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More Drama in the Ex-Gay Movement

The recent investigative reporting by the South Florida Gay News and blogger Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out has uncovered the ex-gay movement’s latest scandal.  See my previous blog Beware Con Man About – Beware about the founder of the Jewish ex-gay movement  Arthur Abba Goldberg.  Goldberg founded and runs, JONAH -Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality. He founded this group as his latest scam following his conviction and prison service in one of the largest bilking of the bond market in the 1980’s!

Goldberg even conned those in the ex-gay movement at NARTH, which is the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.  As secretary of the Board he duped the folks at NARTH about his own past.  He conveniently omitted the fact that he was convicted of the biggest fraud and con game on Wall Street in his day.  Yet NARTH held him out as an expert in their fake field of therapy.  Reparative therapy or “fixing” gay people so they literally straighten out their lives is a false science and has been disproven time and again.  You can’t change people’s constitution.  The people at NARTH and JONAH continue to base their “facts” on outdated and outmoded research that has been debunked by experts in the field of sexual orientation and psychology! 

Yet Goldberg who has no degree in therapy or psychology continued to hold himself as expert. 

NARTH was even surprised to learn of Goldberg’s felonious past.

As posted on David Ratigen, Ex-Gay Watch blog on March 5:

Goldberg responded to the reports by shifting the blame, and was duly followed by NARTH President Julie Harren-Hamilton, who attacked the gay media and bloggers for exposing Goldberg’s criminal past.

Last week, XGW reported that Goldberg was no longer listed as Executive Secretary of NARTH. Now NARTH Vice-President of Operations David C Pruden has spoken on the record about the situation.

In a statement made to XGW, Pruden revealed that NARTH knew nothing of Arthur Abba Goldberg’s conviction for felony prior to last month’s investigative report. He also confirmed that Goldberg had resigned from the board of NARTH. The full statement reads:

In the past two weeks incidents that took place more than twenty years ago in the career and life of Arthur Goldberg first came to our attention. He has never taken the members of the NARTH Board into his confidence concerning these events and this information came as a complete shock to NARTH members and to our organization.

After years of dedicated service to NARTH Mr. Goldberg has announced his resignation from his NARTH Board position. With his resignation this now becomes a personal matter and all future questions or concerns should be directed to Mr. Goldberg. He has assured us that he plans to make a public statement on his own web site and since none of the issues concerning his past were in any way associated with NARTH, and in fact preceded the founding of NARTH,  we would feel it inappropriate to make further comments. We wish for Arthur and his family the very best at this difficult time.

This confirms what seemed evident all along: Arthur Abba Goldberg deliberately concealed his criminal past.

The Con Man Goldberg even conned his friends and allies in the Ex-gay movement. 

Now it is time to undo NARTH and their ilk for the damage they cause gay people and their families.  Just because they say it doesn’t make it true or possible to change one’s sexual orientation.

Let’s not forget that God made us just as we are.  And that is good enough for me.  It is really time to readjust our attitudes towards sex and sexuality and learn to help all people live fuller and healthier lives no matter their sexual orientation.  Straight or Gay. 

Straight folks need straightening out too and our world needs attention to repair it from the greed that still fills Wall Street, the bigotry that is still exhibited world-wide, the religious hatred that pits group against group, and the oppression of people who are different from the majority. That is what needs fixing.  Let’s get to that task right away.

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