Update, July 21: According to pinknews.co.uk, the parents of Bryce Faulkner are threatening to sue friends and youth-safety advocates that set up a web site to locate and protect Bryce from further abuse by an ex-gay re-education center.
A Wisconsin man, Travis Swanson, claims that last month, his 23-year-old boyfriend, Bryce Faulkner, was economically blackmailed by his parents into entering an “ex-gay” boot camp. Swanson believes that Faulkner is in a ministry in Florida, where the ex-gay organization Exodus International is headquartered.
When Faulkner’s family found out their son was gay, they reportedly told him to enter an ex-gay program or lose financial support.
“Sadly, Bryce Faulkner is not an anomaly,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Ex-gay organizations commonly use coercion to recruit new clients and often play on the fears of parents. We hope that he is found and escapes this boot camp before he is brainwashed and emotionally scarred.”
A Facebook page and website were set up to help locate Faulkner.
“We will do our best to help find Faulkner and end the psychological abuse that young people face as a result of being forced into such damaging programs against their will.”
Faulkner was a pre-med student from Arkansas. He was reportedly about to come out to his fundamentalist family when his mother found email correspondence with Swanson. If you know of his whereabouts, please contact Truth Wins Out.
