From today’s Corvallis Gazette-Times:
Activist and author Wayne Besen is scheduled to visit Oregon State University today to make the case that so-called reparative therapy meant to fix homosexuality in an individual is only part of a larger movement meant to discredit calls for gay rights.
His talk is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Journey Room.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Besen explained that many reparative therapy programs meant to convince patients they are heterosexual formed in the 1980s and 1990s and often operate under large religious umbrella organizations.
Although they might project a sense of warm-hearted caring, Besen said, but their underlying goal is to further their own agenda. Their message is that because homosexuality can be fixed through prayer and therapy, there’s no need for laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination, same-sex marriage or progressive adoption policies for gays.
“We don’t exist; we don’t need rights, we need help — that’s the whole gist,” Besen said. “This is more of a marketing campaign than a movement by the religious right.”
