Dr. Jallen Rix, co-facilitator of Beyond Ex-Gay, an online resource for people who suffered harm as a result of trying to change and suppress their sexual orientation or gender difference, spent a lot of time listening to former ex-gays. He shares scores of stories in his book Ex-Gay No Way! Survival and Recovery from Religious Abuse. He recently compiled short but powerful messages from those of us who endured anti-gay therapies and ministries. He writes:
It seems that the Ex-Gay Movement continues to be oblivious to the harm they are causing. Here’s just a few tweets that came in since Friday morning. They reveal some of the harm ex-gay survivors have faced and have had to overcome. Each tweet was tagged #exgaysurvivor
Broken by ex-gay survivor Jason T. Ingram
Whenever I make a mistake, I still fight the voice in my head that tells me it’s because I’m evil and possessed by a demon – @cylestnichole
After my gay-related exorcism, the only thing that went away was my love for myself – @vcervantes
My family was deeply wounded by Exodus International staff – @p2son
Has barely begun to scratch the surface of the ways they have been harmed by their ex-gay past… it is all too painful... – @never_again4
In ex-gay ministry, I was told if I wasn’t changing to str8t then I wasn’t trying hard enough – @gaysexpert
The twisted Emotionally Dependent Relationship teaching is an invasive species that digs into the brain. Awful – @MJaneB65
The thing is, the silent or implied messages were often more insidious than the direct and explicit ones. – @JarredH
I became depressed and suicidal after ex gay therapy. – @jeraskew1
Never would I have considered that there was a problem with the system. I was made to believe I WAS the problem – @gaysexpert
Being told not to form Emotionally Dependent Relationships kept me in fear of love. http://t.co/97hetHL – @MJaneB65
It was awful because so often ex-gay leaders blamed ME for not trying hard enough or trusting Jesus – @p2son
The only time I’ve ever felt separated from God was during my ex-gay experience – @cylestnichole
I was told that if I was gay, God would utterly reject me – @gaysexpert
God is not the author of confusion, but of love. My time in reparative therapy produced nothing but confusion and hate – @never_again4
They told me that I had gay demons. Then that abuse made me gay. Then my parents failed. #exgay ministers misled me -@p2son
They told me my “boy” was too much and my “girl” was not enough. I became nothing. @MJaneB65
college sent me to ex-gay therapy & all I got was a hospital bill after trying to kill myself bc they told me I was sick&sinful – @never_again4
After 10 years of reparative therapy I was hospitalized because I was suicidal – @MJaneB65
Actual Suicide note: “God would rather have me die now than to live with another gay thought.” – @gaysexpert
‘Love Won Out’ came to my college. After that, I attempted suicide 3 times within one year. I never told any of my friends – @cylestnichole
My counselors didn’t believe I existed. And, like Tinkerbell, poison and disbelief almost killed me. I do believe in fairies! – @connoley
Art by Ex-Gay Survivor, Christine Bakke
Do you have experiences of ex-gay harm? Tweet yours by using the hash tag: #exgaysurvivor
Peterson Toscano's A Musing 
One of the quotes you list says that “I wasn’t changing to str8t then I wasn’t trying hard enough”; just as I have frequently heard that if you are not healed by prayer, it is because you do not have enough faith. Why do we always have to inflict guilt in the name of Jesus, who only shared compassion and forgiveness? Who are these people who dictate to God what is right and wrong?
Yeah, if the “treatment” doesn’t work, they question the patient not the cure or the physician. I shouldn’t use medical terminology lest I mislead people about most ex-gay programs. The head of Exodus, Alan Chambers, the long time director of Love in Action, John Smid, hold no degree higher than a high school diploma. They have not studied psychology, sexuality, counseling, or even theology. They are unlicensed. In other words, they are woefully ignorant of the needs of their clients. They set themselves up to fail. Yet, Exodus does not question its methods. They blame the victim.
Such amazingly strong people I am humbled by their openness.
And I am moved deeply by your own.