Sy Rogers, Advocate of So-Called 'Conversion Therapy' and 'Ex-Gays,' Dead at 63

Sy Rogers, a preacher who formerly identified as gay and trans before embracing so-called "conversion therapy" and claiming to be an "ex-gay," had been battling kidney cancer for a long time. Tragically, Rogers lost that battle, dying on April 19, report multiple media sources.

The preacher was, for a time, the head of infamous "ex-gay" organization Exodus International, a group that disbanded in 2012.

The leader of Exodus International when it shuttered was Alan Chambers, who stepped away from the group and its mission and declared that "conversion therapy" is not actually helpful. Chambers publicly apologized for his role in promulgating the pseudo-scientific practice, which reputable mental health professionals have warned is both ineffective and potentially harmful to people who enter such programs looking for fundamental shifts to their innate identity that are simply not possible.

The "ex-gay" movement has seen a host of high-profile defections - indeed, an "Exodus" of a different sort, as people attempting to wish away their authentic selves have come full circle and accepted who they really are. In 2014, nine former leaders of the 'ex-gay' movement put their names to an open letter of apology.

That letter read, in part:

"We know first-hand the terrible emotional and spiritual damage it can cause, especially for LGBT youth.

"We once believed that there was something morally wrong and psychologically 'broken' about being LGBT. We know better now."

More recently, former "Love in Action" leader - and Exodus International leader - John Smid has been active at an international level, warning of the harm he has seen so-called "conversion therapy" wreak among the vulnerable.

In an interview last year on the Australian version of "60 Minutes," with presenter Sarah Abo, Smid decried the essential message of the "ex-gay" movement, which is that men and women who are not heterosexual are in some way incomplete or pathologically afflicted. He also addressed a fundamental flaw in "conversion therapy" programs - namely, that prayer and psychology do not necessarily mix in constructive ways.

Smid told "60 Minutes" that those practicing "conversion therapy" believe that they have "the authority of the Bible" behind them. But, he added, the result of their efforts is not necessarily compatible with human health.

"We did not admit or come to grips with how deeply harmful it is when you start working with someone's psyche," Smid told Abo.

Another formerly prominent leader of the "ex-gay" movement, McKrae Game, told EDGE last year that the long-term cost of pursuing an inauthentic sexuality caused him to suffer what he thought was an "anxiety disorder," but that once he embraced authenticity that all changed: "Now that I have allowed myself to accept who I am, my stressors and anxiety are gone. Now I have an inner peace.

Meantime, reputable mental health professionals say that human sexuality is inborn, and not changeable.

Bisexual people might be able to "choose" which gender on which to focus their romantic attention, but gay and lesbian people are no more likely to be able to "choose" heterosexuality than straight people are capable of simply "choosing" to be gay.

While the anti-LGBTQ right continues to promote so-called "conversion therapy" - its adherents include the current vice president, Mike Pence, onetime governor of Indiana - much of the rest of America has woken up to the harm that the quack practice can do.

Last month, Virginia became the 20th state to ban inflicting the practice on minors, in a law that will take effect July 1.

Canada is now considering a nationwide ban on the practice both on minors and on 'non-consenting adults' who might otherwise be forced into such programs.

There is no similar protection for at-risk LGBTQ youth at the federal level.

Indeed, federal law has almost no protections in place for LGBTQ people, and the current administration has gone out of its way to roll back what progress the non-heterosexual community has made. Among other recent attacks on LGBTQ Americans, the Trump administration has thrown its weight behind efforts to exclude sexual minorities from existing workplace protections.

Media accounts took note of indications the Rogers may have softened his message and adopted a more nuanced approach to the subject of human sexuality. A key piece of evidence for this theory is a personal communication that Rogers allegedly shared with Anthony Venn-Brown, who advocates against so-called "conversion therapy." Claimed Venn-Brown in a 2017 post at Ambassadors and Bridge Builders International:

I first met with Sy in 2007 when he responded to my request for a meeting. He was presenting his Sense and Sexuality seminar at Hillsong Church. When I spoke about my deep concern for young LGBT people growing up in Pentecostal and Evangelical churches, one of the things he said to me was "I no longer preach a re-orientation message" and proceeded to talk about the many years it had been since he had any involvement with Exodus International. Whilst it may have been true that he hadn't been involved at a leadership level for some time he did speak at the Exodus Freedom Conference in Marion, Indiana only the year before.

Sy's statement the night we met, "I no longer preach a re-orientation message" of course means I no longer preach that gay people can become straight.

Rogers is survived by his wife, Karen.