Fred Phelps and the Westborough Baptist Church don’t really care what others think of them. In any media appearance (such as the BBC documentary and an interview with Sean Hannity) they show themselves and their views as the bile it really is. Their committed hatred towards homosexuals (and anyone sympathetic or linked to them) doesn’t earn any returns for them except hatred from their targets, and they are perfectly content with that. Winning people over isn’t their objective of their harsh public campaigns. They are overjoyed that “fags” are going to hell and they’re not interested in stopping it.
Among mainstream fundamentalists, there are those who wish to save the souls of the GLBT community. Unlike the Phelps, they try to show compassion and that God loves gays and lesbians as he does everyone else. The catch? They can get “saved,” but according to these self professed counselors and success stories, same-sex attraction is a psychological condition that must be addressed (ignoring that the APA removed homosexuality from the list in 1973). The ex-gay movement, while it is often religiously based such as Exodus, has attempted in the past decade or so to legitimize itself in a secular context through the “scientific” NARTH and by sending their emissaries to the talk show circuit.
One such emissary is Richard Cohen, NARTH’s leading bitch boy up to a certain point. I remember catching the interview on Jimmy Kimmel where George Foreman was extremely uncomfortable to sit on the same couch with Cohen, who tried to get a little too touchy feely with the gourmet boxer. Since he is on a mission to promote his skewed message, he’s such a good media whore, he’ll make a TV appearance anywhere. However, he should have thought about whose shows he should appear on, as his appearance on the Daily Show should be lesson enough for any other hack:
note: The Comedy Channel’s video for the mentioned segment of the Daily Show expired. Here is the Jimmy Kimmel segment where he embarasses himself.
Lesson: If you’re a nutjob, prepare to be skewered. This is Jon Stewart’s show, after all.
I don’t think Cohen really needed Stewart’s help at all. He does it all himself.
In this segment, the ex-gay take on homosexuality is spoofed in this segment. Wayne Besen is presented as the hopeless gay man who’s been eluded by a cure, and guess who has it? Could this Woody Allen-ish dweeb of man hold the answers?
note: The Comedy Channel’s video for the mentioned segment of the Daily Show expired. Here is the CNN segment where he demonstrates the cuddle therapy. I don’t think he demonstrates the childish hand gestures here..
What a piece of work Cohen is. This man isn’t a licensed therapist or psychiatrist, yet he calls himself a counselor. In a Three’s Company episode, Jack dates a therapist, and Janet overreacts when she reads the business card and screams “The Rapist.” Perhaps Janet’s malapropism is an appropriate description for a man who is duping others into thinking their gayness can be cured. His childish hand gestures for why heterosexuality is according to natural law are absurd. The first one could easily apply to anal or oral sex, while the second one looks like a lot of fun as well. Apparently, he’s never heard of frottage. Or has he?
It seems he has found a way to practice it fully clothed (sans genital contact). Cuddling other men as therapy on the couch is the only way he’s going to get his jollies for a long time. When he demonstrates his holding technique with Jason Jones, he ignores Jones’ safe word request or he just doesn’t get the reference at all.
It’s hilarious that Cohen thinks demonstrating masculinity is belching and shaking out his crotch. There is nothing manly about belching – it’s a simple biological function. Releasing gas is all it is. Since he engages in infantile acts such as screaming and punching pillows, he may burp himself because there is no one to do it for him. As far as shaking his schlong, I have to wonder where he learned this from. When it comes to dealing with pent up anger and aggression, wouldn’t a punching bag be more practical? Sparring may also help, but it’s much more fun to watch hot guys beat the crap out of each other.
Ted Haggard’s intensive three week therapy session is an anomaly in the ex-gay world. His therapists were definitely part of some PR campaign to clear Haggard of being gay (advice to Haggard: fire your publicist). Cohen, like most of ex-gay professionals, has a vested interest in the snake oil he sells. He sells a cure, but it will take an indefinite number of counseling sessions to get there. Cohen and his ilk are despicable for exploiting the insecurities of their clients and promising them something harder to find than the Holy Grail.
The best part of the segment is that all this therapy only leads to Wayne making out with another guy, and perhaps Jones needs to guard himself against this display.
Wayne Besen has some very interesting entries on his blog regarding Cohen:
Besen also has a number of entries on the ex-gay ministries in general.
Tags: comedy, gay rights
So … the cure for homosexuality is giving this guy all of your money and spooning with him? I *so* wish I had thought of that first.
There are so many cottage industries that have sprung up around promising people a quick fix for things they don’t like about themselves rather than helping them accept who they really are — and this isn’t limited to being gay – how many people have many zillions out of convincing people that they, too, can be thin and look exactly like Jennifer Anniston?
Dehydration and diarrhea are still responsible for over 50% of child deaths in the developing world, and yet there’s a whole wing of … and I use the term in its loosest possible meaning … ‘science’ devoted to helping boys who like boys convince themselves that they like girls.
Someone has messed up priorities here, and I’m kind of hoping it’s not me…
Mr. Cohen’s not the only person in this industry to inappropriately touch his clients. Colin Cook, a founder of Homosexuals Anonymous, gave full body hugs to his clients and even had sexual affairs with them. Hook-ups between members of ex-gay groups are not unusual (though there’s the added stress and sturm and drang of sin and repentance when it happens).
Here an interesting summary of what kind of checkered past the ex-gay industry has.