Talk:Homosexuals Anonymous

Besen (2003)

 * Pages 97–98: HA has only one mention of Cook on its Web site, and this reference is a sanitized version that omits his history of seedy behavior. HA refers to him as "founder," but never as failure. By reading the group's Web page, one would think that Cook was a smashing success and paragon of heterosexuality. By purging these embarrassments while promulgating airbrushed histories, these groups are cheating prospective clients. ... Describing Colin Cook as simply the "founder" of HA is an understatement as absurd as describing O. J. Simpson as no more than a Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Southern California. Ex-gay groups will argue that these defections and scandals simply mean that these men have "fallen off the wagon" like alcoholics reverting back to drinking. But let's face it, these men built the wagon, and they say it has always been a faulty wagon that never worked. If the men who invented these programs now denounce them or show they have failed to heal through them, how are they going to work for those who blindly follow in their footsteps?


 * Page 262: The GLBT community must rise to the challenge and equal the fervor of the ex-gay ministries in terms of outreach. I have been to many ex-gay conferences across America where there was virtually no presence by the GLBT community. At these conferences ex-gay groups were free to disseminate their propaganda with no one present to offer an alternative point of view. Occasionally, groups such as Mel White's Soulforce are on hand to offer a counterbalance, but the GLBT presence at Exodus, NARTH, and Homosexuals Anonymous events is spotty and inconsistent. The GLBT community must marshal the resources and the will to take on these groups on their home turf. ... I believe that GLBT religious organizations must go on a crusade to make sure every person involved in an ex-gay ministry is aware of an alternative point of view.


 * Page 265: Another, extremely controversial way the GLBT community can precipitate the end of the ex-gay experiment is to dispatch undercover teams to catch ex-gay leaders engaging in not so ex-gay behavior. Imagine a team of young, attractive men and women outfitted with hidden cameras and tape recorders. Many of these contraptions are small enough to fit in a pen or notepad. These operatives could be dispatched to every ex-gay ministry in the nation to see whether the leaders try to seduce them. Simultaneously, a deal can be cut with a network or cable television show to air the juiciest parts of the videos. Although this is a radical plan, I estimate it would put one-quarter to one-half of the ex-gay ministries out of business within a year. Sure, this is hardball, but if enough big leaders fell, this covert operation might have an outside shot at toppling the ex-gay ministries. And even if the results were disappointing and only ten ministries were exposed on television, it would still have a devestating impact. I am a staunch proponent of covert operations to undermine Exodus or Homosexuals Anonymous, but many GLBT leaders are adamantly against this, citing misplaced privacy concerns.

Haldeman (1994)

 * Page 224: Blair (1982) ... further characterizes many religious conversionists as individuals deeply troubled about their own sexual orientation, or whose own sexual conversion is incomplete. Blair reports a host of problems with such counselors, including the sexual abuse of clients. The most notable of such ministers is Colin Cook. Cook's counseling program, Quest, led to the development of Homosexuals Anonymous, the largest antigay fundamentalist counseling organization in the world. The work of Cook, his ultimate demise, and the subsequent cover-up by the Seventh Day Adventist Church are described by sociologist Ronald Lawson (1987).

Haldeman (2003)

 * Pages 688–689: Gay men who are most likely to be inclined towards doctrinaire religious practice are also likely to have low self-concepts, to see homosexuality as more sinful, to feel a greater sense of apprehension about negative responses from others, and to be more depressed in general (Weinberg and Williams 1974). Such individuals are vulnerable targets for the "ex-gay" ministries, as they are known. Fundamentalist Christian groups, such as Homosexuals Anonymous, Metanoia Ministries, Love in Action, Exodus International, and EXIT of Melodyland are the most visible purveyors of conversion therapy. The workings of these groups are well documented by Blair (1982), who states that, although many of these practitioners publicly promise change, they privately acknowledge that celibacy is the realistic goals to which gay men and lesbians must aspire.


 * Page 689: From this ministry sprang Homosexuals Anonymous, a 14-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, which has become the largest fundamentalist organization in the world with a unitary antigay focus. Lawson, in attempting to research the efficacy of Cook's program, was denied access to counselees on the basis of confidentiality. Nonetheless, he managed to interview fourteen clients, none of whom reported any change in sexual orientation. All but two reported that Cook had had sex with them during treatment.

Jones and Yarhouse (2000)

 * Pages 135–136: Homosexuals Anonymous (HA) represents approximately fifty chapters throughout North America. HA follows the general format of Alcoholics Anonymous but is more overtly Christian. They have fourteen steps that roughly parallel AA with some specific adaptations for homosexuality and specific to Christian faith. ... there are no published outcome studies at this time to confirm the effectiveness of HA, although there are a number of testimonials of change. (This is also consistent with AA, where there has historically been great difficulty establishing the effectiveness of support groups due to high dropout rates and fluid membership.)

Kell and Camp (1999)

 * Page 99: To effect this change [in sexual orientation], an organization called "Homosexuals Anonymous" has developed a "fourteen-step" method. The alleged generosity of this approach may seem similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous method, yet closer study suggests otherwise. Both groups emphasise avoidance behaviors. However, while AA groups accept the person along with their problems, Homosexuals Anonymous stresses that the person is guilty of the sin of homosexuality, must admit it, renounce it, and then accept heterosxuality as a necessary condition to becoming a Christian.

Gays
I am gay 2600:8803:950D:8100:E165:3B98:A857:B6C1 (talk) 20:59, 9 October 2022 (UTC)