Bryce Faulkner; Another Young Gay Person Victimized by the “Ex-Gay” Industry.
The Pray-Away-the-Gay groups have been preying on young gay people and their desperate/intolerant parent$ for many years now. National headlines exposed how teens like Zachary Stark and D.J. Butler were forced into “ex-gay” camps by their parents and even subject to abuse in these programs.
Now another young gay man, Bryce Faulkner, has been coerced into participating in an “ex-gay” program by his parents who place religious dogma over the health and safety of their child. From the site Help Save Bryce:
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Bryce Faulkner is a bright young pre-med student who, like many in college, was totally dependent upon his parents for survival. His car, his cell phone, his education, even his job was all connected to his parents purse strings. Bryce was making plans to come out to his parents, but before he had the opportunity to carry out these plans, his mother found his email password and discovered communications between he and his lover Travis Of Green Bay, Wisconsin. As any person from the south, especially those whom have a conservative fundamentalist family and has come out of the closet knows, the family can become quite volatile in their reaction to the news. Bryce is no exception to this. In order to manipulate Bryce into accepting “treatment” for his homosexuality, they took away everything and left him the choice of becoming homeless and destitute or going into therapy. As anyone can imagine, this wasn’t much of a choice. Being in the closet in a small town left him no one to speak to or to seek help to get him through the transition from the closet and into the light of day. His family took away every resource he had and left him with no phone to call for help, a car to drive to any help that might be out there and no money to even take a bus to Wisconsin to be with his lover. The program he is going into is a 14 month program, one of the most severe and intense of these kinds of programs.Bryce and Travis love one another deeply. The very reason Bryce was going to come out of the closet was in order to move closer to Travis because they wish to spend the rest of their lives together. Anyone who loves another can understand the turmoil and deep pain Travis is feeling right now. Having someone you love manipulated into pretending the love you share is an affront to God and unacceptable. Being manipulated into being cloistered away for over a year of intense brain washing techniques that tell you your homosexuality is a choice, your love is unnatural and you will sent to a place of fire and brimstone unless you submit to their philosophical interpretation of theology. Anyone one who has even the slightest knowledge of programs like those offered by Exodus International (a group that believes homosexuality is a choice and can be changed through prayer and counseling) can be spiritually demoralizing, psychologically destructive and emotionally devastating. As a person who has had someone close to them go through this kind of treatment, I make it my mission to help anyone who is forced to go into this kind of misguided and ill-informed rehabilitation programs.
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Please send any information on his whereabouts to: savebryce@ergonomicalministries.org or use e-mail contact form.
There is also a Friends of Bryce Facebook Group. Reportedly there has been no contact from Bryce since he entered the 14-week “ex-gay” program and there is concern for his well-being.
To learn more about the “ex-gay” industry and “ex-gay” ministries visit Truth Wins Out
