TED COX • MY JOURNEY INTO MANHOOD

T Cx

Udecove a a Gay Covesio Cap

n't rmmbr eacly whe I el his eecio pessig io y ack. I igh have ee while he whispeed i y ea, “Log ago,you wee he Golde Child. Bu, soehow, ha Golde Child washu, ad you pu up a wall o poec yousel.” O i igh have ee whe ohe e i he oo oke ou i sog:

How could anyone ever tell youTat you’re anything less than beautiful? How could anyone ever tell youTat you’re less than whole?

I sa o he foo ewee he ouseched legs o a cap guide, y headleaig ack agais his shoulde. e guide sa ehid e, his as wappedaoud y ches. is hold was called “e Moocycle.” Five e suoud-ed he wo o us, hei hads esig gely o y as, legs ad ches.ee wee aou e ohe goups like his siig o he foo i hedakeed oo: oe guide givig “healig-ouch heapy” while he su-oudig e esed hei hads o he eceive. Soe e wee held ihe Moocycle posiio. Ohes wee ued owads hei guide, cadledhe way a pae would hold a soig child who had jus scaped hekee o he sidewalk.I oe coe o he oo, a poale seeo played Shaia Noll’ssog. A oe poi, he sa ees all sag ou i uiso, hei voicesllig he high walls o he cap lodge. Soewhee i he oo, a asoed ove he soud o he usic.

t  t rt nt o “Jouey io Mahood,” a 48-hou week-ed eea desiged o help gay e ecoe saigh. I ha oo,aou y e — soe hiy “Joueyes” ad ee sa ees —sa o he capeed foo o a ach lodge wo hous ouside o Phoei, Aizoa. Mos o he e, ecep o a ew o he sa ees, suggledo ovecoe hei aacio o ohe e.Soeie duig all ha holdig ad ouchig ad sigig, whileI was cadled i he Moocycle posiio, I el i: he uisakale ulgepessig hough his igh jeas. I was he s ie i y lie I had a elaohe a’s eecio.

TED COX • MY JOURNEY INTO MANHOOD

t t t mmbr ad ohe Joueyes did’ kow washa I was aedig he weeked udecove. I’ saigh. I’ alsoa aheis. By ha Feuay eveig, I had ee udecove i he so-called “e-gay” ovee o jus ove a yea. Beoe sigig up o he$650 JiM weeked, I had aeded weekly suppo-goup eeigs ad weeked coeeces geaed owads Chisia e ad woe despe-aely yig o ovecoe hei sae-se aacios. I a cuely wiiga ook aou y epeieces posig as a sae-se aaced Chisiaa — “ a,” i he ligo.My oivaio o udeakig his wild pojec ses o sevealacos. Fis, I was aised i he Moo chuch, which has ake helead agais equal aiage ighs o gays ad lesias. I’s ee e yeassice I le Moois, ad I eel a paicula eed o sad up agaishe chuch’s well-uded opposiio o aiage equaliy. (I wode whaMoois’s polygaous oude, Joseph Sih, J., ad his successo,Bigha Youg, would say aou he “Maiage = 1 Ma + 1 Woa”upe sickes slapped o so ay Moo iivas.)Secod, while he e-gay ovee has pulicly declaed ha hey ca ig “eedo o hooseualiy,” hee’s o evidece ha soe-oe ca chage his o he oieaio hough hese eligiously oivaedpogas. Rahe ha uig saigh, he e ad woe ha I ehoughou his pojec deal wih a cycle o epessio, ackslidig iosi, he shae, guil, ad epeace. ese pogas collec hudedso housads o dollas each yea o a poise hey ca’ delive.id, hese pogas ae dageous. E-gay wachdog goups doc-ue he soies o e who, ae yeas o ailed aeps o ecoesaigh, eso o suicide. Lae I’ll ioduce you o Eic, a ellow JiMaedee who would hook up wih e o Caigslis ad he go hoeo his ususpecig wie. Fo ay e i e-gay pogas, oe hei wives, ieds, aily, ad chuch ees have o idea hey suggle wih . Wha I saw ad epeieced a JiM oh eaged ad disued e.I had oule sayig i chaace as I wached oe a, as pa o hisheapy, ac ou eaig his ahe o deah wih a aseall a — jus oeo seveal “Ae you kiddig?” oes. How ayoe could elieve ha a JiM weeked could u a a saigh sill aes e.

 b r, I had seveal posiive epeieces ha weeked. I saw sev-eal e, soe o he s ie i hei lives, lose he aiey hey eel aou hei seual oieaio. Up uil ha weeked, soe o hehad eve old ayoe aou hei suggle wih . I he couse o heeea, hey would ela aoud ohe e who suggled he sae way hey did. Jouey io Mahood co-oude ad “Ceied Lie Coach” Rich Wyle goes o gea leghs o keep his echiques hidde o pulicscuiy. Oly ae I had ooked y o-eudale figh, ad paidhe o-eudale eea deposi, was I ioed ha all Joueyes aeequied o sig a codeialiy ageee. Las yea, whe I aepedo wie a aicle o

Salt Lake City Weekly

o u he week ha Jouey io Mahood aived i Sal Lake Ciy, Wyle coplaied o he pape,ciig he codeialiy ageee I siged. While he aicle idea I piched o

SLC Weekly

would discuss oly pulicly availale ioaio aou Wyle ad Jouey io Mahood,

SLC Weekly

— ciig isucie ie o u he piece pas hei legaldepae — pulled he aicle ad ieviewed e isead. Ae ha ieview, I discussed he codeialiy ageee wihaoeys, edios, joualiss, ad gay-ighs aciviss. As a esul o hosediscussios, I have decided o discuss i deail seveal aspecs o he JiM weeked. e decisio was o easy. Bu give wha I epeieced, hepai ha ay o hese e eel, ad he oey ha Wyle’s ogaiza-io akes o he, I eel oligaed o speak ou.

 rt will o disclose he ideiies o y ellow Joueyes. Wih oe sigica ecepio, he aes ad soies o he cha-aces have ee susaially aleed o poec hei ideiies. I soecases, he ode ad deails o soe eves have ee aleed, agai opoec aoyiy. While I did ig a oeook wih e o akes oes duig he weeked, i was’ possile o ecod all covesaios ad eea evesas hey occued. Wha ollows is y aep o eceae, as accuaely asy oes ad eoy will allow, a iese, eoioally daiig, physi-cally challegig, 48-hou epeiece.Uliaely, y he ed o he weeked, Jouey io Mahood

TED COX • MY JOURNEY INTO MANHOOD

would oce e o quesio ideas egadig asculiiy, seualiy, ad wha eacly i eas o e a a.

Getting There

 nrr ntr io e-gay iisies saed i week-ly suppo goups. ese goups ae eligious i aue: ey advo-cae a suede o seual desies ad epaios o Jesus. Take away hegoal o chagig soeoe’s seual oieaio, ad hese goups wouldlook like ay ohe Chisia iisy. ey use paye, Bile-eadig, wokooks, ad hys o help ees eihe ecoe heeoseual —o, uch oe likely, o d he segh o live chase Chisia lives.Bu soo ae I saed aedig e-gay pogas, I head aoueeas: weeked oes geaways ha povide a so o kick-sa oe who ake lile pogess io heeoseualiy hough paye adscipue. Ay give weeked, dozes o hese eeas ake place acoss hecouy, ay o he ogaized quiely y a local e-gay iisy, adope oly o iisy ees.To ousides, he idea o seveal heeoseually-challeged e haul-ig o o he woods o iese “healig” wok sees, well, coue-poducive o hei goals. Hee’s how y ied Paulie, a chiopacoad sel-descied “ag hag,” pu i: “Would’ i e ee o go o a sipclu ad ge lap daces o chicks?”Maye Paulie was igh. Bu he ake-you-saigh pogas ope-ae ude a cosevaive eligious oal code. ose who ead he Sodoad Gooah soy lieally would also ow o a igh a he localikii a.Bu hee’s aohe easo why lap daces ae’ pa o e-gay eldips: Accodig o poie e-gay goups, hooseualiy is’ eally aseual issue.Le e eplai. e (scieically ususaiaed) heoy pu o- wad y e-gay pogas is ha a a’s hooseual aacio is causedy a deci i his asculiiy. is deci egis i childhood: A oy whodoes’ popely ideiy wih his ahe, o soe ohe asculie gue,gows up llig ha asculie void hough se wih ohe e.To cue he so-called “ahe woud,” e-gay pogas supposedly help e ceae healhy, o-seual elaioships wih ohe e — heidea eig ha oce hese eoioal eeds ae e, sae-se aaciosevapoae. I ohe wods, hooseualiy is eely a sypo o deepeeoioal aua. Bu hese wouds u deep. Oe, paye ad Bileveses ail o oo ou he issues.Ee he iese weeked eeas.Call i a wised ase o adveue, o aye jus low egad o y ow saey, u I kew I had o aed a leas oe eea. e quesio was, which oe?

t t o a Google seach.“Adveue i Mahood” ills isel as a oudoo, aciviy-asedeea ha aciliaes “eawok, odig, educaio, ad adveue”ewee a sae-se aaced a ad a ale eo. Bu o aed haeea, I would eed o ig aohe a, ad I kew I would’ e aleo keep a saigh ace i ay o y secula lieal uddies joied e. So,ha was ou.ee was he “New Waio’s Taiig Adveue,” which a ewpoie e-gay ogaizaios edosed. Bu whe nt’s pae oga-izaio, he MaKid Pojec, go wid ha e hopig o ovecoesae-se aacio wee showig up a hei eeas, m daed a sae-e saig, i pa, “We do o, ad will o, aep o chage a a’sseual oieaio.” So, New Waio’s did’ see appopiae.Soo, hough, oe poga sood ou: Jouey io Mahood, aeea ha ees i sece locaios ea ajo ciies aoud he couy seveal ies a yea. JiM is eaued o he wesie o he Naioal Ogaizaio oReseach ad eapy o Hooseuals (nrt), which “upholds heighs o idividuals wih uwaed hooseual aacio o eceive e-ecive psychological cae.” JiM is also ecoeded y he ogaizaioPaes ad Fieds o E-Gays.I a nrt wesie ieview, JiM co-oude Rich Wyle (whoa he ie was goig y he olie pseudoy Be Newa) de-scied he eea as a “48-hou iesio i iesive ecovey ad

Ted Cox-My Journey Into Manhood

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Brandon_Price_3721left a comment

Shawna didn't you read this article? It says afterwards a man went to Uganda to talk about this, then months after the Ugandan parliament would try to pass an anti-homosexual bill... Clearly he didn't go to the most recent one but the one before it. I think Austin is telling the truth, mainly cause why wouldn't he. He has no ulterior motive but to be happy with life, which he is.

04 / 16 / 2010

Shawna2009 replied:

Also, Brundidge's trip to Uganda and all of the subsequent anti-gay developments all occurred in the past year or so. So I think my point about Austin's sudden 180-degree turn stands.

04 / 16 / 2010

Shawna2009 replied:

The possible ulterior motive is to discredit JiM as a failed program by showing that even the participants later come out. BTW, I think JiM is a joke and I think people should come out and be happy being gay. But let's not pretend that there isn't a motive for Austin to make up his story.

04 / 16 / 2010

Austin_Kempton_4116left a comment

I was there that weekend with you.... and since then have come out. I thought "changing" my orientation was the only thing I could do to find happiness in life. How wrong I was. Living life open and honest; being true to myself brought much more happiness then I thought was possible in this life. Thank you Ted for being a part of that weekend and publishing this..... unless you were referring to M

04 / 15 / 2010

tedmcox replied:

Hi Austin. I'd like to talk to you! Please send me a message here or concact Nojo on the stinque.com site. Thanks!

04 / 16 / 2010

Shawna2009 replied:

I call probable BS on this. Didn't this JiM weekend just happen a few months ago? You have completely reversed your thinking on this in just a few months? Hopefully, Ted Cox can confirm whether you were really a participant.

04 / 16 / 2010

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