Was geschieht während der Umpolungsversuche, die die Schwulenheiler christlicher Couleur fast überall auf der Welt anbieten?
My investigation began last spring, shortly after King’s [Michael King ist Professor am University College in London und hat herausgefunden, dass ein Sechstel der britischen Psychiater und Psychotherapeuten sich schon einmal an der Heilung von schwulen Menschen von ihrer sexuellen Orientierung versucht haben, StM] report was published, when an evangelical group held a conference in a central London church for therapists wanting to learn how to “reorient” their patients. I wanted to know who these therapists were, what happened during the treatment, and what effect it would have on the recipient. I posed as a potential client wanting to be cured.
Das Ganze begann mit einem Vortrag des berümt-berüchtigten Joseph Nicolosi, eines us-amerikanischen Psychologen, auf den sich die deutschen Evangelikalen und Schwulenheiler gerne berufen.
The keynote speaker is Dr Joseph Nicolosi, an American psychologist and the author of some of the movement’s core texts. He is the founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), one of the biggest international conversion organisations. He has a cropped beard and wears a crisp suit.
“Homosexual behaviour is always prompted by loneliness,” he tells the rapt audience with big gestures and a dramatic voice, “It’s a pathology, a struggle to connect with the male identity.”
Auf dieser Veranstaltung entstand der Kontakt zu zwei britischen Psychiatern, David und Lynn genannt, die sogenannte Konversionstherapien, das ist die verniedlichende Bezeichnung für Schwulenheilung, anbieten. Patrick nahm ihre Dienste in Anspruch.
Bei Lynn wird viel gebetet:
“Oh Father, we give you permission to work in Matthew’s life to bring complete light and healing into every part of his being.” After asking God to heal me, she opens her eyes. “I know the boundaries to keep within,” she says.
Und dann startet sie ihren Umpolversuch:
“Are you feeling quite lustful with the SSA [same sex attraction]?” she asks. I reply that I am – but not just lust. In my last relationship, I say, I felt profound love towards my boyfriend. “That needs to be broken,” she says. “There’s a darkness that’s very real that keeps you as its dog, but of course our God is more powerful than that.”
Lynne’s approach is two-pronged. She gives practical advice to intercept my sexual feelings towards men and, in keeping with Nicolosi’s theories, delves into my past to search for my “wounds”. These, she says, will explain why I turned to homosexuality.
She begins her wound hunt by asking about my family. I tell her that I have a close relationship with my parents and that they always gave me huge amounts of love, so I didn’t understand why Nicolosi says that homosexuality is caused by inadequate parenting. “Well, there was something happening within your family dynamics that led to your depression,” she says.
Lynne explains that people only identify as gay when they are already depressed. “There’s a confusion, there’s an anxiety, there’s a lot of pain,” she says. “Often the thought can be, ‘Oh I’m confused about my sexuality so I must be gay’.” She says that at the heart of homosexuality is a “deep isolation”, which is, she says, “where God needs to be”.
Damit Lynnes Gott helfen kann, müssen erstmal die Ursachen für Patricks Homosexualität gefunden werden. Vielleicht hat ihn seine Mutter zu sehr an ihren Busen gedrückt oder die Freimaurer sind schuld:
“Did you have a difficult birth?” she asks. No, I say. Why?
“It’s just something I have noticed. Often [with homosexuality] it is quite traumatic, the baby was put into intensive care and because of the separation from the mother there can be that lack of attachment.”
She moves on. “Any Freemasonry in the family?” No, I say, again asking her to elaborate. “Because that often encourages
Außerdem redet sie ihrem Opfer Probleme ein, die es nicht hat:
“But do you like yourself?” she asks, becoming impatient.
“I think I’m a good person,” I repeat.
“Yes that’s different though from ‘do you like yourself?’ Deep underneath this there’s other stuff we need to get to. I think you must have had quite a lot of bullying.” No, I say. “There was no sexual abuse?” she asks, leaning in and squinting again. No, I repeat. “I think it will be there,” she replies, dropping her voice to a concerned tone. “It does need to come to the surface.”
Schnell ein Gebet, das hilft bestimmt heilen:
And so, she prays for me again. “Father, we give you permission to bring to the surface some of the things that have happened over the years. Father, enable your love to pour into that place of isolation in that little boy, whatever age, we give you permission to go there, with your healing power and your light, go into those parts, open all the doors, and access each one with your light.”
Dann geht’s um praktische Maßnahmen. Patrick soll sich seinen Freunden entfremden und sich einem richtigen Männersport zuwenden:
She recommends that I distance myself from my gay friends and take up a sport such as rugby.
Rugby? War da nicht was? Thomas Garreth lässt grüßen!
Wichsen ist auch verboten und Männerbilder soll Patrick dem lieben Gott schicken:
I ask what I should do about masturbation – is it best to abstain completely? “It is, it definitely is,” she says. “It will be a battle, but the more you can say no to it, the stronger you get. The enemy is going to bombard you.”
She tells me what to say internally when I think about an attractive man: “Father I need help, I know it’s wrong, you have all the power over my thoughts and I give that image to you Father, and I ask that you will help me to put the right image in my mind.”
Bei der Gelegenheit heilt dieser Gott auch eventuelle HIV-Infektionen:
Lynne recommends I read a book called Setting Love in Order by Mario Bergner, an “ex-gay”. In it, he claims that through prayer he also managed to cure himself of HIV. So with prayer can an HIV-positive person really become negative? “Well the Lord heals, doesn’t he?” she replies.
Lynne betreibt ihre Scharlatanerie übrigens auf Kosten des britischen Gesundheitswesens:
“He can usually get four sessions with the practice, which are paid for by the NHS.”
David setzt bei seinen Heilungsversuchen weniger auf Gott, dafür auf moderne Technik. Sype und Webcam. Sein Grundansatz ist aber derselbe:
You have been wounded.
Davids Heilungsplan sieht so aus:
He recommends I join Christian men’s groups. “Often there are [for homosexuals] a lot of wounds around masculine community,” he explains. He also gives me “exercises” to do. These include standing in front of the mirror naked, touching and “affirming” myself. He makes another such suggestion. “A man may choose to go for a massage as a way of having healthy contact [with another man],” he says.
Spiegel und Massage – interessant!
Dann wird die Ursache für Patricks Homosexualität entdeckt:
“Tell me about your father.” I say that he was great, supportive and that we are very different. He is scientific and introverted, whereas I am more like my mother: creative, extrovert. This is a breakthrough.
“So in your mind there’s something that says, ‘I’m like mum, but dad’s over there, he’s different from me,’ so there hasn’t been that gender-affirming process. When puberty kicks in, those natural needs for masculinity become sexualised. Suddenly older men want to have sex with you, and it’s pretty intoxicating. That’s what’s lead you down the line of homosexuality.
Und wie kommt Patrick da wieder heraus? Nun, die Therapie ist folgende:
“Close your eyes and focus on that arousal you’re feeling down in your genitals,” he says. “I want you to hear, as a man, as I look at your body, I see strong shoulders and a strong chest, I see a man who has an attractive body and I want you just to notice the arousal you feel as you hear me talking about that. Imagine an energy and picture that energy as a colour, and make the brightness of the colour relate to the intensity of the sexual feeling, so you might be starting to get a bit of a hard on, you might be starting to feel an erection and that sexual energy, but I want you to just picture that as a coloured light. What colour would it be?”
Red, I say.
“I want you to imagine that red colour, that energy and listen to the affirmations that I see you as a strong, confident man, and I want you to move that red light from your genitals up into your chest to join that feeling of affirmation as a man, and as you breathe in that affirmation do you notice now what happens to the arousal?”
I tell him it’s still there. We’re at the end of the session.
Auch David weiß, wie er an das Geld seiner Opfer kommt:
“We use people’s private medical insurance,” he says.
Zwei Therapeuten, die offenbar in erster Linie hinter dem Geld ihrer Patienten her sind. Die eine brabbelt irgendwelches Zeug von ihrem Gott, der andere lässt seinen sexuellen Fantasien freien Lauf. Beide sind eine Gefahr für ihre Patienten.
Zusammenfassend lässt sich, volkstümlich formuliert, festhalten: Schwulenheiler haben einen an der Klatsche, und zwar ganz gewaltig!
***
Eine Übersetzung ins Deutsche des Artikels von Patrick Strudwick gibt es auf ExGay-Observer.
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Filed under: Glaube, Homophobie, UK
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