Founder Of Faith-Based Gay Conversion Therapy Programme Comes Out As Homosexual

A man who founded one of the largest conversion therapy programmes in the US has come out as gay.

McKrae Game set up the faith-based sexuality conversion program, Truth Ministry, in South Carolina in 1999.

Post and Courier

The programme - which was renamed Hope for Wholeness in 2013 - aims to eradicate LGBTQ+ sexuality through counselling and interventions, preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

But now 51-year-old Mr Game has admitted he is gay, two years after he was expelled from the organisation he spent two decades building.

Mr Game said he has more peace today than he ever did while he was involved with the organisation.

Speaking to Post and Courier, he said: "I struggled more so trying to deny [my attraction to men] than being able to accept my attractions and say, 'I am a gay man'.

"I was a hot mess for 26 years and I have more peace now than I ever did."

In truth, Mr Game's public announcement is long overdue, as he himself went to counselling when he was young in a bid to overcome his attraction to men. Unwilling to accept it, he got married and went on to establish Truth Ministry.

However, he has had a complete change of heart with regard to sexuality and conversion therapy.

He said: "When I started Truth Ministry, I believed the gay community and the world was lying about homosexuality and this whole subject. I felt like it was this big ruse and there was a lot of deceit. I was trying to tell the truth.

"Now, I think its the complete opposite. I believe ex-gay ministry is a lie; conversion therapy is not just a lie, it's very harmful, [especially] when it takes it to the point of, 'You need to change and here's a curriculum, here's how you do it, and you haven't changed yet, keep at it, it'll happen.'"

Post and Courier

Mr Game was raised in a baptist family, but from an early age classmates called him 'McGay' due to his feminine qualities.

He had his first sexual experience with a man when he was 18, however, such encounters had a huge impact on his mental health.

He said: "I was having ongoing panic attacks, and I had never experienced that before.

"Emotionally, I was freaking out. I was crying. I was internally pained.

"My brain was telling me, 'You're going in the wrong direction,' but my body was telling me otherwise."

But now, Mr Game's psychological demons are caused primarily by the hurt he spread through the Truth Ministry.

He said: "I was a religious zealot that hurt people. People said they attempted suicide over me and the things I said to them. People, I know, are in therapy because of me. Why would I want that to continue?

"So much of it is trying to change people and fix people. It's a lie and we have harmed generations of people. We've done wrong, we need to admit our wrongs, and do what we can do to stop the wrong from continuing to happen."

Topics: US News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey