Subscribe to the CT4F Newsletter to stay informed!
Here's Why So Many Founders of the Conversion Therapy Movement Eventually Apologized
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
Since the 1970s, several of the men who built America's largest conversion therapy ministries have publicly apologized and admitted the practice never worked. McKrae Game, who led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades, came out as gay in 2019 and called what he taught false advertising. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, the ministry's final president, reached a similar conclusion before Exodus closed in 2013. Not every founder changed course. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. For Christian parents, the pattern matters more than any single case. The people with the closest view of these programs kept concluding they could not deliver what they promised.
Quick Takeaways
McKrae Game led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice "false advertising."
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both concluded the ministry could not deliver on its promise before Exodus closed in 2013.
Not every founder walked away. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until his death in 2017.
Independent research reviews back what these insiders eventually said. No credible evidence shows these practices reliably change who a person is attracted to.
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
The Founder Who Called His Own Ministry "False Advertising"
McKrae Game founded Hope for Wholeness in 1999, and for two decades it was one of the most active conversion therapy ministries in South Carolina, promising to help people leave same-sex attraction behind through prayer and counseling. In 2019, Game came out as gay and told reporters plainly that the practice he had spent his career selling was "not just a lie, but it's very harmful, because it's false advertising." He said he was "a religious zealot that hurt people" and pointed to participants who had attempted suicide after going through his own program. Game did not leave quietly from the outside looking in. He built the conversion therapy ministry, ran it, and then told families the truth about what it actually did.
A Pattern That Started Before Him
Game's apology followed a pattern set years earlier. Michael Bussee helped co-found Exodus International in 1976, then spent decades afterward saying he never met a single person whose attractions genuinely changed. Alan Chambers, Exodus's final president, apologized publicly and closed the 37-year-old ministry in 2013. You can read more of that history of conversion therapy and how these ministries multiplied for decades before their own leaders walked away. No credible research has ever backed the results these ministries promised families.
Not Everyone Walked Away
It would be inaccurate to say every founder eventually apologized, and CT4F won't claim otherwise. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992 to give these practices a clinical veneer, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. That matters for parents weighing a provider's confidence against the evidence. A founder's certainty was never proof the practice worked. It is one of the reasons major medical associations continue to oppose these practices regardless of who is still defending them.
What This Pattern Means for Your Family
A founder's title or years of experience never made him the authority on your child. That role belongs to your family. When people who built and led these programs for decades keep reaching the same conclusion, independently of each other and often years apart, that is not a coincidence worth ignoring. The documented risks and harms include guilt, shame, and depression, and research has also examined whether these practices raise suicide risk among young people who go through them. A provider who is certain today does not change that record. Genuine faith-based support holds a family together instead of asking a parent to bet a child's wellbeing on a founder's word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did every founder of conversion therapy apologize? No. Several prominent leaders, including McKrae Game, Michael Bussee, and Alan Chambers, publicly apologized and disavowed the practice. Others, like NARTH co-founder Joseph Nicolosi, defended it until their deaths.
Who is McKrae Game? Game founded and led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice he taught "false advertising."
Is conversion therapy a sin? CT4F does not take a doctrinal position on that question, and sincere Christians land in different places. What these apologies add is a separate, practical concern: a program can be theologically motivated and still fail to deliver the outcome it promises a family.
What are Christian alternatives to conversion therapy? Many churches now point families toward pastoral counseling that does not promise to change a child, licensed therapists who avoid change efforts, and support groups where parents process fear and faith together instead of chasing a result former ministry founders themselves could not produce.
Do people regret conversion therapy? Many do, including some of the people who ran these ministries. Conversion therapy stories from former leaders and former participants alike describe regret, and several of the founders who once promoted these practices now warn other families against them.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders Who Walked Away
Founder of conversion therapy program says he's gay and disavows the movement -- The Washington Post -- McKrae Game's 2019 public apology and account of the harm his ministry caused.
Former Gay Conversion Therapy Leader Comes Out, Apologizes to LGBTQ Community -- TIME -- Background on Hope for Wholeness and Game's decades leading the ministry.
Conversion therapy leader for 2 decades, McKrae Game disavows movement he helped fuel -- The Post and Courier -- Local reporting on Game's ministry and departure.
Group that claimed to "cure" gays disbands, leader apologizes -- NPR -- Alan Chambers's apology and the closure of Exodus International in 2013.
The Founder Who Didn't
Joseph Nicolosi, Father of "Ex-Gay Therapy," Dies From Flu Complications -- Southern Poverty Law Center -- Nicolosi's history co-founding NARTH and his defense of reparative therapy until his death.
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
American Psychological Association overview of the evidence against conversion therapy -- Research reviews finding no credible evidence these practices change who a person is attracted to.
CT4F Resources for Families
Conversion Therapy Explained -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What these practices are and the names they have gone by.
History of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- How the ministries behind these practices formed and grew for decades.
Conversion Therapy: Mental Health Research -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What independent researchers, not ministry founders, have found.
Risks and Harms of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- A closer look at the documented harms families should know about.
Does Conversion Therapy Increase Suicide Risk -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What the research shows about suicide risk among young people who go through these practices.
Why Do Major Medical Associations Oppose Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- Why the mainstream medical and psychological establishment rejects these practices.
Recent posts
Here's Why So Many Founders of the Conversion Therapy Movement Eventually Apologized
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
Since the 1970s, several of the men who built America's largest conversion therapy ministries have publicly apologized and admitted the practice never worked. McKrae Game, who led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades, came out as gay in 2019 and called what he taught false advertising. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, the ministry's final president, reached a similar conclusion before Exodus closed in 2013. Not every founder changed course. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. For Christian parents, the pattern matters more than any single case. The people with the closest view of these programs kept concluding they could not deliver what they promised.
Quick Takeaways
McKrae Game led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice "false advertising."
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both concluded the ministry could not deliver on its promise before Exodus closed in 2013.
Not every founder walked away. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until his death in 2017.
Independent research reviews back what these insiders eventually said. No credible evidence shows these practices reliably change who a person is attracted to.
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
The Founder Who Called His Own Ministry "False Advertising"
McKrae Game founded Hope for Wholeness in 1999, and for two decades it was one of the most active conversion therapy ministries in South Carolina, promising to help people leave same-sex attraction behind through prayer and counseling. In 2019, Game came out as gay and told reporters plainly that the practice he had spent his career selling was "not just a lie, but it's very harmful, because it's false advertising." He said he was "a religious zealot that hurt people" and pointed to participants who had attempted suicide after going through his own program. Game did not leave quietly from the outside looking in. He built the conversion therapy ministry, ran it, and then told families the truth about what it actually did.
A Pattern That Started Before Him
Game's apology followed a pattern set years earlier. Michael Bussee helped co-found Exodus International in 1976, then spent decades afterward saying he never met a single person whose attractions genuinely changed. Alan Chambers, Exodus's final president, apologized publicly and closed the 37-year-old ministry in 2013. You can read more of that history of conversion therapy and how these ministries multiplied for decades before their own leaders walked away. No credible research has ever backed the results these ministries promised families.
Not Everyone Walked Away
It would be inaccurate to say every founder eventually apologized, and CT4F won't claim otherwise. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992 to give these practices a clinical veneer, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. That matters for parents weighing a provider's confidence against the evidence. A founder's certainty was never proof the practice worked. It is one of the reasons major medical associations continue to oppose these practices regardless of who is still defending them.
What This Pattern Means for Your Family
A founder's title or years of experience never made him the authority on your child. That role belongs to your family. When people who built and led these programs for decades keep reaching the same conclusion, independently of each other and often years apart, that is not a coincidence worth ignoring. The documented risks and harms include guilt, shame, and depression, and research has also examined whether these practices raise suicide risk among young people who go through them. A provider who is certain today does not change that record. Genuine faith-based support holds a family together instead of asking a parent to bet a child's wellbeing on a founder's word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did every founder of conversion therapy apologize? No. Several prominent leaders, including McKrae Game, Michael Bussee, and Alan Chambers, publicly apologized and disavowed the practice. Others, like NARTH co-founder Joseph Nicolosi, defended it until their deaths.
Who is McKrae Game? Game founded and led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice he taught "false advertising."
Is conversion therapy a sin? CT4F does not take a doctrinal position on that question, and sincere Christians land in different places. What these apologies add is a separate, practical concern: a program can be theologically motivated and still fail to deliver the outcome it promises a family.
What are Christian alternatives to conversion therapy? Many churches now point families toward pastoral counseling that does not promise to change a child, licensed therapists who avoid change efforts, and support groups where parents process fear and faith together instead of chasing a result former ministry founders themselves could not produce.
Do people regret conversion therapy? Many do, including some of the people who ran these ministries. Conversion therapy stories from former leaders and former participants alike describe regret, and several of the founders who once promoted these practices now warn other families against them.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders Who Walked Away
Founder of conversion therapy program says he's gay and disavows the movement -- The Washington Post -- McKrae Game's 2019 public apology and account of the harm his ministry caused.
Former Gay Conversion Therapy Leader Comes Out, Apologizes to LGBTQ Community -- TIME -- Background on Hope for Wholeness and Game's decades leading the ministry.
Conversion therapy leader for 2 decades, McKrae Game disavows movement he helped fuel -- The Post and Courier -- Local reporting on Game's ministry and departure.
Group that claimed to "cure" gays disbands, leader apologizes -- NPR -- Alan Chambers's apology and the closure of Exodus International in 2013.
The Founder Who Didn't
Joseph Nicolosi, Father of "Ex-Gay Therapy," Dies From Flu Complications -- Southern Poverty Law Center -- Nicolosi's history co-founding NARTH and his defense of reparative therapy until his death.
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
American Psychological Association overview of the evidence against conversion therapy -- Research reviews finding no credible evidence these practices change who a person is attracted to.
CT4F Resources for Families
Conversion Therapy Explained -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What these practices are and the names they have gone by.
History of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- How the ministries behind these practices formed and grew for decades.
Conversion Therapy: Mental Health Research -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What independent researchers, not ministry founders, have found.
Risks and Harms of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- A closer look at the documented harms families should know about.
Does Conversion Therapy Increase Suicide Risk -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What the research shows about suicide risk among young people who go through these practices.
Why Do Major Medical Associations Oppose Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- Why the mainstream medical and psychological establishment rejects these practices.
Recent posts
Here's Why So Many Founders of the Conversion Therapy Movement Eventually Apologized
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
Since the 1970s, several of the men who built America's largest conversion therapy ministries have publicly apologized and admitted the practice never worked. McKrae Game, who led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades, came out as gay in 2019 and called what he taught false advertising. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, the ministry's final president, reached a similar conclusion before Exodus closed in 2013. Not every founder changed course. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. For Christian parents, the pattern matters more than any single case. The people with the closest view of these programs kept concluding they could not deliver what they promised.
Quick Takeaways
McKrae Game led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice "false advertising."
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both concluded the ministry could not deliver on its promise before Exodus closed in 2013.
Not every founder walked away. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992, defended reparative therapy until his death in 2017.
Independent research reviews back what these insiders eventually said. No credible evidence shows these practices reliably change who a person is attracted to.
When people who built and ran a practice for decades say it never worked, that is a signal worth weighing alongside your faith, not instead of it.
The Founder Who Called His Own Ministry "False Advertising"
McKrae Game founded Hope for Wholeness in 1999, and for two decades it was one of the most active conversion therapy ministries in South Carolina, promising to help people leave same-sex attraction behind through prayer and counseling. In 2019, Game came out as gay and told reporters plainly that the practice he had spent his career selling was "not just a lie, but it's very harmful, because it's false advertising." He said he was "a religious zealot that hurt people" and pointed to participants who had attempted suicide after going through his own program. Game did not leave quietly from the outside looking in. He built the conversion therapy ministry, ran it, and then told families the truth about what it actually did.
A Pattern That Started Before Him
Game's apology followed a pattern set years earlier. Michael Bussee helped co-found Exodus International in 1976, then spent decades afterward saying he never met a single person whose attractions genuinely changed. Alan Chambers, Exodus's final president, apologized publicly and closed the 37-year-old ministry in 2013. You can read more of that history of conversion therapy and how these ministries multiplied for decades before their own leaders walked away. No credible research has ever backed the results these ministries promised families.
Not Everyone Walked Away
It would be inaccurate to say every founder eventually apologized, and CT4F won't claim otherwise. Joseph Nicolosi, who co-founded NARTH in 1992 to give these practices a clinical veneer, defended reparative therapy until he died in 2017. That matters for parents weighing a provider's confidence against the evidence. A founder's certainty was never proof the practice worked. It is one of the reasons major medical associations continue to oppose these practices regardless of who is still defending them.
What This Pattern Means for Your Family
A founder's title or years of experience never made him the authority on your child. That role belongs to your family. When people who built and led these programs for decades keep reaching the same conclusion, independently of each other and often years apart, that is not a coincidence worth ignoring. The documented risks and harms include guilt, shame, and depression, and research has also examined whether these practices raise suicide risk among young people who go through them. A provider who is certain today does not change that record. Genuine faith-based support holds a family together instead of asking a parent to bet a child's wellbeing on a founder's word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did every founder of conversion therapy apologize? No. Several prominent leaders, including McKrae Game, Michael Bussee, and Alan Chambers, publicly apologized and disavowed the practice. Others, like NARTH co-founder Joseph Nicolosi, defended it until their deaths.
Who is McKrae Game? Game founded and led the South Carolina ministry Hope for Wholeness for two decades before coming out as gay in 2019 and calling the practice he taught "false advertising."
Is conversion therapy a sin? CT4F does not take a doctrinal position on that question, and sincere Christians land in different places. What these apologies add is a separate, practical concern: a program can be theologically motivated and still fail to deliver the outcome it promises a family.
What are Christian alternatives to conversion therapy? Many churches now point families toward pastoral counseling that does not promise to change a child, licensed therapists who avoid change efforts, and support groups where parents process fear and faith together instead of chasing a result former ministry founders themselves could not produce.
Do people regret conversion therapy? Many do, including some of the people who ran these ministries. Conversion therapy stories from former leaders and former participants alike describe regret, and several of the founders who once promoted these practices now warn other families against them.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders Who Walked Away
Founder of conversion therapy program says he's gay and disavows the movement -- The Washington Post -- McKrae Game's 2019 public apology and account of the harm his ministry caused.
Former Gay Conversion Therapy Leader Comes Out, Apologizes to LGBTQ Community -- TIME -- Background on Hope for Wholeness and Game's decades leading the ministry.
Conversion therapy leader for 2 decades, McKrae Game disavows movement he helped fuel -- The Post and Courier -- Local reporting on Game's ministry and departure.
Group that claimed to "cure" gays disbands, leader apologizes -- NPR -- Alan Chambers's apology and the closure of Exodus International in 2013.
The Founder Who Didn't
Joseph Nicolosi, Father of "Ex-Gay Therapy," Dies From Flu Complications -- Southern Poverty Law Center -- Nicolosi's history co-founding NARTH and his defense of reparative therapy until his death.
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
American Psychological Association overview of the evidence against conversion therapy -- Research reviews finding no credible evidence these practices change who a person is attracted to.
CT4F Resources for Families
Conversion Therapy Explained -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What these practices are and the names they have gone by.
History of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- How the ministries behind these practices formed and grew for decades.
Conversion Therapy: Mental Health Research -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What independent researchers, not ministry founders, have found.
Risks and Harms of Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- A closer look at the documented harms families should know about.
Does Conversion Therapy Increase Suicide Risk -- Conversion Truth for Families -- What the research shows about suicide risk among young people who go through these practices.
Why Do Major Medical Associations Oppose Conversion Therapy -- Conversion Truth for Families -- Why the mainstream medical and psychological establishment rejects these practices.