John Paulk

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John Paulk (born April 13, 1963) is an American activist who, from 1998 to 2003, was an advocate of the ex-gay movement and conversion therapy. [1] In April 2013, Paulk disavowed his belief in gay reparative therapy and issued a formal apology for his role as an advocate of the movement.

Contents

He founded and led the ministry Love Won Out, which was launched by the organization Focus on the Family. From 1998 to 2003, he was chairman of the board of Exodus International North America. His autobiography, Not Afraid to Change (1998), discussed his sexuality and attempts to change his same-sex desires. Later in 1998, after it was revealed that Paulk had attended a gay bar, both organizations punished him, but he remained with Focus on the Family until 2003. He resigned as Exodus board chairman but continued his elected position until his term was completed. In 2005, Paulk opened a catering business in Portland, Oregon.

By 2013, his wife Anne Paulk had divorced him and he no longer supported the ex-gay movement and efforts to attempt to change individuals' sexual orientation [2] [3]

Paulk was featured in the 2021 documentary film Pray Away .

Biography

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Paulk attended Fort Hayes High School for the Performing Arts and The Ohio State University, where he majored in music/voice. During the late 1980s, Paulk managed Cocolat, a San Francisco patisserie owned by Alice Medrich. [4]

Paulk claimed that he overcame his homosexuality following his conversion to Christianity, through a combination of counseling, groups, prayer, and his relationship with God. He identified himself as a heterosexual. Paulk's wife, Anne, also identified as ex-gay. John Paulk co-wrote the books Not Afraid to Change with Tony Marko and Love Won Out with Anne Paulk. [5] [6]

Career

Paulk became involved with Focus on the Family, where he was manager of the organization's Homosexuality and Gender Division. [7] In August 1995, Paulk was elected Chairman of the board of Exodus International North America for a three-year term. He was subsequently re-elected to a second three-year term in 1998. As an employee of Focus on the Family, Paulk toured the United States, speaking of his conversions at Love Won Out conferences. Paulk and his wife became the faces promoting Exodus ministries in major daily newspaper full page ads. The couple appeared on the cover of Newsweek (August 1998), when the publication covered Exodus and the ex-gay movement. That year, Christian right groups including the Family Research Council and the American Family Association spent $600,000 on advertising promoting conversion therapy. [8] [9]

Paulk left "ex-gay" ministry work in 2003 and moved to Portland, Oregon, with his wife and family. The couple started a catering business in 2005, and he appeared regularly in cooking segments on Portland television. [10] [11] In February 2015, Paulk appeared on the Food Network program Cutthroat Kitchen , hosted by Alton Brown. Paulk came in second place.

Washington, D.C. incident

On September 19, 2000 while on a speaking tour, Paulk was seen sitting inside at the Washington, D.C. gay bar Mr. P's. A patron recognized him and contacted Wayne Besen of the Human Rights Campaign, Truth Wins Out, and other gay political action organizations. When Besen arrived at the bar 40 minutes later and confronted Paulk, Paulk denied that he was John Paulk, instead insisting he was "John Clint". Upon exiting the bar, Paulk's picture was taken as evidence that he had been in the bar. When confronted by Besen about the incident and the photographs, Paulk admitted being in the bar, but stated that he didn't know that it was a gay bar, and he had simply stopped in for a moment to use the restroom. However, eyewitnesses reported that Paulk stayed for more than an hour, flirted with other men, and—when questioned about his sexuality—said that he was gay. [12] [13]

Paulk was called back to Focus on the Family headquarters and questioned by James Dobson. At first, Paulk reportedly avoided giving a direct answer about the incident; however, he later confessed that he had been in the bar for the purpose of finding connection with other men. Paulk reduced his activities for six months and then resumed his position as manager of the Homosexuality and Gender Division of Focus on the Family.

An Exodus press release soon followed: [14]

John's actions represent a serious lapse in sound judgment. His decision to enter a gay establishment for any reason opens him up to all kinds of speculation by both other Exodus leaders and also the gay community.

The incident received national headlines in newspapers and news magazines. Paulk remained in his position as manager of the Homosexuality and Gender Department until choosing to leave that position in 2003. [15]

Formal apology

In April 2013, Paulk disavowed his belief in gay reparative therapy, announcing that —while he remains a devout Christian— he also identifies as a gay (not "formerly gay") man and believes that reparative therapy is both futile and harmful. He announced that his marriage was ending and he issued a formal apology for his role as an advocate of the movement. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have been used to this end include forms of brain surgery, surgical or hormonal castration, aversive treatments such as electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, hypnosis, counseling, spiritual interventions, visualization, psychoanalysis, and arousal reconditioning.

The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), which until 2014 was known as the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of people with same-sex attraction. NARTH was founded in 1992 by Joseph Nicolosi, Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides. Its headquarters were in Encino, California, at its Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic. NARTH has not been recognized by any major United States-based professional association.

The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship. Beginning with the founding of Love In Action and Exodus International in the mid-1970s, the movement saw rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s before declining in the 2000s.

Richard A. Cohen is a Christian psychotherapist and author associated with the ex-gay movement. He is a co-founder of Positive Approaches to Healthy Sexuality which offers discredited conversion therapy practices purporting to change a person from homosexual to heterosexual. In 2002, Cohen was expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple violations.

Wayne Besen is an American LGBT rights advocate. He is a former investigative journalist for WABI-TV, a former spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, and the founder of Truth Wins Out. Besen came out to his parents before starting his Truth Wins Out Organization. After coming out to his parents, they bought him an ex-gay DVD that could supposedly hypnotize people and turn them straight. It was that and the invitation by President George W. Bush of ex-gay leader Alan Chambers to the White House that led him to start the Truth Wins Out organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exodus International</span> Defunct Christian conversion therapy organization

Exodus International was a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian umbrella organization connecting organizations that sought to "help people who wished to limit their homosexual desires". Founded in 1976, Exodus International originally asserted that conversion therapy, the reorientation of same-sex attraction, was possible. In 2006, Exodus International had over 250 local ministries in the United States and Canada and over 150 ministries in 17 other countries. Although Exodus was formally an interdenominational Christian entity, it was most closely associated with Protestant and evangelical denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Nicolosi</span> American clinical psychologist (1947–2017)

Joseph Nicolosi was an American clinical psychologist who advocated and practised "reparative therapy", a form of the pseudoscientific treatment of conversion therapy that he claimed could help people overcome or mitigate their homosexual desires and replace them with heterosexual ones. Nicolosi was a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Medical institutions warn that conversion therapy is ineffective and may be harmful, and that there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be changed by such treatments.

Ex-ex-gay people are those who formerly participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly state they had a non-heterosexual sexual orientation.

Alan Manning Chambers is the former president of Exodus International and co-founder of Speak. Love., headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Before coming to Exodus, Chambers served on the pastoral team at Calvary Assembly of God, one of the largest churches in Orlando.

The Archives of Sexual Behavior is a peer-reviewed academic journal in sexology. It is the official publication of the International Academy of Sex Research.

Truth Wins Out (TWO) is an organization formed by Wayne Besen to fight what he considers "anti-gay religious extremism", especially the ex-gay movement.

Watchmen on the Walls is an international evangelical ministry based in Riga, Latvia. It describes itself as "the international Christian movement that unites Christian leaders, Christian and social organizations and aims to protect Christian morals and values in society." According to a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Intelligence report the group's name derives from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, in which the "watchmen" guard the reconstruction of Jerusalem. "The cities they guard over today, say the contemporary Watchmen, are being destroyed by homosexuality."

Love Won Out was an ex-gay ministry launched in 1998 by Focus on the Family, an American conservative Christian organization. It was taken over by Exodus International in 2009 and then shut down at the same time Exodus International was disbanded, in 2013.

Joe Dallas is a prominent figure in the ex-gay movement and an advocate of conversion therapy.

Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality (PATH) is a coalition of groups that purport to help "people with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) realize their personal goals for change—whether by developing their innate heterosexual potential or by embracing a lifestyle as a single, non-sexually active man or woman." The predominantly ex-gay member groups promote the "right to decide whether to seek counseling or therapy" and abstinence. The coalition lists studies on reparative therapy and links to organizations that work with people who have unwanted same-sex attractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homosexuals Anonymous</span> Anti-LGBT Christian fundamentalist group

Homosexuals Anonymous (HA) is an ex-gay group which practices conversion therapy and describes itself as "a fellowship of men and women, who through their common emotional experience, have chosen to help each other live in freedom from homosexuality." HA regards homosexual orientation as "sexual brokeness" that may be "healed" through faith in Jesus Christ. In common with other Christian fundamentalist groups, HA regards heterosexuality as "the universal creation-norm". This approach has been criticized for stressing that a person must renounce homosexuality to be a Christian, and because there is no valid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.

"Pray the Gay Away?" is a 2011 episode of the American television series Our America with Lisa Ling. The episode, hosted by Ling, profiles several people as they seek to reconcile their homosexuality with their Christianity. It originally aired on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network on March 8, 2011.

Restored Hope Network is an ex-gay network of interdenominational Christian ministries and individuals. The network holds an annual conference in a different location in the United States each year that offers counseling and conversion therapy, and has speakers that offer advice for families with LGBT relatives and outreach to churches.

Sinclair Rogers II was an American Christian pastor who was part of the ex-gay movement. In the late 1980s, Rogers was a President of Exodus International, and became one of the earliest personalities associated with the ex-gay movement. He wrote a life-story entitled "The Man in the Mirror," which was published in pamphlet form by Last Days Ministries.

The history of conversion therapy can be divided broadly into three periods: an early Freudian period; a period of mainstream approval of conversion therapy, when the mental health establishment became the "primary superintendent" of sexuality; and a post-Stonewall period where the mainstream medical profession disavowed conversion therapy.

References

  1. ↑ "To Straight and Back - POLITICO Magazine". Politico . September 12, 2015. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ John continues his work reaching out to those who were negatively affected by reparative gherapy. John now happily shares his life with his partner, Robert Is John Paulk ready to renounce his ex-gay gospel?, archived from the original on 2013-04-22, retrieved 2013-04-18{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ Kaleem, Jaweed, and Lisa Shapiro (21 June 2013). "Ex-Gay Christian Groups Will Continue After Exodus As Religious LGBT Support Grows". The Huffington Post, June 21, 2013. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Mezzaluna - The Chef, archived from the original on 2008-06-05, retrieved 2007-11-29
  5. ↑ Paulk, John, (Marko, Tony) Not Afraid to Change: The Remarkable Story of How One Man Overcame Homosexuality Winepress Publishing, ISBN   1-57921-097-X
  6. ↑ Paulk, John, (Paulk, Anne) Love Won Out: How God's Love Helped 2 People Leave Homosexuality and Find Each Other Focus on the Family Pub, ISBN   1-56179-783-9
  7. ↑ Archives, The Washington Post, "Ads Renew Ex-gay Debate", by Alan Cooperman, 21 October 2002
  8. ↑ Jonathan Merritt (15 April 2015). "How Christians Turned Against Gay Conversion Therapy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Ex-Gay Pride". Newsweek. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mezzaluna - About Us". Mezzaluna.biz. Archived from the original on 2010-09-12. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  11. ↑ "Mezzaluna - The Chef". Mezzaluna.biz. Archived from the original on 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  12. ↑ Besen, Wayne, Anything But Straight Harrington Park Press, ISBN   1-56023-445-8
  13. ↑ Southern Voice, "Ex-gay Leader Confronted In Gay Bar", by Joel Lawson, 21 September 2000
  14. ↑ Southern Voice, "Chairman Disciplined For Gay Bar Visit"
  15. ↑ "Rejecting Gay Feelings, Some Strive To Change" (Letter to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch), by Alan Chambers (President, Exodus International), June 23, 2006, retrieved from "Exodus International - Commentary from Alan Chambers". Archived from the original on 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2007-12-27. on December 17, 2007
  16. ↑ Brydum, Sunnivie (2013-04-24). "John Paulk Formally Renounces, Apologizes for Harmful 'Ex-Gay' Movement". The Advocate . Archived from the original on 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
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