Former Mormon Conversion Therapist Comes Out as Gay

A former Mormon "gay cure" therapist has turned his back on saving homosexuals and decided to date them instead -- quite the pivot!

Matheson once ran a program called Journey into Manhood (no red flags there!) and aimed to help convert fellow ex-gays to the straight life. "My time in a straight marriage and in the 'ex-gay' world was genuine and sincere and a rich blessing to me. I wasn't faking it all those years. I'm not renouncing my past work or my LDS faith. And I'm not condemning mixed-orientation marriages. I continue to support the rights of individuals to choose how they will respond to their sexual attractions and identity," Matheson said in a statement through Truth Wins Out, an organization fighting so-called "ex-gay" groups.

"With that freedom, I am now choosing to pursue life as a gay man."

Matheson is a prolific author of ex-gay literature, including the book Becoming a Whole Man, which Amazon says "is the result of a six-year quest to understand and respond to the most difficult challenges facing men with unwanted homosexuality." Matheson also co-authored the paper "Holistic Therapy: A Comprehensive, Clinical Approach to the Treatment of SSA," which conflates homosexuality with a mental disorder and was co-authored by infamous conversion therapy monster advocate Norman Goldwasser.

"While I am pleased for Mr. Matheson that he has found a path forward for his life, I can't help but think of the hundreds if not thousands of people who are still stuck in the closet, a closet that was created in part by Mr. Matheson himself," said Chaim Levin, who attended Matheson's Journey Into Manhood program and was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against another conversion program Matheson was tied to. "I hope that Mr. Matheson will do whatever he can to rectify the harm that he's inflicted on many people in the LGBTQ community, myself included."