What do you think?
Rate this book
Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement
Every year, hundreds of gay men and lesbians join ex-gay ministries in an attempt to convert to non-homosexual Christian lives. In this fascinating study of the transnational ex-gay movement, Tanya Erzen focuses on the everyday lives of men and women at New Hope Ministry, a residential ex-gay program, over the course of several years. Straight to Jesus traces the stories of people who have renounced long-term relationships and moved from other countries out of a conviction that the conservative Christian beliefs of their upbringing and their own same-sex desires are irreconcilable. Rather than definitively changing from homosexual to heterosexual, the participants experience a conversion that is both sexual and religious as born-again evangelical Christians. At New Hope, they maintain a personal relationship with Jesus and build new forms of kinship and belonging. By becoming what they call "new creations," these men and women testify to religious transformation rather than changes in sexual desire or behavior. Straight to Jesus exposes how the Christian Right attempts to repudiate gay identity and political rights by using the ex-gay movement as evidence that “change is possible.” Instead, Erzen reveals, the realities of the lives she examines actually undermine this anti-gay strategy.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
7 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 1, 2015
I'm crying a little, and feel like dying on the inside. Is this simply about people who were gay and then tried not to be? Or people who simply explored their sexuality? Or is it one of those "books" written by a homophobe?
Alas, I am too frustrated to think about this.
Alas, I am too frustrated to think about this.
June 25, 2021
Really helpful read. Actually gives me more compassion for the exgay movement, tho written by a secular PhD ethnographer
February 28, 2024
A STUDY OF THE ‘NEW HOPE’ EX-GAY MINISTRY, AND RELATED ISSUES
Author Tanya Erzen wrote in the Introduction to this 2006 book, “While many conservative Christian churches and organizations condemn homosexuality, New Hope Ministry represents a unique form of nondenominational Christian practice focused specifically on sexuality…. Unlike previous Christian movements in the United States, the ex-gay movement, of which New Hope is a part, explicitly connects sexual and religious conversion, placing sexuality at the core of religious identity. By becoming a born-again Christian… ex-gay men and women are born again religiously, and as part of that process that consider themselves reconstituted sexually…. Even if desires and attractions remain after they have attended an ex-gay ministry like New Hope, their relationship [with Jesus] supersedes any sexual changes, minimizing their frustration and disillusionment when the longed for sexual changes do not occur.” (Pg. 3)
She continues, “New Hope Ministry is the oldest of five residential ex-gay programs in the United States. Frank Worthen formed New Hope in 1973… Frank… oversees New Hope… and serves as an assistant pastor in an ex-gay-affiliated church called Church of the Open Door…In 2000 and 2001, fifteen men participated in the New Hope program… Most of the men in the New Hope program grew up with conservative Christian backgrounds and fervently believed not only that homosexual attraction and behavior are sins according to the Bible but also that life as a gay person means being separated from Jesus… All… believed that … God could heal their homosexuality. Desires or attractions might linger for years, but they would emerge with new religious identities and the promise that … God would eventually transform them.” (Pg. 3-5)
She explains, “During my eighteen months at New Hope, I conducted … interviews with forty-seven men and women, with nineteen follow-up interviews… I interviewed ministry leaders and men and women living in the surrounding area who had completed the program…. I also interviewed seven men who had left the program to live as gay-identified.” (Pg. 9) She continues, “Although my sample was not necessarily representative of the entire ex-gay movement, my focus on a concentrated group of individuals revealed why people joined, what they did while they were there, and what became of them after they left. I compiled basic statistics… but I was less interested in quantifiable conclusions proving or disproving change than in the worldviews of men and women. These worldviews became a window onto the larger ex-gay movement and the way Christian political organizations have appropriated ex-gay narratives of change.” (Pg. 11)
She states, “The idea of change is the financial, political, religious, and personal basis of the ex-gay movement… A person becomes ex-gay as he accepts Jesus into his life and commits to him. Much has been written about the widely-publicized sexual scandals of prominent ex-gays, but in the ex-gay movement, it is far more scandalous to abandon Jesus than to yield to same-sex-desire. It is commonly accepted that a person will continue to experience desire and even occasionally lapse into same-sex behavior as part of the overall conversion process. Recovery and relapse are built into the creation of an ex-gay identity, and sexual falls are expected…. As long as the offender publicly repents and reaffirms her commitment to Jesus, all is forgiven.” (Pg. 13-14) Later, she adds, “Many ex-gays admit that although some changes in behavior and identity take place, it is more probable that they will continue as ‘strugglers’ their entire lives.” (Pg. 18)
She recounts, “When Frank first decided he could no longer live as a gay man, he turned for support to the pastors at [a]… church called Open Door, led by Pastor Kent Philpott… She notes, “Open Door is perhaps the only church in the United States for men and women who are dealing with sexual addition and homosexuality… Open Door provides an institutional church structure where ex-gays can worship with other people as part of a wider religious community.” (Pg. 24)
She acknowledges, “In 1981, after a major scandal that involved accusations of Kent Philpott’s sexual impropriety with his own adopted daughter, the congregation ousted Philpott from Open Door… After a great deal of wrangling, Philpott reluctantly relinquished directorship of LIA [Love in Action] to Frank a few months later… Love in Action never established any consistent way to measure what happened to men and women after they left the program. It lost track of many people and relied on self-reporting from those who stayed in touch.” (Pg. 31) Later, she adds, “Despite the belief that a personal relationship with God will heal and transform them, many men realize … that their experiences at New Hope have done nothing to change their sexuality, and they decide to embrace their gay identity.” (Pg. 76)
She also admits, “The divisions and contradictions within Exodus [an ex-gay ministry] were exacerbated as the ex-gay movement experienced upheaval and scandal in the early 1980s. Some leaders… defected from Exodus when they realized that they could not handle the sacrifices required to live as an ex-gay… The problem of Exodus … was that many ex-gay leaders had been Christians only for several months, and having a testimony was the only qualification for ministry work… a testimony was not insurance against temptation… The sexual scandals … highlighted the lack of any regulatory mechanism for the organization… [and] raised the question of how the movement would distinguish between behavior and identity when it came to sexuality. Frank and other ex-gay leaders began to assert that change was a long and difficult process…” (Pg. 34-35) She also notes, “The attrition rate at New Hope is very high, and … the program is still not sufficient for some men.” (Pg. 84)
She recounts, “Anita [Frank Worthen’s wife] has a complicated and loving relationship with her own son, Randy, who is gay, HIV positive, and… lived in the same apartment complex where New Hope hosts the residential program. Randy is friendly but avoids the New Hope men and has never yielded to ... Frank or Anita’s idea that he should change his sexuality. Anita raised him as a single mother in a Christian commune … and they returned to Southern California when Randy was sixteen.” (Pg. 156)
She says of Richard Cohen [ex-gay therapist and author of ‘Coming Out Straight’], “He combines the self-help healing and family development approaches in his slightly unorthodox counseling practice… Frank and other ministry leaders consider many of Cohen’s techniques to be controversial. The premise that overt physical contact will help men heal their homosexuality is the absolute opposite of the rules and prohibitions of New Hope’s program…” (Pg. 181)
Of the ‘fall’ of John Paulk (purported ‘ex-gay’ and happily married author and former drag queen, who was the public face of James Dobson’s ‘Focus on the Family’ ‘Love Won Out’ program; he has now divorced, and admitted he is still gay), she comments, ‘When it was over, Anita and everyone at New Hope seemed resigned. After all, this was not the first time a member of the ex-gay movement had experienced a public sexual fall, and variations of Paulk’s experience happened frequently at New Hope… In the end, even Dobson realized the fallacy of his own anti-gay activism; some people may purport to change, but they never really do entirely. This was just another table they had to endure. Eventually, Anita and the others believed, they would overcome.” (Pg. 215)
She summarizes, “Critics of the ex-gay movement assert that no one changes their sexual desires, and the New Hope men would have readily agreed. To them, change is a process of conversion and belonging that is uncertain, fraught with relapses and some temporary successes. For many, years after doing a program, change remains simply a leap of faith or a belief that they are doing what God wants for them. Much more than immediate change, the men and women undergo a process of religious and sexual conversion bolstered by relationships forged in the program. The idea that change may occur but not in the form expected is borne out by the queer conversions of men and women at the ministry. Even the term ‘ex-gay’ signifies that only some form of change is possible.” (Pg. 218)
This frank and honest book will be of great interest to anyone studying ‘ex-gay’ ministries, etc.
Author Tanya Erzen wrote in the Introduction to this 2006 book, “While many conservative Christian churches and organizations condemn homosexuality, New Hope Ministry represents a unique form of nondenominational Christian practice focused specifically on sexuality…. Unlike previous Christian movements in the United States, the ex-gay movement, of which New Hope is a part, explicitly connects sexual and religious conversion, placing sexuality at the core of religious identity. By becoming a born-again Christian… ex-gay men and women are born again religiously, and as part of that process that consider themselves reconstituted sexually…. Even if desires and attractions remain after they have attended an ex-gay ministry like New Hope, their relationship [with Jesus] supersedes any sexual changes, minimizing their frustration and disillusionment when the longed for sexual changes do not occur.” (Pg. 3)
She continues, “New Hope Ministry is the oldest of five residential ex-gay programs in the United States. Frank Worthen formed New Hope in 1973… Frank… oversees New Hope… and serves as an assistant pastor in an ex-gay-affiliated church called Church of the Open Door…In 2000 and 2001, fifteen men participated in the New Hope program… Most of the men in the New Hope program grew up with conservative Christian backgrounds and fervently believed not only that homosexual attraction and behavior are sins according to the Bible but also that life as a gay person means being separated from Jesus… All… believed that … God could heal their homosexuality. Desires or attractions might linger for years, but they would emerge with new religious identities and the promise that … God would eventually transform them.” (Pg. 3-5)
She explains, “During my eighteen months at New Hope, I conducted … interviews with forty-seven men and women, with nineteen follow-up interviews… I interviewed ministry leaders and men and women living in the surrounding area who had completed the program…. I also interviewed seven men who had left the program to live as gay-identified.” (Pg. 9) She continues, “Although my sample was not necessarily representative of the entire ex-gay movement, my focus on a concentrated group of individuals revealed why people joined, what they did while they were there, and what became of them after they left. I compiled basic statistics… but I was less interested in quantifiable conclusions proving or disproving change than in the worldviews of men and women. These worldviews became a window onto the larger ex-gay movement and the way Christian political organizations have appropriated ex-gay narratives of change.” (Pg. 11)
She states, “The idea of change is the financial, political, religious, and personal basis of the ex-gay movement… A person becomes ex-gay as he accepts Jesus into his life and commits to him. Much has been written about the widely-publicized sexual scandals of prominent ex-gays, but in the ex-gay movement, it is far more scandalous to abandon Jesus than to yield to same-sex-desire. It is commonly accepted that a person will continue to experience desire and even occasionally lapse into same-sex behavior as part of the overall conversion process. Recovery and relapse are built into the creation of an ex-gay identity, and sexual falls are expected…. As long as the offender publicly repents and reaffirms her commitment to Jesus, all is forgiven.” (Pg. 13-14) Later, she adds, “Many ex-gays admit that although some changes in behavior and identity take place, it is more probable that they will continue as ‘strugglers’ their entire lives.” (Pg. 18)
She recounts, “When Frank first decided he could no longer live as a gay man, he turned for support to the pastors at [a]… church called Open Door, led by Pastor Kent Philpott… She notes, “Open Door is perhaps the only church in the United States for men and women who are dealing with sexual addition and homosexuality… Open Door provides an institutional church structure where ex-gays can worship with other people as part of a wider religious community.” (Pg. 24)
She acknowledges, “In 1981, after a major scandal that involved accusations of Kent Philpott’s sexual impropriety with his own adopted daughter, the congregation ousted Philpott from Open Door… After a great deal of wrangling, Philpott reluctantly relinquished directorship of LIA [Love in Action] to Frank a few months later… Love in Action never established any consistent way to measure what happened to men and women after they left the program. It lost track of many people and relied on self-reporting from those who stayed in touch.” (Pg. 31) Later, she adds, “Despite the belief that a personal relationship with God will heal and transform them, many men realize … that their experiences at New Hope have done nothing to change their sexuality, and they decide to embrace their gay identity.” (Pg. 76)
She also admits, “The divisions and contradictions within Exodus [an ex-gay ministry] were exacerbated as the ex-gay movement experienced upheaval and scandal in the early 1980s. Some leaders… defected from Exodus when they realized that they could not handle the sacrifices required to live as an ex-gay… The problem of Exodus … was that many ex-gay leaders had been Christians only for several months, and having a testimony was the only qualification for ministry work… a testimony was not insurance against temptation… The sexual scandals … highlighted the lack of any regulatory mechanism for the organization… [and] raised the question of how the movement would distinguish between behavior and identity when it came to sexuality. Frank and other ex-gay leaders began to assert that change was a long and difficult process…” (Pg. 34-35) She also notes, “The attrition rate at New Hope is very high, and … the program is still not sufficient for some men.” (Pg. 84)
She recounts, “Anita [Frank Worthen’s wife] has a complicated and loving relationship with her own son, Randy, who is gay, HIV positive, and… lived in the same apartment complex where New Hope hosts the residential program. Randy is friendly but avoids the New Hope men and has never yielded to ... Frank or Anita’s idea that he should change his sexuality. Anita raised him as a single mother in a Christian commune … and they returned to Southern California when Randy was sixteen.” (Pg. 156)
She says of Richard Cohen [ex-gay therapist and author of ‘Coming Out Straight’], “He combines the self-help healing and family development approaches in his slightly unorthodox counseling practice… Frank and other ministry leaders consider many of Cohen’s techniques to be controversial. The premise that overt physical contact will help men heal their homosexuality is the absolute opposite of the rules and prohibitions of New Hope’s program…” (Pg. 181)
Of the ‘fall’ of John Paulk (purported ‘ex-gay’ and happily married author and former drag queen, who was the public face of James Dobson’s ‘Focus on the Family’ ‘Love Won Out’ program; he has now divorced, and admitted he is still gay), she comments, ‘When it was over, Anita and everyone at New Hope seemed resigned. After all, this was not the first time a member of the ex-gay movement had experienced a public sexual fall, and variations of Paulk’s experience happened frequently at New Hope… In the end, even Dobson realized the fallacy of his own anti-gay activism; some people may purport to change, but they never really do entirely. This was just another table they had to endure. Eventually, Anita and the others believed, they would overcome.” (Pg. 215)
She summarizes, “Critics of the ex-gay movement assert that no one changes their sexual desires, and the New Hope men would have readily agreed. To them, change is a process of conversion and belonging that is uncertain, fraught with relapses and some temporary successes. For many, years after doing a program, change remains simply a leap of faith or a belief that they are doing what God wants for them. Much more than immediate change, the men and women undergo a process of religious and sexual conversion bolstered by relationships forged in the program. The idea that change may occur but not in the form expected is borne out by the queer conversions of men and women at the ministry. Even the term ‘ex-gay’ signifies that only some form of change is possible.” (Pg. 218)
This frank and honest book will be of great interest to anyone studying ‘ex-gay’ ministries, etc.
February 2, 2008
An ethnography of a Christian "ex-gay" program in California. While the author is critical of some of the theoretical underpinnings and assumptions of the movement, the book is not a polemic. She got to know many of the men in the program well and sympathetically portrays their reasons for entering the program and their struggles with what they perceive to be a sinful lifestyle. (She is not always so sympathetic toward national Christian Right leaders whom she perceives as using these men's stories to their own political ends.) The book was originally a dissertation and it remains a bit academic in some parts.
March 27, 2010
I was prepared to read a thoughtful, fiery book arguing both sides of the so-called "ex-gay" movement, but instead, Erzen's book just tromped through name and quotation after endless name and quotation. Any analysis of the topic was missing entirely. I was very disappointed. However, if what you would like is just a brief history of who was involved in which group when, this book would be right up your alley.
October 22, 2008
Erzen has produced a compassionate and critical ethnography of the men and women involved in the ex-gay movement. Her writing style displays a good balance of participation and observation. Regardless of your feelings about the movement, Erzen presents a well researched and articulate argument without marginalizing her subject.
March 8, 2018
This book was written just a few years before Exodus International ceased as an organization. The ex-gay program studied by the author, for her PhD degree, was the New Hope Ministry in Marin County, California. It was affiliated with Exodus International. From her study of this program, and from the many interviews with the leaders and participants in the program, it became clear to her that ex-gays do not ever really lose their same-sex attraction, and seem unable to ever develop an opposite-sex attraction. Nevertheless, the men in the program persisted in trying to subvert their same-sex attraction, and at least live a celibate life.
Considering the many struggles these men went through, it concerns me that such ministries persist in holding out some degree of hope for changing gays so they are no longer attracted to individuals of their own sex. The high attrition rate of such programs and the many participants who later return to same-sex dating and even marriage shows how change is not really possible. Someone who is gay seems to be that way inherently. How much better it would be if gays could accept themselves for who they are, and learn that God accepts them as well. Oh that the church would see same-sex marriage as a good thing.
Considering the many struggles these men went through, it concerns me that such ministries persist in holding out some degree of hope for changing gays so they are no longer attracted to individuals of their own sex. The high attrition rate of such programs and the many participants who later return to same-sex dating and even marriage shows how change is not really possible. Someone who is gay seems to be that way inherently. How much better it would be if gays could accept themselves for who they are, and learn that God accepts them as well. Oh that the church would see same-sex marriage as a good thing.
May 20, 2022
This is an ethnographic study of an ex-gay ministry in San Rafael, CA, writfen by a non-Christian. It's long and detailed and honest. I appreciated the objectivity of the author. She points out the difference betseen what the politically-oriented Religious Right says about how you can change your sexual orientation, and the more realistic goals of ex-gay programs. It is rather dated, since a lot has changed societally and in ex-gay ministries in the last 16 years since it was published, but there is no other book like it.
February 4, 2025
Intéressant je connaissais pas du tout le milieu, mais il y a bcp de redites, répétitions et compagnie (on sent le côté académique)
February 2, 2013
This book is about queer religious lives. As an ethnography of men in the Christian ex-gay movement, Erzen’s work describes the complex and seemingly contradictory tensions that exist between Western homosexual identities and conservative American Christianity. In doing so, Erzen introduces a wide variety of men, from those who converted to Christianity and adopted ex-gay causes to those who were raised in conservative households who have endured long-term struggles with same-sex desires. Moreover, these tensions help support the principle thesis of this work: that the men of the ex-gay movement, at least those at New Hope Ministry and others who live in similar kinds of residential ex-gay programs, are queer. They are queer, not just as a matter of sexual orientation, but in the way that they are caught in an ambiguous space between revulsion and pity by gay rights activists and progressive Christians and hatred and exclusion by Christian fundamentalists and conservatives. The identities of ex-gays are perpetually in flux. Yet, at the same time, the ex-gay individuals in Erzen’s account construct a new kind of ex-gay identity. This ethnography also works to demonstrate that black-and-white worldviews, particularly views of sexuality and religion, are often too simplistic and in seeking not to take any particular side, she instead asks why these men find it so important to navigate their desire for religious inclusion and their desire for same-sex relationships through ex-gay frameworks.
During her time with New Hope, Erzen meets numerous men who come "with the objective of healing their homosexuality, controlling sexual compulsions, becoming heterosexual, or even marrying someone of the opposite sex" (p. 2). But through participant-observation and her personal relationships with several residents, she comes to conclude that the longed-for complete transformation from homosexual to heterosexual does not happen for those who come to ex-gay ministries. However, change still does occur, not in a move away from same-sex desires (or even behavior in some cases), but rather in a kind of religious transformation. Though most of the men reject the idea of an essential homosexual identity and instead frame their same-sex desires in terms of their feelings or their behaviors, what Erzen’s participants tend to have in common is a sense of being damaged or broken in a way that they seek to heal spiritually. This “woundedness” is then combined with a religious worldview that dictates that positive and morally-correct sexuality only exists inside of married heterosexual relationships.
Like coming-out narratives, the religious conversion narratives of the New Hope participants index a troubled time of personal crisis where a process of personal healing and sexual awareness becomes paramount. However, it is a New Hope participant's born-again relationship with Jesus that is the primary way in which they measure their progress. This subjective progress often comes about through activities that help the men "rebuild masculinity”, usually though ritualized gender-performance activities (like sports and camping) that do not always correspond to residents’ own ideas of gender transformation. The ultimate idealized goal for many men in the program is heterosexual marriage, but many New Hope participants come to realize this is not a realistic goal, striving instead for a sense of belonging they have so often lacked. Some participants even remain affiliated with New Hope in the long term, serving as counselors or leaders years later.
Erzen concludes hoping that a diversity of sexual identities, including ex-gay identities, might one day become part of a more inclusive culture. While Erzen seeks to further our understanding of queer religious lives in contemporary American culture she also demonstrates how the lives of individuals in ex-gay ministries subvert the larger political goals of the ex-gay movement, particularly regarding rigid religious ideals of masculinity and femininity or in cases where the idea of homosexuality as an "addiction” is rejected. In opposition to the larger ex-gay movement's language of total healing from homosexuality to heterosexuality, ex-gay individuals continue to queer conversations about the nature of sexual and religious change. Thus, these personal transformations are not always so easily translated into monolithic political causes.
During her time with New Hope, Erzen meets numerous men who come "with the objective of healing their homosexuality, controlling sexual compulsions, becoming heterosexual, or even marrying someone of the opposite sex" (p. 2). But through participant-observation and her personal relationships with several residents, she comes to conclude that the longed-for complete transformation from homosexual to heterosexual does not happen for those who come to ex-gay ministries. However, change still does occur, not in a move away from same-sex desires (or even behavior in some cases), but rather in a kind of religious transformation. Though most of the men reject the idea of an essential homosexual identity and instead frame their same-sex desires in terms of their feelings or their behaviors, what Erzen’s participants tend to have in common is a sense of being damaged or broken in a way that they seek to heal spiritually. This “woundedness” is then combined with a religious worldview that dictates that positive and morally-correct sexuality only exists inside of married heterosexual relationships.
Like coming-out narratives, the religious conversion narratives of the New Hope participants index a troubled time of personal crisis where a process of personal healing and sexual awareness becomes paramount. However, it is a New Hope participant's born-again relationship with Jesus that is the primary way in which they measure their progress. This subjective progress often comes about through activities that help the men "rebuild masculinity”, usually though ritualized gender-performance activities (like sports and camping) that do not always correspond to residents’ own ideas of gender transformation. The ultimate idealized goal for many men in the program is heterosexual marriage, but many New Hope participants come to realize this is not a realistic goal, striving instead for a sense of belonging they have so often lacked. Some participants even remain affiliated with New Hope in the long term, serving as counselors or leaders years later.
Erzen concludes hoping that a diversity of sexual identities, including ex-gay identities, might one day become part of a more inclusive culture. While Erzen seeks to further our understanding of queer religious lives in contemporary American culture she also demonstrates how the lives of individuals in ex-gay ministries subvert the larger political goals of the ex-gay movement, particularly regarding rigid religious ideals of masculinity and femininity or in cases where the idea of homosexuality as an "addiction” is rejected. In opposition to the larger ex-gay movement's language of total healing from homosexuality to heterosexuality, ex-gay individuals continue to queer conversations about the nature of sexual and religious change. Thus, these personal transformations are not always so easily translated into monolithic political causes.
April 24, 2013
Erzen has written a memoir about her year with New Hope Ministries in nothern California. New Hope (NH) is (was) a residential ministry for men wanting to leave behind their same sex attraction, an "ex-gay" ministry. An evangelical Bible-based ministry, the founders and directors Frank and Anita Worthen, did not usually allow outsiders such intimate, long term access to their program, but made an exception to Erzen after a time of prayer. Erzen, NOT an evangelical, was working on her doctorate in sociology and used this to produce the data for her dissertation.
Erzen is probably the person who has best captured the ethos of an evangelical movement/ministry as an outsider. It is not an easy task, but she has admirably walked a fine line in terms of giving NH an uncritical pass versus savagely trashing everything they stand for versus giving a too dry, too clinical picture that tells little if anything about the reality that was NH.
Erzen became closely attached to the subjects of this group and yet, I believe, did not give way too either too much subjectivity nor to the opposite extreme of suspicion of every little detail of their work and lives.
One leader, Hank, comes under the gun for his authoritarianism and yet is shown in a more positive light too. I had read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth in the month following my reading of Straight to Jesus; Erzen, in contrast to Follett, does NOT make Hank out to be a paper cut out figure. He appears as a man with flaws, but also a real humanity and good will; contrast that with Follett's fictional Willian Hamleigh or even Archdeacon then Bishop Waleran!
Unfortunately, I came to Straight to Jesus hoping to find a more theological support for gay christians; Erzen does not attempt that: it is not her field of expertise! Rather, she exposes the failures of the ex-gay movement as a whole in terms of gender reassignment therapy. As is the case for many straight Christians, I had assumed, believed that the power of God is more than able to transform the lives of people of good will who want to "repent" and change their lifestyles. Teen Challenge is such a ministry to drug addicts. Prayer and counselling together (again in a residential setting) do prove effective in transforming the lives of (former) drug addicts. But this is not what is revealed here in Straight to Jesus. Even men who have "successfully" completed the year (in some cases, for those who remain as leaders, several years) of therapy, struggle mightily, and often enough, return to or go on to full blown active homosexual lives.
Erzen, an associate professor at the University of Puget Sound, formerly at Ohio State in the same capacity, is an academic, but Straight to Jesus is written in a more popular style. If you are looking for a reasonably unbiased look at one ministry and the larger issue of "ex-gay" ministries, you have found a solid place to start your own research. She does not "get saved" over her year of work at NH, but it would be interesting to see how that year changed her perspective or perhaps reinforced her own belief system.
Overall, this book did not give me the kind of information I was looking for, but it remains a valid source of information.
Erzen is probably the person who has best captured the ethos of an evangelical movement/ministry as an outsider. It is not an easy task, but she has admirably walked a fine line in terms of giving NH an uncritical pass versus savagely trashing everything they stand for versus giving a too dry, too clinical picture that tells little if anything about the reality that was NH.
Erzen became closely attached to the subjects of this group and yet, I believe, did not give way too either too much subjectivity nor to the opposite extreme of suspicion of every little detail of their work and lives.
One leader, Hank, comes under the gun for his authoritarianism and yet is shown in a more positive light too. I had read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth in the month following my reading of Straight to Jesus; Erzen, in contrast to Follett, does NOT make Hank out to be a paper cut out figure. He appears as a man with flaws, but also a real humanity and good will; contrast that with Follett's fictional Willian Hamleigh or even Archdeacon then Bishop Waleran!
Unfortunately, I came to Straight to Jesus hoping to find a more theological support for gay christians; Erzen does not attempt that: it is not her field of expertise! Rather, she exposes the failures of the ex-gay movement as a whole in terms of gender reassignment therapy. As is the case for many straight Christians, I had assumed, believed that the power of God is more than able to transform the lives of people of good will who want to "repent" and change their lifestyles. Teen Challenge is such a ministry to drug addicts. Prayer and counselling together (again in a residential setting) do prove effective in transforming the lives of (former) drug addicts. But this is not what is revealed here in Straight to Jesus. Even men who have "successfully" completed the year (in some cases, for those who remain as leaders, several years) of therapy, struggle mightily, and often enough, return to or go on to full blown active homosexual lives.
Erzen, an associate professor at the University of Puget Sound, formerly at Ohio State in the same capacity, is an academic, but Straight to Jesus is written in a more popular style. If you are looking for a reasonably unbiased look at one ministry and the larger issue of "ex-gay" ministries, you have found a solid place to start your own research. She does not "get saved" over her year of work at NH, but it would be interesting to see how that year changed her perspective or perhaps reinforced her own belief system.
Overall, this book did not give me the kind of information I was looking for, but it remains a valid source of information.
January 30, 2011
In Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement, Tanya Erzen offers a nuanced analysis of the ex-gay movement. Typically, she argues, this movement has been portrayed from both liberal and conservative standpoints as emphasizing the ability to convert people sexually—from homosexuals into heterosexuals. Through participant observation, interviews and analysis of material evidence over a period of eighteen-months at New Hope Ministry in San Rafael, California, Erzen demonstrates her theory of “queer conversions” or “the process of religious and sexual conversion, sexual falls, and public redemption through testimony”(14). Conversion for the members of this particular ex-gay program does not necessarily result in heterosexual men; instead men who are “successful” in the program consider their sexuality to be a constant struggle that is only controlled through obedience to their belief in Christ.
By emphasizing analysis of “daily life and interactions” over theory, Erzen forefronts the views of her subjects and allows the reader to see their stories through their own worldviews without making judgments about the validity of their actual beliefs. In the introduction, Erzen points to the tension of studying a group with which she does not agree with on some social, political, and cultural level. It is clear from her analysis that Erzen does not support the ex-gay movement or believe in its assumptions; yet, she is able to share the story of people who do. Erzen balances this portrayal by situating it within the broader ex-gay movement and the context of “wider historical currents of twentieth-century evangelical religion; self-help culture; psychiatric and psychological theories on sexuality, gay and lesbian liberation, and feminism; and the history of the Christian Right” (11). This results in a tension between a compassionate rendering of the subjects’ worldview and demonstrating the negative affects the ex-gay movement has on political and social realities of homosexuals.
By emphasizing analysis of “daily life and interactions” over theory, Erzen forefronts the views of her subjects and allows the reader to see their stories through their own worldviews without making judgments about the validity of their actual beliefs. In the introduction, Erzen points to the tension of studying a group with which she does not agree with on some social, political, and cultural level. It is clear from her analysis that Erzen does not support the ex-gay movement or believe in its assumptions; yet, she is able to share the story of people who do. Erzen balances this portrayal by situating it within the broader ex-gay movement and the context of “wider historical currents of twentieth-century evangelical religion; self-help culture; psychiatric and psychological theories on sexuality, gay and lesbian liberation, and feminism; and the history of the Christian Right” (11). This results in a tension between a compassionate rendering of the subjects’ worldview and demonstrating the negative affects the ex-gay movement has on political and social realities of homosexuals.
November 3, 2011
Erzen spent a year with an ex-gay residential program called New Hope in California. She combines her ethnographic work there with an overall analysis of the larger movement in context of the larger Christian right and the pro-gay movement. She also explains how New Hope differs from other programs, such as Love in Action and how it borrows heavily from the larger self-help motif in a Christainized way. Though her own bias is clear she does an admirable job of attempting to make sense of the motives and experiences of the men in the program. The upshot is what you'd probably expect, low success at total 'conversion' to heterosexuality and serious falls for those who seemed to reach the pinnacle- leadership positions in the group and marriage. The overall mood has to be bittersweet for the men (she explains how women are relatively ignored in the movement) who realize at the end of their year of intensive work that they still are attracted to men and likely face a lifelong fight if they wish to remain in the conservative Christian camp.
May 21, 2012
I read this book for a seminar in queer studies. I thought that it was interesting because the author takes a fairly sympathetic view to the group she observes but also notes the anachronisms present. It's also a topic that is of particular interest to me and the book hit close to home for personal reasons.
May 28, 2013
I read it as course-literature in social anthropology and it's truly an interesting piece of field-work in that sense! The author gives a non-believers perspective on a very religious community that focuses mainly on changing men from gay to receiving an 'ex-gay' identity. Sometimes the environment is just a little too crazy.
August 13, 2016
While I don't agree with the Ex-Gay movement, I found this look into the history and operation of the movement to be fascinating. Erzen did a fantastic job of weaving together anecdotes with history and I found the personal narratives to be touching. For anyone trying to understand the Christian Right's perspective on homosexuality, this is a must read.
November 24, 2015
A very well written and insightful book about a very complicated subject. Dr Erzen made very good use of the time she spent with the ex-gay ministries and manages to expose the movement and it's successes and failures without sounding too judgmental.
August 3, 2007
Ethnography about the ex-gay movement.
March 21, 2013
I definitely liked this book and found it compelling, but I could be a little biased since I kind of adore Tanya.
April 2, 2011
I had no idea about the ex-gay movement. It was really ineresting and thought-provoking.
January 4, 2013
Very thought-provoking and at the same time disheartening. I recommend this book, especially to Christians.
Read
February 28, 2014306.66183 E739 2006
April 25, 2016
This is a solid ethnography of the ex-gay movement. It is painful to read and dates itself because of the constantly shifting terrain, but it is illuminating nonetheless.
December 30, 2016
Heartbreaking, mandatory reading, especially considering who's moving into office soon.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews