gay magazines and his penchant to go “undercover” at leather events and photograph naked men. It seems the sodomy obsessed LaBarbera’s strategy is for anti-gay activists to talk explicitly about gay sex and why it is an unbecoming, immoral “behavior” that undermines society.
To bolster his argument, Porno Pete hosted a slew of professional gay bashers who would say just about anything to make LGBT people appear depraved. One Truth Academy lecturer was Greg Quinlan, the President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX). This organization is particularly dangerous because it teams up with conservative legal organizations to threaten schools with lawsuits if they do not provide students with “ex-gay” propaganda.
“I was questioning the homosexual lifestyle. It looked like a dead end to me,” explained Quinlan. “It looked like something that was so ugly. Here we are, you go to the bar, you hook up, this back and forth stuff, it just seems so shallow. So lust filled, so immature. But I was there and too prideful to do anything about it. So I stayed there for a little while.”
Quinlan explained how he went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church who accepted him because he allegedly was not effeminate.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” the effete Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them,”
In the same vein as Quinlan, convicted felon and co-founder of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), Arthur Abba Goldberg, offered a few stereotypes of his own.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Of course, an anti-gay seminar would not be complete without the old canards tying LGBT people to communists and child molesters.
“It’s consensual (sex with minors) if you don’t believe in the age of consent, which they don’t,” said Accuracy in the Media’s Cliff Kincaid. “This is the mentality of the Marxists who are a significant component and work with elements of the gay rights movement.”
Even as these anti-gay activists were harkening back to smears of the past, key conservatives were stepping into the future. Decidedly non-Marxist, Ted Olson, was defending marriage equality on national TV and the gay conservative organization GOProud announced that commentator Ann Coulter would keynote the group’s annual event.
This broad societal shift towards acceptance is the hard truth that those at the “Truth Academy” aren’t willing to acknowledge and certainly don’t seem prepared to handle.
Convicted felon Arthur Abba Goldberg spoke at Peter LaBarbera’s poorly attended Truth Academy on Thursday. His speech is exactly what one would expect from an individual of low moral character and a penchant for extreme dishonest behavior.
He began his talk answering whether “gays can change”, in which he flippantly replied “the simple answer is yes”, to the delight of the small crowd of under 30 people. Then he rhetorically asked, “is gay parenting good for kids?” Abba Goldberg bluntly replied “no”.
In one of the more outrageous parts of his speech, Abba Goldberg made the bizarre claim that allowing consensual sex for LGBT people will lead to a “slippery slope” that will descend into bestiality.
“What do you do when you want to french kiss a dog?” asks Abba Goldberg. “Bark once if ‘yes’, and bark twice if ‘no’? Hello…where do we get this idea of consent from?”
The fact that Abba Goldberg even had these wacky ideas as part of his presentation shows that he has more issues than a New York magazine stand. What kind of psychologically healthy person even dreams up these scenarios? Perhaps, this speech explains why Abba Goldberg sees nothing perverse about referring clients to therapists who get clients naked and have them touch their genitals in front of a mirror.
Predictably, the con artist reverts to conspiracy theories and paranoia, falsely claiming that people of faith are victims of all-powerful gay activists who make the faithful afraid to speak out.
“The problem is that most people, particularly people of faith, fear being open,” said Abba Goldberg. “A fear of speaking to a matter of true diversity, of free speech. We really actually have viewpoint discrimination and outright manipulation.”
It always amazes me how these dolts claim they are oppressed and lack free speech – even as the are engaged in the act of free speech. They speak to their brainwashed followers, the media, and anyone who will listen. Yet, they seem to think they are somehow muzzled, simply because most Americans reject what they are shoveling.
Abba Goldberg goes on to distort the debunked Masters & Johnson study on homosexuality, where Virgina Johnson admits the results were fabricated. This was widely reported in the news last year, yet Abba Goldberg still used this study to support his ideology. This either proves that he is incompetent and does not know his material, or he suffers from a character defect, where truth is considered an inconvenience.
Abba Goldberg also dishonestly makes it seem as if “ex-gay” therapy is controversial in mainstream psychiatry and psychology. It is not, and there is a broad consensus that there is no evidence that such therapy works.
Just as he missed the Masters & Johnson study, it appears he was unaware of what the major mental health organizations say and last year’s landmark American Psychological Association report condemning reparative therapy.
In an act of unprecedented chutzpa, the convicted felon claims that there is “no documented evidence (of harm) for those who have gone through the entire process (of ex-gay therapy) of healing.” He cruelly blames any harm caused in “ex-gay” therapy on those who drop out in the middle of the process.
This is circular logic and a clever sleight of hand on the part of Abba Goldberg. Virtually all people who go through “ex-gay” therapy drop out in the middle, precisely because there is no end. Thus, according to his own reasoning, the vast majority – if not all- people who go through his program at JONAH can come out damaged. Sure, the people who finish aren’t damaged, but Abba Goldberg neglects to tell clients there is no finish line and has neglected to put forth people who have actually finished. His lone example — after a decade of alleged success — is a young man who is fairly new to “ex-gay” therapy.
Are we supposed to be impressed by this shoddy, almost non-existent record?
Furthermore, it is unconscionable that Abba Goldberg says there is no evidence of harm. What about the two young men who came forward two weeks ago to say they were victims of inappropriate sexual behavior by Abba Goldberg’s therapist, Alan Downing? We know that Abba Goldberg saw the video – so it is fair to say he is misleading the crowd and suppressing key evidence.
Without science on his side, Abba Goldberg devolves into crass stereotypes. In one of his typical bromides, the convicted felon claimed, “there is a tremendous amount of violence, particualrly in the lesbian community. It’s huge within that community.”
Abba Goldberg’s speech gets comical when he describes how young men become gay — although he noticeably has been unable to “cure” his own gay son.
The con man admits that there may be a biological component to homosexuality — but he says this element is merely “sensitivity”, which often causes men to reject their fathers and eventually end up gay.
Yeah, you can stop laughing. Basically, this bizarre explanation is made up out of thin air and constantly repeated by “ex-gay” organizations, despite lack of evidence or peer review studies.
Even screwier is Abba Goldberg’s claim that gay men lift weights to make up for a masculinity deficit.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Actually, I’ve been going to the gym since I was 12, when I played on my school’s football and basketball teams. It is galling to see this little smurf of a man giving advice on masculinity. I take one look at this dweeb and don’t think he would make the cut on any of the teams that I have played on over the years. He really ought to change his pathetic, unscientific macho man act before he embarrasses himself further.
(I wonder what his thoughts are on the governor of California?)
What would an anti-gay speech be without the lie that people are gay because of sexual abuse?
“Sexual abuse is clearly a major issue,” said Abba Goldberg. “Because what happens is that a kid gets sexually abused, sometimes it really feels pretty good, you know, it’s like an erotic high. He may also have detachment at this point from his father. And, so, (he thinks), this is what masculine love is all about.”
Once a con artist, always a con artist. Although Abba Goldberg portrays himself as an “expert” on homosexuality — he knows very little on the issue. His presentation relied on twisting science, lying about debunked studies and regurgitating myths and stereotypes.
Tellingly, this sad, discredited figure is the best the anti-gay industry can do.
Last week, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) changed its name in the middle of a scandal to Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing. (Yeah, dumb, awkward name). This sleazy maneuver was denied by the group’s co-founder, convicted felon, Arthur Abba Goldberg, who said the name change occurred months ago.
Clearly, Abba Goldberg forgot to relay his seedy spin to Porno Pete LaBarbera at this week’s Truth Academy hate conference on the outskirts of Chicago. If you look at the list of speakers on the event’s curriculum, it says the name of Abba Goldberg’s group is Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality.
Far from repudiating senior counselor Alan Downing after Truth Wins Out exposed his sexual misconduct with two young adult male clients, JONAH’s web site continues to affirm inappropriate physical contact and sexuality between ex-gay client and same-sex ex-gay counselor.
According to JONAH’s website, “Many who struggle with SSA experience touch deprivation, an issue often overlooked in therapy.” That’s why point number 10 of their FAQ endorses the practice that other ex-gay organizations have long shunned. At the Exodus and NARTH websites, damning references will disappear within hours of exposure on a gay-supportive blog. In the case of disgraced “sexual reorientation life coach” Richard Cohen, statements may even appear opposing the use of “touch therapy.” But JONAH is obviously not on the ball, and they clearly lack the self-awareness to recoup their image, even superficially.
JONAH can’t even prove “change is possible” in their own website content.
This is why Truth Wins Out demands that ex-gay scams such as JONAH be shut down. Their repeated acts of abuse and sexual misconduct are deliberate, not accidental. They cannot be reformed, because their very purpose is to sexually exploit and injure gay, lesbian, and transgender clients for profit — all under the disingenuous guise of protected religious belief.
Desperate and hurting after two major scandals, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) sent out a pathetic fundraising letter begging supporters for old clothes. Here is an excerpt:
Do you or anyone you know have surplus goods of any sort? Manufacturers, retailers, or even individuals often have surplus goods they would like to dispose of, be it clothing, toys, crafts, appliances, electronics, furniture, collectibles, books and/or recordings. If these goods are sent to JONAH for which a tax exemption is obtainable, JONAH is able to turn the goods into dollars.
A supporter of JONAH has agreed to sell these donated surplus goods on our behalf. Please share your goods or sources of volume goods with us. We will acknowledge the donation as a tax exempt gift with proper valuation set by you and your tax advisor. Contact us at info@jonahweb.org. or call our office at 201-946-9933 for more information.
Please send JONAH pairs of old shorts and undergarments so its “therapy” clients have something to wear after life coaches try to get them naked.
Poor Arthur Abba Goldberg. He used to swindle millions of dollars from Wall Street before he went to the slammer. Now, he has been reduced to pawning second hand spandex and 8-track tapes to keep his bogus “ex-gay” scam alive.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote the following:
If one ever completely screws up his or her life and wants “redemption”, there are two courses of action. The first is a name change, with the hope that no one notices the sordid past. Don’t laugh, the technique worked for ValuJet. In 1996, the airline crashed into an alligator-infested swamp, changed its name to AirTran – and presto – it was like the disaster never happened.
And, like clock work, the beleaguered and scandalized “ex-gay” activist group, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality, (JONAH) has changed its name to “Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing”
Where did JONAH get the idea of a name change in a time of scandal?
It came from its co-founder, Arthur Abba Goldberg, who is a convicted Wall Street con artist who looted millions of dollars from poor communities. After Goldberg’s parole was up, he dropped the “Abba” from his name, making it nearly impossible to find out about his sordid history on Google. It was at this point he reinvented himself as a great healer of homosexuals and co-founded JONAH. This scheme worked for nearly a decade, until it was uncovered this year by Truth Wins Out and the South Florida Gay News. So, it makes sense that this charlatan would replicate his old trick, which shielded him from controversy for years.
However, Goldberg can change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and it won’t make his tawdry criminal record disappear. Likewise, altering JONAH’s name will not erase the fact that the group’s senior trainer, Alan Downing, stands accused by two former clients of sexual misconduct. The facts won’t so easily be dismissed, nor will people be so easily fooled. And, if they are, Truth Wins Out will be there to remind them.
From what I hear through the grapevine, Goldberg is now claiming that “JONAH is at war.” I’m glad to hear this because he is now operating on my turf. I wish him luck and believe that our truth grenades will prevail over his bullshit bombs.
Goldberg is quite cunning. One has to be to steal millions of dollars — and nearly get away with it. His greatest weakness, however, is that he overestimates his abilities. He fervently believes that he is always the smartest person in the room — like the Enron guys. And we all know what happened to them.
While Goldberg might be a genius in money mismanagement (or is it malfeasance), he needs some work on his lousy PR instincts. For example, only someone delusional or out of touch would use disgraced “life coach” Richard Cohen (See pictures of therapy) as his therapeutic guru. He also made a gargantuan mistake by changing the name of JONAH to Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing.
Why?
The greatest weakness of this organization is the bizarre, sexually inappropriate and unproven methods of “healing” it promotes. As of today, they have made it infinitely easier to focus on the types of therapy provided to clients — including nude therapy, therapeutic lap dances and pretending to murder a parent by slamming a tennis racket into a pillow.
Truth Wins Out is excited about debating JONAH on its so-called “healing” methods. The truth is, Goldberg is the smartest person in the room — if the other people are George W. Bush and Carrie Prejean.
Goldberg and JONAH can change like chameleons, but, in the end, they will show their true colors. When they do, Truth Wins Out will be on the scene to shine a bright spotlight so the entire world will see the flawed and corrupt character of Goldberg and his minions at JONAH.
Burdened by two scandals, the ex-gay activist group Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality has changed its name.
The change occurred recently without fanfare on the organization’s web site. The new name: “Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing”
Despite the name change, JONAH’s mission remains largely the same:
Deny the existence of sexual orientation, a predominant state of sexual attraction to a particular gender
Promote the myth that homosexual attraction is caused not by biology or brain chemistry, but by a Freudian deficiency of “masculinity” in men that is caused by bad parenting or abuse
Receive substantial aid from conservative Christian evangelical organizations which teach that faith in Jesus Christ offers the only path out of homosexuality
And its credentials and practices are as scandalous as ever.
Far from “healing” its clients of any sexual confusion or self-doubt, JONAH has a reputation for supplying its clients with Christian evangelical books and subjecting them to unethical abuses that would never be tolerated among true mental-health professionals. And its counselors’ abuses aren’t “new alternatives,” they are century-old snake-oil remedies.
JONAH’s leader, Arthur Abba Goldberg, is a convicted Wall Street con artist who looted millions of dollars from poor communities. Goldberg has no professional credentials in the mental-health sciences
JONAH’s senior trainer, Alan Downing, likewise has no professional credentials and stands accused by two former clients of sexual misconduct
JONAH and its counselors refuse to keep accurate and comprehensive records about their clients, lest such records fall into the hands of objective scientists and be used to measure actual rates of success or failure
Anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera billed his three-day “Truth Academy”, that took place in a Chicago exurb last week, as “one of the most thorough pro-family, educational seminars on homosexuality ever held in the United States.” The event was heavily promoted for weeks on right wing websites, such as World Net Daily, which had an article headlined, “Exposed: Gay Brainwashing of America’s Youth.”
It came from its co-founder, 
Goldberg is quite cunning. One has to be to steal millions of dollars — and nearly get away with it. His greatest weakness, however, is that he overestimates his abilities. He fervently believes that he is always the smartest person in the room — like the Enron guys. And we all know what happened to them.
The greatest weakness of this organization is the bizarre, sexually inappropriate and unproven methods of “healing” it promotes. As of today, they have made it infinitely easier to focus on the types of therapy provided to clients — including nude therapy, therapeutic lap dances and pretending to murder a parent by slamming a tennis racket into a pillow.
