| Action | Unprofessional conduct/conversion therapy |
| Stage | NOIRA |
| Comment Period | Ended on 8/7/2019 |
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I realized I had to make substantial changes in my life. I realized I couldn’t stay in my marriage any longer. And I realized that it was time for me to affirm myself as gay,” David Matheson wrote. Matheson, who was married to a woman for 34 years and is now divorced, also confirmed that he is now dating men.
Matheson acknowledged his work has hurt some people. To those who feel harmed by his past work, he relayed a message: "I unequivocally apologize".
Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen, a longtime anti-conversion-therapy activist and former investigative journalist, referred to Matheson as a figure who many in the “conversion therapy” movement looked to as “the intellectual godfather.” “When they wanted an expert, they would go to him,” Besen said, “and when your expert is now coming out of the closet and dating men, I think that speaks volumes about how reparative therapy is damaging and ineffective.”
“I would like to see someone more contrite and willing to reach out and help the people whose lives he’s ruined,” Besen said. “I’d also like to see him consider refunding the money to the people that he bilked out of their paychecks for therapy that clearly wasn’t even working for himself.”
Matheson is far from the only ‘ex-gay therapist’ who has either come out as gay or been exposed for living a double life. In 2000, “conversion therapy” advocate and “success story” John Paulk was photographed at a Washington D.C. gay bar; a decade later he issued a formal apology for his “ex-gay” past. Alan Chambers, former president of the now defunct “conversion therapy” organization Exodus International, apologized to the LGBTQ community in 2013 after he acknowledged he was attracted to men. And just two months ago, Truth Wins Out exposed “ex-gay therapist” Norman Goldwasser after it allegedly discovered him soliciting men on gay dating apps.
“It’s a whole different world, and what really makes me happy about it is how congruent it feels to me now,” Matheson explained. “It feels like I’m in the right place.”