{"id":18352,"date":"1998-09-25T13:08:52","date_gmt":"1998-09-25T17:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=16680"},"modified":"2013-10-30T13:17:40","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T17:17:40","slug":"september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/1998\/09\/25\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\/18352\/","title":{"rendered":" Ex-Gay Ministry: Converting Homosexuals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can gays become straight? For years, experts have said no, that homosexual orientation cannot be cured by therapy. But first quietly, now with national publicity, some Christians are saying yes, gays can change with religious counseling. The claims are controversial, the data elusive, but as Mary Alice Williams reports, the movement thrives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can gays become straight? For years, experts have said no, that homosexual orientation cannot be cured by therapy. But first quietly, now with national publicity, some Christians are saying yes, gays can change with religious counseling. The claims are controversial, the data elusive, but as Mary Alice Williams reports, the movement thrives. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/1998\/09\/25\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\/18352\/\" class=\"more\">More <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":18715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4689,1787,7488,512],"class_list":["post-18352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christianity","tag-homosexuality","tag-human-sexuality","tag-therapy","topics-faith-and-spirituality","faith-christian"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>September 25, 1998 ~ Ex-Gay Ministry: Converting Homosexuals | September 25, 1998 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/1998\/09\/25\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\/18352\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"September 25, 1998 ~ Ex-Gay Ministry: Converting Homosexuals | September 25, 1998 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/1998\/09\/25\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\/18352\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1998-09-25T17:08:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-30T17:17:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2013\/06\/0204-11-800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Macey Schiff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Macey Schiff\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Macey Schiff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/307e2f37e4f354613d2d15f94908d9d5\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Gay Ministry: Converting Homosexuals\",\"datePublished\":\"1998-09-25T17:08:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-30T17:17:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":57,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/0204-11-800.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christianity\",\"homosexuality\",\"human sexuality\",\"therapy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/1998\\\/09\\\/25\\\/september-25-1998-ex-gay-ministry-and-converting-homosexuals\\\/18352\\\/\",\"name\":\"September 25, 1998 ~ Ex-Gay Ministry: Converting Homosexuals | September 25, 1998 | Religion &amp; 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