Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen wrote an op-ed for The Advocate titled, “Ex-Gay Programs Could Stage Comeback in the Age of Trump”. According to the article:
To avoid becoming a laughingstock, it is unlikely that shrewder members of Trump’s staff or Cabinet would openly promote such quackery (my guess is that Ben Carson is the most likely). The real danger lies in the contempt for reality and collapse of the quaint notion that “facts” exist. On November 30, CNN’s Scottie Nell Hughes, a frequent Trump surrogate, appeared on The Diane Rehm Show and said, “People that say facts are facts — they’re not really facts. … There’s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts.”
In such a fact-free environment, you can easily see conservatives arguing to include “ex-gay” viewpoints in textbooks and protecting these groups with new laws. This time, they are less likely to argue the efficacy of such programs. They will probably emulate Donald Trump and declare something like, “I have no idea if these programs work, but some people say they do, so it’s only fair to include their version of the facts.”
“Ex-gay” organizations may also follow the path of white nationalists and claim to be a distinct minority that is in need of protection from discrimination. The noxious group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays has long used this argument. I would not be surprised to see some conservatives adopt it in the specious name of fairness. They will argue that the exclusion of “ex-gay” propaganda is an example of political correctness.
We will also have to counter the cynical enactment of religious liberty laws, which may give proponents of “ex-gay” programs the right to inflict harm on LGBT people in the name of religious freedom. As Donald Trump and the Republican Senate fill federal courts with conservative judges, such tomfoolery may increasingly gain support from the bench.
The international posture of the Trump administration may also lead to the expansion of “ex-gay” organizations. The U.S. has been a bulwark against global homophobia during the Obama administration. Who will now stand up at the United Nations against Middle Eastern countries and Russia, whic may push the “ex-gay” myth?
READ THE FULL OP-ED AT THE ADVOCATE
