Akinsanya had two long-term relationships, which he describes as "very fulfilling" and "definitely love", but he has been single for the past seven years. Since the age of 19, when he moved from Essex to London, his relationships have been exclusively with men. Stark had recorded his suicidal feelings in his online diary after his parents forced him to attend Love in Action, an organisation affiliated to Exodus.īy the time he was 16, Akinsanya was describing himself as bisexual. In the last few weeks, the contentious issue of reparative therapy was again in the spotlight, with a debate sparked by a gay Tennessee teenager, Zach Stark. The movement was dealt a huge blow in 2000 when its most famous graduate, a former drag queen called John Paulk, whose success with Exodus had seen him featured on the cover of Newsweek, was photographed by paparazzi apparently enjoying the delights of a gay bar. Last month, 1,000 people turned up to its annual "Freedom Conference".īut both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association have repeatedly condemned so-called "reparative therapy", which seeks to change sexual orientation as ineffective and harmful to those who try it, resulting in depression and confusion. The country's largest organisation, Exodus International, was formed in 1976 to help 62 people affected by "unwanted sexuality" it now has 125 ministries.
The religious ministries that run such courses claim that 400,000 people requested information last year. In the United States, attempts to go from gay to straight are increasingly common.