Brothers on a Road Less Traveled

Brothers on a Road Less Traveled is an American nonprofit organization[7] supporting men who wish to reduce or eliminate their homosexual desires.[3][4] Formerly known as People Can Change (PCC),[6][8] the organization was founded in 2000, and is sometimes called Brothers Road (BR).[9] It runs the Journey Into Manhood program. The organization and program are controversial and have been alleged to be consumer fraud in a 2016 complaint made to the Federal Trade Commission. For decades, Brothers Road co-founder David Matheson was one of the nation's leading conversion therapists, but in 2019 he left the organization to date men.[10][11]

Brothers Road
Brothers on a Road Less Traveled
Named after"The Road Not Taken"
Founded2000 (2000)[1]
FoundersRich Wyler, Dave Matheson
TypeEducational Organization[2]
54-2056275[2]
PurposeSupport men wanting to attempt to decrease unwanted homosexual attractions, and increase heterosexual attractions[3][4][5]
HeadquartersRuckersville, Virginia, USA[2]
Area served
Worldwide
SubsidiariesJourney Into Manhood
Websitebrothersroad.org (formerly PeopleCanChange.com)
Formerly called
People Can Change (until 2016)[6]

Formation and purpose

People Can Change was founded in 2000 by two Mormon men, Rich Wyler and David Matheson, based upon principles of reparative (conversion) therapy.[1] Both men had ties to the now-defunct, ex-gay LDS organization Evergreen International.[12][13][14] In 2016, PCC changed its name to Brothers on a Road Less Traveled.[6]

In a 2007 interview, Wyler explained that the organization's purpose is to help men find peace and fulfillment in their lives; while Wyler states that some men may find peace and fulfillment in a gay identity, he contends that other men with homosexual attractions have found fulfillment in celibacy or in heterosexual relationships.[15] Many mental health organizations have criticized conversion therapy.[16][17] Though BR seeks to diminish same-sex attractions, it "does not identify as an organisation for gay conversion therapy."[18] However, Matthew Shurka--the co-founder of Born Perfect--has asserted that Brothers Road and other groups like it are "repackaging" conversion therapy.[19] The Brothers Road website states that BR "especially support[s] ... Men who want to explore affirming ways to lessen the distress, intensity, or frequency of any same-sex attractions" and "align their sexual and romantic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with their own core values".[5][4] Men who try to avoid same-sex relationships and seek opposite-sex ones often do so because of religious beliefs.[20]

Programs

The Journey Into Manhood (JiM) weekend is an ex-gay program offered by BR.[21][22][23] The JiM weekend was founded in 2002 by Rich Wyler and counselor David Matheson.[23][9] The JiM weekend lasts for 48 hours and includes psychodrama,[9] visualizations, role-playing, and team-building exercises.[23] Journeyers "are taught that their same-sex attractions are rooted in childhood traumas that pulled them away from male figures" and that to experience sexual orientation change, they "need to fulfill their needs for male attention through non-sexual platonic bonding."[23] "The founders do not promise [attendees] they will transition from being gay to straight [overnight], but the overall goal is to give the men a foundation so they can work on making the change over time."[23] In 2017, Wyler stated that Journey into Manhood weekend participants must be 21 years of age and must attend the program voluntarily;[24] previously attendees were as young as 18.[23]

JiM weekends also include an activity that PCC has described as "safe healing touch"[9][21][25] or "'father-son-style holding'".[23] Dr. Jack Drescher of the American Psychiatric Association has stated that "there is no scientific evidence that 'healthy touch' exercises can help diminish same-sex attractions."[23] Wyler has defended the practice as "touch[ing] a core unmet need from childhood."[23]

Witnesses testified about Brothers Road programs in Ferguson v. JONAH, a lawsuit in which a New Jersey jury found that conversion therapy constituted consumer fraud.[26]

Some attendees of Brothers Road programs have later spoken out against the organization[27][28][29][23] but others have spoken favorably about their experience.[30][9][31]

2016 Federal Trade Commission complaint

In February 2016, Brothers Road (then PCC) was "reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and accused of breaking the prohibition on unfair and deceptive acts" by engaging in sexual orientation change efforts. The complaint alleged that PCC "defraud[ed] consumers into believing that being gay is tantamount to a mental illness or defect", and added that various mental health organizations had debunked that belief. The complaint was filed on behalf of "a coalition of LGBT and human rights groups", "including the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center".[32]

In a March 2016 statement, the World Psychiatric Association asserted that there "is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed".[18] Brothers Road co-founder Rich Wyler called the FTC complaint an "act of hate and vicious bullying against our community of adult men—gay, bi-sexual, ex-gay and same-sex attracted men [that] choose to not identify as gay".[32]

Exit of David Matheson

In January 2019, Journey Into Manhood co-founder David Matheson announced that he was disaffiliating from BR and the LDS Church and dating men.[10][33]

See also

References
  1. Bulkeley, Deborah (August 13, 2004). "Ex-gay man says change possible: But reparative therapy remains controversial". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
  2. "Brothers On A Road Less Traveled Inc". eintaxid.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  3. Stack, Liam (November 30, 2016). "Mike Pence and 'Conversion Therapy': A History". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  4. "Mission & Vision". BrothersRoad.org. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018. We especially support men who choose to voluntarily explore the possibilities for minimizing their erotic or romantic responses to other men, and/or increasing their sexual or romantic interests in women, to the extent possible.
  5. "Mission & Vision". Brothers on a Road Less Traveled. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  6. Yanko, Yadir (May 8, 2017). "An inside look into 'sexual orientation conversion therapy'". YNetNews.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  7. "Brothers On A Road Less Traveled Inc 501C3 Nonprofit Organization Information". TaxExemptWorld.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  8. "We've Changed Our Name!". BrothersRoad.org. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  9. Fletcher Stack, Peggy (October 1, 2015). "Conversion therapies don't work, experts say, so why do gay Mormons still seek them out?". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  10. "Once-prominent 'conversion therapist' will now 'pursue life as a gay man'". NBC News. January 23, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  11. Sottile, Leah (October 1, 2019). "Every week in church, I'm going, 'Can I come out?'". The California Sunday Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  12. Brooks, Joanna (August 5, 2011). "'Ex-Gay' NPR Report Closets Mormon Side of the Story". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  13. Shulleeta, Brandon (July 11, 2010). "Gay-to-straight camp run by local man praised, panned". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  14. Wyler, Rich (September 21, 2007), "A Mighty Change of Heart", Evergreen International 17th Annual Conference, Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Salt Lake City, Utah: Evergreen International, archived from the original on July 24, 2012 – via Internet Archive
  15. Olney, Warren (March 3, 2007). "To Be or Not to Be...Gay". To the Point. KCRW.
  16. "Policy and Position Statements on Conversion Therapy". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  17. "Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK" (PDF). United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. December 2021.
  18. Lace-Evans, Olivia (March 30, 2016). "Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy". BBC. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  19. Teeman, Tim (December 1, 2020). "Gay Conversion Therapy Survivors Speak Out: 'It's Torture'". Daily Beast.
  20. Gerber, Lynne (August 8, 2011). "Ex-Gay Conversion Therapy: Choosing Religion Over Sex". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  21. Throckmorton, Warren (August 1, 2011). "NPR Report on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy Omits Crucial Details of Source's 'Journey Into Manhood'". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  22. "Out of the Darkness: Conversion Therapist Quits 'Ex-Gay' Movement". The Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. September 10, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  23. Owens, Ryan; Patria, Melia (November 8, 2010). "From Gay to Straight? Controversial Retreat Helps Men Deal With 'Unwanted Attraction'". ABC News. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  24. Crites, Nicole (September 29, 2017). "New ban on conversion therapy for gay teens in Arizona". KTVK Arizona's Family. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  25. Cox, Ted (August 4, 2011). "Touch Me, Man, I'm Healed, I'm Straight". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  26. Bixby, Scott (June 15, 2015). "Handcuffs, Baby Powder & Duct Tape: The Most Jaw-Dropping "Conversion Therapy" Practices". mic.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  27. Lace-Evans, Olivia (March 30, 2016). "Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy" – via www.bbc.com.
  28. "I Spent Seven Years in Gay Conversion Therapy Programs Before Breaking Free". Esquire. July 28, 2016.
  29. "Handcuffs, Baby Powder & Duct Tape: The Most Jaw-Dropping "Conversion Therapy" Practices". Mic. June 15, 2015.
  30. "Utahns in 'My Husband's Not Gay' promote discredited 'conversion therapy'". The Salt Lake Tribune. January 12, 2015.
  31. Eckholm, Eric (October 31, 2012). "'Ex-Gay' Men Fight Back Against View That Homosexuality Can't Be Changed". The New York Times.
  32. Pilkington, Ed (February 16, 2016). "'Gay-conversion therapy' faces new legal challenge in Virginia". The Guardian. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  33. Holpuch, Amanda (January 25, 2019). "Man who worked as top 'conversion therapist' comes out as gay". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
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