David Cary Hart and Dr. Warren Throckmorton reported today on a disturbing development with potential ramifications for the so-called “ex-gay” industry.
Richard Cohen, the former NARTH guru and PFOX president who founded the Maryland-based International Healing Foundation (IHF) seems to have found a wining lottery ticket of sorts. IHF’s 2011 990 tax return reveals that his group took in more than $635,000. In 2010, the “ex-gay” organization only grossed $117,000, and its most lucrative previous year was $201,000 in 2008. It appears that the new money bomb came from a gift or grant.
Most disturbing, is that $540,000 is allocated to what Cohen calls his “Special Schools Project.” I’m sorry, but what kind of school district or university would want to have this guy speak to youth:
So far, Cohen in silent on what his new project entails. Dr. Throckmorton found a 2007 newsletter that might shed some light on Cohen’s intentions:
To fill in the blanks left by the public school systems’ strictly gay-affirming curricula, the International Healing Foundation is set to produce a short DVD. This film is designed to be part of the schools’ health education courses, and clearly shows that people can change and come out of homosexuality.
The size of the large gift(s) strongly suggests that it came from one or two wealthy sources. One possibility is that the Moonies funneled the money to Cohen, since they clearly value his work and it appears that Cohen is still a member. It is also worth noting that Journey into Manhood founder Rich Wyler is on Cohen’s board, as well as Arthur Abba Goldberg, a convicted felon who co-founded Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH). This is all valuable information, because it strongly ties Journey into Manhood to Cohen’s bizarre practices.
Cohen is wise to keep his creepy little kiddie project a secret, because the moment Truth Wins Out gets wind of the operation we are going to swiftly move to shut it down. We simply will not allow such child abuse to take place in public schools.
UPDATE: Hart may have tracked down more information about the school program, which was reported by Throckmorton. It seems that IHF staffer Christopher Doyle (pictured left) is running a cheesy production house, Acception Productions, that produces deceptive videos and booklets. At first glance, they appear to be against bullying. However, they slyly introduce “ex-gay” topics and take readers to harmful ex-gay quack groups, like Cohen’s crackpot organization. Some of the groups listed, such as Desert Stream, present a clear and present danger to kids. Check out this video so you can see how dishonest and slippery the efforts of Cohen and Doyle truly are:
Amazingly, Acception claims to have unveiled their campaign with the help of public school officials in Maryland. According to the group:
On March 30, over one hundred educators, administrators, policy makers, and students came together for the World Premiere of Acception, a groundbreaking film and educational campaign to solve the bullying epidemic!…The event also featured a talk by Betsy Gallun, Supervisor of Health Education, Prince George’s County, MD and a panel discussion of middle and high school students from the Washington, DC area that was moderated by WHUR’s Molette Green.
These officials should realize that the International Healing Foundation is a bully organization that demonized LGBT youth. So, any school that accepts their training booklets or videos is engaging in bullying of their own students. TWO will be contacting school officials to get to the bottom of this fiasco that puts students in harm’s way.
