Math B Regents

The Bachmanns Say They Don't Pray Away the Gay for Pay

Bachmann says that those were the expressed wishes of the Truth Wins Out Communications and Development Director John Becker, who went undercover at the clinic in June and confirmed speculation regarding the anti-gay activities there. Becker attended five private counseling sessions with Bachmann & Associates counselor Timothy Wiertzema carrying two hidden cameras. Truth Wins Out reported that “the undeniable goal of the sessions was transforming Becker from homosexual to heterosexual” :

At no time during the therapy was homosexuality portrayed as a natural variation of human sexuality. Instead it was presented as a treatable condition at odds with a normal and healthy sexual orientation. Becker was told by Wiertzema that “God designed our eyes to be attracted to the woman’s body, to be attracted to everything, to be attracted to her breasts.” Furthermore, according to Timothy, “We’re all heterosexuals, but we have different challenges.” Attraction to the same sex “is there, and it’s real, but at the core value, in terms of how God created us, we’re all heterosexual.” ‘s feature story on this issue  also included the story of Andrew Ramirez, a gay man who was sent to Bachmann’s clinic in 2004 by his conservative Christian stepfather. Ramirez was so put off by the counselor’s desire to “cure” his homosexuality that he refused to return after his second session despite the rift he knew it would cause in his family.

Today, Mark Benjamin,  a gay reporter who did his own undercover investigation of a conversion therapy facility in 2005 wrote in TIME Magazine  that “the transcripts from [Becker's] taping sessions, provided to TIME by Truth Wins Out, offer evidence that while Bachmann & Associates counselors seemed to embrace the notion that homosexuality is a fixable sin, their clinic is no conversion therapy mill.”

Is that problematic enough, that a counselor would refer a patient to a Conversion Clinic despite the fact that the practice has been condemned by psychiatric professionals? The rules behind that are complicated . Is it problematic that a therapist would encourage/facilitate conversion therapy even if they didn’t directly offer it themselves?

And what about the Bachmann’s close friendship with  Janet Boynes , an “ex-lesbian” who claims she was thrust into the lifestyle of lesbianism and drugs because of childhood abuse?