From Sheryl Gay Stolberg’s NYT story:
In June, Truth Wins Out, a national nonprofit group dedicated to fighting “anti-gay religious extremism,” sought out people who had undergone “ex-gay therapy” at Dr. Bachmann’s clinic. One person, Andrew Ramirez, a 24-year-old manager for a lumber company, responded that he had.
The group also sent its communications director, John Becker, who is gay, to Bachmann & Associates to pose as a patient seeking to become heterosexual. He recorded his conversations with a therapist on two hidden cameras and an audio device.
The group shared its recordings with The Times and other news organizations; they depict Timothy Wiertzema, a licensed marriage and family therapist, as willing to work with Mr. Becker but not aggressively pressing him to change his sexuality.
At Bachmann & Associates, which advertises treatment for a range of problems —including marital discord, anger management, addictions and spiritual issues — the emphasis on faith is strong. “Christ is the Almighty counselor,” Dr. Bachmann says on the center’s Web site.
Their conversations touched on faith and God; Mr. Becker volunteered that he was raised Roman Catholic. Asked about the possibility of “getting rid of it completely,” Mr. Wiertzema replied that some people had, but that for others homosexuality simply “becomes manageable.”
Wayne Besen, the founder of Truth Wins Out, said, “What we found was reasonably professional with a skewed point of view toward homosexuality being a negative and no offering of hope that it is something positive.”
There is also a second story in the New York Times outlining the centrality of political gay bashing in Michele Bachmann’s career. She may be trying to look moderate in an effort to appear sane to mainstream voters, but her history tells another story.
