David Matheson Biography – Who is David Matheson?
David Matheson is a former gay cure therapist from Utah. He came out as gay in January 20, 2019 and has since backed up calls to ban the practice.
Matheson is known for being among the led planners of conversion therapy. They set up the Mormon Journey into Manhood program that is in line with church teachings that direct gay people to repress their feelings and marry someone of the opposite sex.
David Matheson Family
Matheson grew up in the Mormon, hence, from a young age, he became a homophobia and later became a ‘conversion therapist’. He syas that the practice helped him deal with his own same-sex attractions as a youth. He is a devout Mormon and is not renouncing his faith.
David Matheson Wife
Matheson was married for 34 years before he came out as gay, consequently announcing his divorce. He says that he is now done with suppressing his feelings.
David Matheson Boyfriend
Matheson came out as a gay man and he is looking for a boyfriend. In a Facebook post, he wrote “an intimate relationship with a man [is] no longer something I [want] to avoid” and that it has instead “become a non-negotiable need.”
David Matheson Gay Cure Therapy
Gay Cure Therapy is a practice meant to try and change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual using psychological or spiritual interventions.
It is a banned practice in several jurisdictions like Oceania, Europe, Asica and the Americas. This is because there are concerns over the efficay, validity and ethics of the conversion therapy. In the U.S., performing the practice on minors is banned in 15 states and the District of Columbia, but Republican lawmakers have often stood in the way of such laws in a number of Republican-controlled states. Those who identify with the GOP ideologies have also failed to back federal legislation on the issue.
The Gay Cure Therapy-turned-homosexual, was trained under Joseph Nicolosi of National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Nicolosi is regarded as the architect of gay cure therapy. He spear headed the efforts to bring out ideas such as God is not okay with people being gay and that being gay is a pathhlogy, a disorder.
He has however came out and rebuked his earlier words and work saying it was harmful. He says, “I repudiate the idea that therapy can and should be used to change a person’s sexual orientation because it just can’t.
“I think back on things I created and I want to crawl into myself, because I there’s a sense of, oh my gosh, I used to think that was a good idea.”
“I do regret my part in propagating that view because I was in a sense kind of an agent of a repressive culture and that makes me really uncomfortable.”
He went on to state that those still doing that king of thing need to stop. He says that he discovered that he has homophobia and will still have stigmas about gay people.
David Matheson Interview
David Matheson News
Former gay cure leader (David Matheson) backs calls for a ban, after admitting he’s gay
Published: January 31st 2019
Former gay cure therapist David Matheson, who recently came out as gay, has backed called for the practice to be banned.
David Matheson was one of the architects of conversion therapy, setting up the Mormon Journey into Manhood program in line with church teachings that direct gay people to repress their feelings and marry someone of the opposite sex.
In an interview with Channel 4 News on Thursday (January 31), Matheson said he regrets his past work and thinks the practice should be banned. He said: “I regret my part in perpetuating those ideas. Perpetuating the idea that being gay is a pathology, a disorder. Perpetuating the idea that God is not okay with people being gay. That I regret… it held me back and it held lot of other people back.
Asked if he was sorry for causing hurt to others, Matheson said: “Are you kidding? It is horrifying to think that I was part of a system that held people like me down and I’ve had some conversations with other people who have been harmed by it. It creates a lot of sorrow.”
He added: “Any therapy that is based on the idea that being gay is a psychological disorder, which it’s not, that believes that being gay is wrong or bad, which it’s not, and that it can be changed and ought to be changed.
“Any therapy based on that idea has a great potential to harming people, and that kind of therapy should be stopped.”
He was influential in spreading the idea of conversion therapy and forming its most fundamental ideas, but now says his work was harmful.
Matheson said: “I repudiate the idea that therapy can and should be used to change a person’s sexual orientation because it just can’t.
“I think back on things I created and I want to crawl into myself, because I there’s a sense of, oh my gosh, I used to think that was a good idea.”
“I do regret my part in propagating that view because I was in a sense kind of an agent of a repressive culture and that makes me really uncomfortable.”
Matheson added: “One of the really uncomfortable things that I’ve been discovering, is my own homophobia.
“As I look back I see that I clearly had lots of homophobia. I will still have these stigmas about gay people.
“I will learn someone is gay and I will still have this thought, this homophobic thought – and I’m like ‘Dave that’s you too’.”
Adopted from: pinknews.co.uk