Former "Ex-Gay" Leaders Condemn Movement

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- So-called conversion therapies which seek to teach homosexuals to become heterosexual have been dealt another blow with five former leaders of ex-gay ministries in Australia publicly condemning the practice.

Paul Martin was the former leader of Exodus in Melbourne, a ministry that "helped" men and women "find a way out of homosexuality," Sydney Star Observer reports.

"There was not one person that I met or worked with who, in any genuine way, achieved the fundamental transformation from homosexual to heterosexual," Martin says.

"The stress of attempting to change their sexual orientation, however, increased the risk of suicide, and absolutely led to erosion of self-esteem and increased levels of depression and self-deprecation at a very deep level."

Former Exodus Melbourne leader Wendy Lawson says nearly every member of the group was now living as an openly homosexual person, and Kim Brett, also a former Exodus leader, says of the people who were married, "most seemed to still be dealing with homosexual feelings".

John Metyard, another former Exodus leader, also no longer believes God wants gays to change.

Vonnie Pitts, the former leader of Living Waters, an organization that conducts disciplinary programs for those pursuing "sexual wholeness," used to believe homosexuality was a choice.

After doing her own research into the causes of homosexuality, she found mounting evidence that sexual orientation was determined in the womb.

"Now I have absolutely no doubt that homosexuals are born gay and don't need to change," she says.