IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Wayne Besen
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Architect of Sting Operation Proving Marcus Bachmann Practices ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy to Discuss the Harm Caused by ‘Pray Away the Gay’ Programs
Corvallis, Ore. – Author and activist Wayne Besen will speak at Oregon State University to discuss the damage caused by programs that claim to turn gay people straight through prayer and therapy. Besen is the architect of a recent sting operation that proved that the clinic run by presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, practices “ex-gay” therapy. The event will take place Wednesday, October 5, 6pm-7:30pm. (Memorial Union Journey Room)
“The message of this presentation is that you can’t ‘pray away the gay’ and LGBT people are fine just the way they are,” said Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out. “Organizations that claim they can change one’s sexual orientation are committing consumer fraud and harming a great number of people.”
Besen’s multi-media presentation offers a unique, innovative, and entertaining look behind the mask of so-called “ex-gay” programs. Besen is the author of two books including the critically acclaimed, “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth”. He is also noted for photographing Exodus “ex-gay” poster boy John Paulk in a gay bar in Washington, DC and helping expose the late Rev. Jerry Falwell’s personal “ex-gay” activist Michael Johnston.
“The multi-media show will take the audience on a whirlwind tour of ‘ex-gay’ programs,” said Besen. “Audiences will learn the history of these groups, the bizarre techniques they use, and the political players that finance these ignoble efforts.”
