Brothers on a Road Less Traveled
{{Short description|American nonprofit organization for men seeking to reduce unwanted same-sex attraction}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Brothers Road
| image = Brothers Road Logo.png
| full name = Brothers on a Road Less Traveled
| named_after = "The Road Not Taken"
| founders = Rich Wyler, Dave Matheson
| type = Educational Organization
| headquarters = Ruckersville, Virginia, USA
| founded_date = {{start date and age|2000}}
| area_served = Worldwide
| purpose = Support men wanting to attempt to decrease unwanted homosexual attractions, and increase heterosexual attractions
| merger =
| tax_id = 54-2056275{{Cite web |title=Brothers On A Road Less Traveled Inc |url=https://eintaxid.com/company/542056275-brothers-on-a-road-less-traveled-inc/ |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=eintaxid.com}}
| num_volunteers =
| volunteers_year =
| former name = People Can Change (until 2016)
| homepage = {{URL|https://BrothersRoad.org/}} (formerly [https://web.archive.org/web/20160922230329/http://www.peoplecanchange.com/ PeopleCanChange.com])
| subsidiaries = Journey Into Manhood
| affiliations =
}}
Brothers on a Road Less Traveled is an American nonprofit organization{{cite web|url=https://www.taxexemptworld.com/organization.asp?tn=358769|title=Brothers On A Road Less Traveled Inc 501C3 Nonprofit Organization Information|work=TaxExemptWorld.com|access-date=August 28, 2018}} supporting men who wish to reduce or eliminate their homosexual desires.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/us/politics/mike-pence-and-conversion-therapy-a-history.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Mike Pence and 'Conversion Therapy': A History|last=Stack|first=Liam|date=2016-11-30|access-date=2018-08-28}}{{cite web|url=http://www.brothersroad.org/about/mission/|title=Mission & Vision|work=BrothersRoad.org|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018192013/http://www.brothersroad.org:80/about/mission/|archive-date=October 18, 2018 |url-status=dead|quote=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.}} Formerly known as People Can Change (PCC),{{cite web|url=http://www.brothersroad.org/namechange/|title=We've Changed Our Name!|work=BrothersRoad.org|access-date=2018-08-31}} the organization was founded in 2000, and is sometimes called Brothers Road (BR).{{cite news|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2979919&itype=CMSID|title=Conversion therapies don't work, experts say, so why do gay Mormons still seek them out?|last=Fletcher Stack|first=Peggy |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack|work=Salt Lake Tribune|date=2015-10-01|access-date=2018-08-31}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Sottile |first=Leah |date=2019-10-01 |title=Every week in church, I'm going, 'Can I come out?' |work=The California Sunday Magazine |url=https://story.californiasunday.com/escape-gay-conversion |access-date=2023-06-03}}
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.{{cite news |first= Deborah|last= Bulkeley|title= Ex-gay man says change possible: But reparative therapy remains controversial|url= http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595084123,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040816031909/http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595084123,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 16, 2004|publisher= Deseret Morning News|date= 2004-08-13|accessdate=2007-10-01}} Both men had ties to the now-defunct, ex-gay LDS organization Evergreen International.{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Joanna |author-link=Joanna Brooks |date=2011-08-05 |title='Ex-Gay' NPR Report Closets Mormon Side of the Story |work=Religion Dispatches |url=https://religiondispatches.org/ex-gay-npr-report-closets-mormon-side-of-the-story/ |access-date=2023-05-31}}{{Cite news |last=Shulleeta |first=Brandon |date=2010-07-11 |title=Gay-to-straight camp run by local man praised, panned |work=The Daily Progress |location=Charlottesville, Virginia |url=https://dailyprogress.com/news/gay-to-straight-camp-run-by-local-man-praised-panned/article_b1ae3d82-ccf1-5bb4-bc59-0cf422bba5d8.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309133651/https://dailyprogress.com/news/gay-to-straight-camp-run-by-local-man-praised-panned/article_b1ae3d82-ccf1-5bb4-bc59-0cf422bba5d8.html |archive-date=March 9, 2022 |via=Internet Archive}}{{citation |url= http://www.evergreeninternational.org/wyler_longer_version.htm |contribution= A Mighty Change of Heart |first= Rich |last= Wyler |title= Evergreen International 17th Annual Conference |date= September 21, 2007 |location= Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Salt Lake City, Utah |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120724195901/http://www.evergreeninternational.org/wyler_longer_version.htm |publisher=Evergreen International |archive-date= 24 July 2012|url-status=usurped |via=Internet Archive}} In 2016, PCC changed its name to Brothers on a Road Less Traveled.{{cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4958558,00.html|work=YNetNews.com|title=An inside look into 'sexual orientation conversion therapy'|last=Yanko|first=Yadir|date=2017-05-08|access-date=2018-08-31}}
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.{{cite news|author-link=Warren Olney (journalist)|last=Olney| first=Warren| url=http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp/tp070301the_stock-market_sel |title=To Be or Not to Be...Gay| work=To the Point |publisher=KCRW| date=March 3, 2007}} Many mental health organizations have criticized conversion therapy.{{cite web|title=Policy and Position Statements on Conversion Therapy|url=http://www.hrc.org/resources/policy-and-position-statements-on-conversion-therapy|website=Human Rights Campaign|access-date=12 April 2017}}{{Cite web |date=December 2021 |title=Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK |url=https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/media/cptnc5qm/mou2.pdf |publisher=United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy}} Though BR seeks to diminish same-sex attractions, it "does not identify as an organisation for gay conversion therapy."{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35893729|work=BBC|title=Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy|last=Lace-Evans|first=Olivia|date=2016-03-30 |access-date=2018-08-31}} However, Mathew Shurka--the co-founder of Born Perfect--has asserted that Brothers Road and other groups like it are "repackaging" conversion therapy.{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/gay-conversion-therapy-survivors-speak-out-its-torture |title=Gay Conversion Therapy Survivors Speak Out: 'It's Torture' |work=Daily Beast |last=Teeman |first=Tim |date=December 1, 2020}} 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".{{Cite web |title=Mission & Vision |url=https://brothersroad.org/mission-vision/ |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=Brothers on a Road Less Traveled}} Men who try to avoid same-sex relationships and seek opposite-sex ones often do so because of religious beliefs.{{Cite news |last=Gerber |first=Lynne |date=2011-08-08 |title=Ex-Gay Conversion Therapy: Choosing Religion Over Sex |work=Religion Dispatches |url=https://religiondispatches.org/ex-gay-conversion-therapy-choosing-religion-over-sex/ |access-date=2023-06-03}}
Programs
The Journey Into Manhood (JiM) weekend is an ex-gay program offered by BR.{{Cite news |last=Throckmorton |first=Warren |date=2011-08-01 |title=NPR Report on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy Omits Crucial Details of Source's 'Journey Into Manhood' |work=Religion Dispatches |url=https://religiondispatches.org/npr-report-on-ex-gay-therapy-omits-crucial-details-of-sources-journey-into-manhood/ |access-date=2023-05-31}}{{Cite magazine |date=10 September 2019 |title=Out of the Darkness: Conversion Therapist Quits 'Ex-Gay' Movement |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2019/out-darkness-conversion-therapist-quits-ex-gay-movement |magazine=The Intelligence Report |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=2023-05-31}} The JiM weekend was founded in 2002 by Rich Wyler and counselor David Matheson.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/gay-straight-retreat-helps-men-deal-unwanted-feelings/story?id=12005242|title=From Gay to Straight? Controversial Retreat Helps Men Deal With 'Unwanted Attraction' |last1=Owens|first1=Ryan|last2=Patria|first2=Melia|work=ABC News |date=2010-11-08|access-date=2018-08-31}} The JiM weekend lasts for 48 hours and includes psychodrama, visualizations, role-playing, and team-building exercises. 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." "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." In 2017, Wyler stated that Journey into Manhood weekend participants must be 21 years of age and must attend the program voluntarily;{{cite news|url=http://www.azfamily.com/story/36469520/new-ban-on-conversion-therapy-for-gay-teens-in-arizona|title=New ban on conversion therapy for gay teens in Arizona |last=Crites|first=Nicole |publisher=KTVK Arizona's Family|date=2017-09-29|access-date=2018-08-31}} previously attendees were as young as 18.
JiM weekends also include an activity that PCC has described as "safe healing touch"{{Cite news |last=Cox |first=Ted |date=2011-08-04 |title=Touch Me, Man, I'm Healed, I'm Straight |work=Religion Dispatches |url=https://religiondispatches.org/touch-me-man-im-healed-im-straight/ |access-date=2023-06-03}} or "'father-son-style holding'". 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." Wyler has defended the practice as "touch[ing] a core unmet need from childhood."
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.mic.com/articles/120562/handcuffs-baby-powder-duct-tape-the-most-jaw-dropping-conversion-therapy-practices |title=Handcuffs, Baby Powder & Duct Tape: The Most Jaw-Dropping "Conversion Therapy" Practices |website=mic.com|last=Bixby |first=Scott|date=June 15, 2015|access-date=August 25, 2023}}
Some attendees of Brothers Road programs have later spoken out against the organization{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35893729|title=Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy|last=Lace-Evans|first=Olivia |work=BBC News |date=March 30, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a47144/gay-conversion-therapy-gop-2016/|title=I Spent Seven Years in Gay Conversion Therapy Programs Before Breaking Free|date=July 28, 2016|website=Esquire}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mic.com/articles/120562/handcuffs-baby-powder-duct-tape-the-most-jaw-dropping-conversion-therapy-practices|title=Handcuffs, Baby Powder & Duct Tape: The Most Jaw-Dropping "Conversion Therapy" Practices|date=June 15, 2015|website=Mic}} but others have spoken favorably about their experience.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2036479&itype=CMSID|title=Utahns in 'My Husband's Not Gay' promote discredited 'conversion therapy'|website=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=January 12, 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/us/ex-gay-men-fight-view-that-homosexuality-cant-be-changed.html |title='Ex-Gay' Men Fight Back Against View That Homosexuality Can't Be Changed |work=The New York Times |date=October 31, 2012 |last=Eckholm |first=Eric }}
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".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/24/gay-conversion-therapy-legal-challenge-virginia|work=The Guardian |title='Gay-conversion therapy' faces new legal challenge in Virginia|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|date=2016-02-16|access-date=2018-08-31}}
In a March 2016 statement, the World Psychiatric Association asserted that there "is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed". 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".
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/once-prominent-conversion-therapist-will-now-pursue-life-gay-man-n961766|title=Once-prominent 'conversion therapist' will now 'pursue life as a gay man'|website=NBC News|access-date=2019-02-19|date=23 Jan 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/david-matheson-former-gay-conversion-therapy-advocate-comes-out|title=Man who worked as top 'conversion therapist' comes out as gay|last=Holpuch|first=Amanda|date=2019-01-25|work= The Guardian |access-date=2019-02-19 |issn=0261-3077}}
See also
{{portal|LGBTQ|Human sexuality}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.brothersroad.org/ Official website]