The newly formed Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce (SCOTT) protested an ex-gay conference held in Ballynahinch, County Down.

The group was founded by gay investigative journalist Patrick Strudwick who sought to discover the methods used by those therapists who claim they can cure the gay, by presenting himself as seeking to be rid of his homosexuality.  In his year-long investigation, he signed up with two therapists, including one man who turned out to be the psychiatrist Iris Robinson famously promoted at the peak of her anti-gay crusade.

I have a very lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he tries to help homosexuals – trying to turn away from what they are engaged in[...] I’m happy to put any homosexual in touch with this gentleman and I have met people who have turned around and become heterosexuals.
Iris Robinson, from bbc.co.uk

This man, Dr. Paul Miller, spoke about his own sexual desires to the man he was supposed to be “curing” of the gay, revealing that he still has sexual feelings for other men, despite his straight marriage and five children — the supposed proof of his cure. He also had some curious theraputic techniques.

Dr. Paul Miller

I want you to hear, as a man, as I look at your body, I see strong shoulders and a strong chest, I see a man who has an attractive body and I want you just to notice the arousal you feel as you hear me talking about that.
Dr. Paul Miller, treating Patrick Strudwick, reported in the Independent.co.uk

Patrick Strudwick also saw a female therapist, who he names only as Lynn. She focuses on his childhood, asking questions about his relationship with his parents, whether or not he had a difficult birth and then finally insists that he was sexually abused as a child and simply doesn’t remember it.

[Lynn] looks up. I ask her again about this abuse. “I think there is something there,” she says. “You’ve allowed things to be done to you.” In the next session I ask if she thinks the abuse would have taken place within my family, because I can’t remember it. “Yes, very likely,” she replies.
from the Independent.co.uk

The journalist didn’t expect to be as affected by this investigation as he was. He reports that he was left feeling, “confused and damaged”.

Investigative Journalist Patrick Strudwick

I began to constantly analyse why I found particular men attractive. Does that man represent something that’s lacking in me? Do I want him because he looks strong which must mean I feel weak? Did something happen in my childhood? The therapists planted doubt and worry where there was none.
from the Independent.co.uk

The experience moved him to create the group that protested the ex-gay event last weekend along with the Queer Youth Network.”The message of our protest is simple,” Strudwick is quoted in the Independent. “Love needs no cure.”

Hosted by a group called Core Issues, the conference called, “Setting Love in Order” featured two speakers. Mario Bergner is a Quebecois minister who is now based in Chicago. In his own mini-biography, he claims that not only did prayer deliver him from homosexuality, but from AIDS as well. He doesn’t however, claim to have ever been diagnosed as HIV positive, only that he had “eleven symptoms of AIDS”.

Christine Sneeringer, ex-lesbian

The other speaker was Christine Sneeringer who claims her lesbianism stems from childhood sexual abuse and a breakdown in her relationship with her mother. She was ultimately saved from lesbianism by a Christian softball league (really).

No reputable counselling or psychotherapy organisation supports conversion therapy and all mainstream studies have shown it to be, at best, ineffective and, at worst, harmful. Because of this, few of these therapists will advertise openly, so it would be tough to discover which therapists offer this “service”.

When seeking a therapist (for non ex-gay purposes), it may be a good idea to ask the recommendations of other gay people you know. If you do end up with a therapist taking an inappropriate perspective on your sexuality, report it to their professional organisation immediately.