Subscribe to the CT4F Newsletter to stay informed!
The People Who Created "Conversion Therapy" Later Renounced It. Here's What That Means for Christian Families Today
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
Quick Takeaways
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, the flagship ministry promising to change same-sex attraction, later said he never met a single person whose attractions changed.
Alan Chambers, Exodus’s last president, issued a public apology and shut the 37-year-old ministry down in 2013, saying “we’ve hurt people.”
John Smid, former director of the Love in Action program, said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual.
Robert Spitzer, the psychiatrist whose 2001 study was used to justify these practices, apologized in 2012 and disowned its conclusions.
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
When a child shares that they are attracted to the same sex or begins seeing themselves differently, most Christian parents feel love and fear at once. At that moment, a program promising to change the child can sound like a rescue. Before trusting that promise, it helps to know what the people who built these programs eventually said about them.
A Movement Built, Then Disowned by Its Own Builders
Conversion therapy was not a fringe idea. For decades, it was organized, funded, and marketed through ministries that told Christian parents their child’s same-sex attraction could be reversed. The largest was Exodus International, founded in 1976. You can read more in our history of conversion therapy explainer.
Michael Bussee, one of the ministry’s founders, left within a few years and spent the rest of his life warning families. He said plainly that in nearly 40 years, he had never met a gay person who became heterosexual through these programs. He was not a critic from the outside. He helped build the thing he later renounced.
“We’ve Hurt People”: The Apology That Closed Exodus
By 2013, Exodus’s own president had reached the same conclusion. Alan Chambers told a national audience that the overwhelming majority of people he had met, by his estimate, about 99.9 percent, never saw their attractions change. He apologized to the families that the ministry had hurt and closed it down. A program that spent 37 years promising change ended with its leader admitting it could not deliver.
That admission matters for the question parents ask most often: Does conversion therapy work? The man who ran the largest ministry in the country answered it himself.
The Science Was Withdrawn, Too
Families were often pointed to a single 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer, a respected psychiatrist, as proof that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer publicly apologized. He admitted the study could not actually measure whether anyone’s attractions had changed, asked that it no longer be cited, and apologized to people who wasted time and energy in these programs because of it.
John Smid, who directed the Love in Action program, offered his own version of the same admission. He said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual. The builders, the leaders, and the lead researcher all arrived at the same place.
Why This Matters for Your Family
You love your child, and you want to honor your faith. Neither requires a program with a record this poor. The people best positioned to know whether conversion therapy works are the ones who created it, ran it, and studied it, and every one of them walked away.
That is why CT4F’s warning is blunt. Anyone still promising to change a child’s attractions or how they see themselves, especially for a fee, is selling something its own founders disowned. Conversion therapy is a scam, and a softer name or a Bible verse on the brochure does not change that. You can learn what these practices actually involve in our conversion therapy explained guide.
A faithful path asks for patience, honest counsel, and a relationship with your child strong enough to survive hard questions. Nine former leaders of these ministries said as much in a joint statement renouncing what they once promoted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the founders of conversion therapy really renounce it?
Yes. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both publicly renounced the practice. John Smid of Love in Action did the same, and nine former leaders signed a joint statement condemning it.
Why did Exodus International shut down?
In 2013, after its leaders concluded the practice did not change anyone’s attractions and was hurting families, Exodus apologized and closed after 37 years.
What happened with the Spitzer study?
The 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer was used to argue that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer apologized, said the study could not measure real change, and asked that it no longer be cited.
Does this mean conversion therapy does not work?
The people who created, ran, and researched it concluded it does not reliably change who a person is attracted to, and that it can lead to guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
What can Christian parents do instead?
Choose patient, honest support, and licensed counselors who do not practice change efforts. A strong, connected relationship with your child protects them far better than any program promising a result its own founders disowned.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders and Leaders Who Renounced Conversion Therapy
NPR coverage of Exodus International shutting down and Alan Chambers apologizing to families it hurt
Religion Dispatches article on former Love in Action director John Smid's 2010 partial apology on same-sex attraction change efforts
The Withdrawn Science
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
CT4F Resources for Families
Publicaciones recientes
The People Who Created "Conversion Therapy" Later Renounced It. Here's What That Means for Christian Families Today
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
Quick Takeaways
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, the flagship ministry promising to change same-sex attraction, later said he never met a single person whose attractions changed.
Alan Chambers, Exodus’s last president, issued a public apology and shut the 37-year-old ministry down in 2013, saying “we’ve hurt people.”
John Smid, former director of the Love in Action program, said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual.
Robert Spitzer, the psychiatrist whose 2001 study was used to justify these practices, apologized in 2012 and disowned its conclusions.
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
When a child shares that they are attracted to the same sex or begins seeing themselves differently, most Christian parents feel love and fear at once. At that moment, a program promising to change the child can sound like a rescue. Before trusting that promise, it helps to know what the people who built these programs eventually said about them.
A Movement Built, Then Disowned by Its Own Builders
Conversion therapy was not a fringe idea. For decades, it was organized, funded, and marketed through ministries that told Christian parents their child’s same-sex attraction could be reversed. The largest was Exodus International, founded in 1976. You can read more in our history of conversion therapy explainer.
Michael Bussee, one of the ministry’s founders, left within a few years and spent the rest of his life warning families. He said plainly that in nearly 40 years, he had never met a gay person who became heterosexual through these programs. He was not a critic from the outside. He helped build the thing he later renounced.
“We’ve Hurt People”: The Apology That Closed Exodus
By 2013, Exodus’s own president had reached the same conclusion. Alan Chambers told a national audience that the overwhelming majority of people he had met, by his estimate, about 99.9 percent, never saw their attractions change. He apologized to the families that the ministry had hurt and closed it down. A program that spent 37 years promising change ended with its leader admitting it could not deliver.
That admission matters for the question parents ask most often: Does conversion therapy work? The man who ran the largest ministry in the country answered it himself.
The Science Was Withdrawn, Too
Families were often pointed to a single 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer, a respected psychiatrist, as proof that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer publicly apologized. He admitted the study could not actually measure whether anyone’s attractions had changed, asked that it no longer be cited, and apologized to people who wasted time and energy in these programs because of it.
John Smid, who directed the Love in Action program, offered his own version of the same admission. He said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual. The builders, the leaders, and the lead researcher all arrived at the same place.
Why This Matters for Your Family
You love your child, and you want to honor your faith. Neither requires a program with a record this poor. The people best positioned to know whether conversion therapy works are the ones who created it, ran it, and studied it, and every one of them walked away.
That is why CT4F’s warning is blunt. Anyone still promising to change a child’s attractions or how they see themselves, especially for a fee, is selling something its own founders disowned. Conversion therapy is a scam, and a softer name or a Bible verse on the brochure does not change that. You can learn what these practices actually involve in our conversion therapy explained guide.
A faithful path asks for patience, honest counsel, and a relationship with your child strong enough to survive hard questions. Nine former leaders of these ministries said as much in a joint statement renouncing what they once promoted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the founders of conversion therapy really renounce it?
Yes. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both publicly renounced the practice. John Smid of Love in Action did the same, and nine former leaders signed a joint statement condemning it.
Why did Exodus International shut down?
In 2013, after its leaders concluded the practice did not change anyone’s attractions and was hurting families, Exodus apologized and closed after 37 years.
What happened with the Spitzer study?
The 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer was used to argue that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer apologized, said the study could not measure real change, and asked that it no longer be cited.
Does this mean conversion therapy does not work?
The people who created, ran, and researched it concluded it does not reliably change who a person is attracted to, and that it can lead to guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
What can Christian parents do instead?
Choose patient, honest support, and licensed counselors who do not practice change efforts. A strong, connected relationship with your child protects them far better than any program promising a result its own founders disowned.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders and Leaders Who Renounced Conversion Therapy
NPR coverage of Exodus International shutting down and Alan Chambers apologizing to families it hurt
Religion Dispatches article on former Love in Action director John Smid's 2010 partial apology on same-sex attraction change efforts
The Withdrawn Science
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
CT4F Resources for Families
Publicaciones recientes
The People Who Created "Conversion Therapy" Later Renounced It. Here's What That Means for Christian Families Today
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
Quick Takeaways
Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, the flagship ministry promising to change same-sex attraction, later said he never met a single person whose attractions changed.
Alan Chambers, Exodus’s last president, issued a public apology and shut the 37-year-old ministry down in 2013, saying “we’ve hurt people.”
John Smid, former director of the Love in Action program, said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual.
Robert Spitzer, the psychiatrist whose 2001 study was used to justify these practices, apologized in 2012 and disowned its conclusions.
When the people who built a product admit it does not work, paying for it is not an act of faith. It is falling for a scam.
When a child shares that they are attracted to the same sex or begins seeing themselves differently, most Christian parents feel love and fear at once. At that moment, a program promising to change the child can sound like a rescue. Before trusting that promise, it helps to know what the people who built these programs eventually said about them.
A Movement Built, Then Disowned by Its Own Builders
Conversion therapy was not a fringe idea. For decades, it was organized, funded, and marketed through ministries that told Christian parents their child’s same-sex attraction could be reversed. The largest was Exodus International, founded in 1976. You can read more in our history of conversion therapy explainer.
Michael Bussee, one of the ministry’s founders, left within a few years and spent the rest of his life warning families. He said plainly that in nearly 40 years, he had never met a gay person who became heterosexual through these programs. He was not a critic from the outside. He helped build the thing he later renounced.
“We’ve Hurt People”: The Apology That Closed Exodus
By 2013, Exodus’s own president had reached the same conclusion. Alan Chambers told a national audience that the overwhelming majority of people he had met, by his estimate, about 99.9 percent, never saw their attractions change. He apologized to the families that the ministry had hurt and closed it down. A program that spent 37 years promising change ended with its leader admitting it could not deliver.
That admission matters for the question parents ask most often: Does conversion therapy work? The man who ran the largest ministry in the country answered it himself.
The Science Was Withdrawn, Too
Families were often pointed to a single 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer, a respected psychiatrist, as proof that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer publicly apologized. He admitted the study could not actually measure whether anyone’s attractions had changed, asked that it no longer be cited, and apologized to people who wasted time and energy in these programs because of it.
John Smid, who directed the Love in Action program, offered his own version of the same admission. He said he had never met a man who changed from homosexual to heterosexual. The builders, the leaders, and the lead researcher all arrived at the same place.
Why This Matters for Your Family
You love your child, and you want to honor your faith. Neither requires a program with a record this poor. The people best positioned to know whether conversion therapy works are the ones who created it, ran it, and studied it, and every one of them walked away.
That is why CT4F’s warning is blunt. Anyone still promising to change a child’s attractions or how they see themselves, especially for a fee, is selling something its own founders disowned. Conversion therapy is a scam, and a softer name or a Bible verse on the brochure does not change that. You can learn what these practices actually involve in our conversion therapy explained guide.
A faithful path asks for patience, honest counsel, and a relationship with your child strong enough to survive hard questions. Nine former leaders of these ministries said as much in a joint statement renouncing what they once promoted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the founders of conversion therapy really renounce it?
Yes. Michael Bussee, a co-founder of Exodus International, and Alan Chambers, its final president, both publicly renounced the practice. John Smid of Love in Action did the same, and nine former leaders signed a joint statement condemning it.
Why did Exodus International shut down?
In 2013, after its leaders concluded the practice did not change anyone’s attractions and was hurting families, Exodus apologized and closed after 37 years.
What happened with the Spitzer study?
The 2001 study by Dr. Robert Spitzer was used to argue that change was possible. In 2012, Spitzer apologized, said the study could not measure real change, and asked that it no longer be cited.
Does this mean conversion therapy does not work?
The people who created, ran, and researched it concluded it does not reliably change who a person is attracted to, and that it can lead to guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
What can Christian parents do instead?
Choose patient, honest support, and licensed counselors who do not practice change efforts. A strong, connected relationship with your child protects them far better than any program promising a result its own founders disowned.
Sources and Further Reading
The Founders and Leaders Who Renounced Conversion Therapy
NPR coverage of Exodus International shutting down and Alan Chambers apologizing to families it hurt
Religion Dispatches article on former Love in Action director John Smid's 2010 partial apology on same-sex attraction change efforts
The Withdrawn Science
The Evidence on Whether These Practices Work
CT4F Resources for Families