Peterson Toscano's A Musing

Daniel's Story

Daniel Gonzales, who once received gay reparative therapy from NARTH's own Joseph Nicolosi, shares his story How Straight Boys Made Me Stop Trying to Be Ex-Gay. Here's a teaser, but read the rest for yourself. Good stuff.

Originally two things drew me into therapy with Nicolosi. 1) My religious faith at the time wasn't compatible with my sexuality and 2) I viewed homosexuality as contrary to having a normal productive happy life. Had I simply had the religious problem I would have sought out some faith-based Exodus affiliate, which even at the time I had no interest in. When I was a freshman in college the year I started therapy I was realizing I was gay or as Nicolosi puts it, a non-gay-homosexual.

Contrasting the sort of therapy he received with the kind offered by some religious-based "ex-gay" programs, he explains,

Unlike Love In Action's program which forbids participants from keeping a personal diary, central to therapy is being honest and introspective, examining your own emotions and learning from them. There's really no point in paying to talk to a therapist is you're not going to be honest with them and yourself. In the end being honest to myself about my own emotions is what got me out of being an ex-gay.

posted by Peterson Toscano @ 9:59 PM