John Paulk

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John Paulk (* 1963 ) is the former head of a US evangelical subsidiary of Focus on the Family called Love Won Out , and the former chairman of Exodus International North America. He falsely claimed in public that he had abandoned his homosexuality through therapy and had converted to heterosexuality . After these claims were refuted, he retracted his earlier statements and reverted to his original homosexuality.

Early life

Formerly based in Columbus , Ohio , Paulk attended Fort Hayes High School for the Performing Arts and then Ohio State University , where he took music and singing lessons. During his college days , Paulk was a call boy and performed as a drag queen under the name Candy . Paulk also worked as a planner for an escort service, where he received calls in his own apartment. During the late 1980s, Paulk managed the Cocolat Restaurant , a San Francisco patisserie owned by cookbook author and James Beard Prize winner Alice Medrich.

Ex-gay

After his conversion to evangelical Christianity , Paulk set himself the goal of shedding his homosexual identity by striving for a " heterosexual life" through a combination of conversations , group meetings, prayers and Bible reading. About this experience he wrote the book Not afraid to change (1998), which was published in German under the title Ich war schwul (2001). On July 19, 1992, he married the "former lesbian " Anne Sutton and was father of three sons. Together with his wife Anne he wrote the book Love Won Out (translated the title is "Die Liebe obsiegte", but the book was published in German under the title: Umkehr der Liebe ).

Paulk became active in the evangelical organization Focus on the Family (FoF), where he traveled as an employee through the United States and spoke of his conversion experience. This series of lectures was called the Love Won Out Conference . Paulk was also elected chairman of Exodus International North America (ENA).

The Paulk couple became one of the most prominent faces of ENA in many of ENA's daily newspapers and advertisements in the United States during the 1990s. On August 17, 1998, the Paulk couple appeared on the cover of Newsweek when Exodus and the ex-gay movement were discussed.

In May 2013, Paulk admitted that the conversion was unsuccessful and that he was still gay. He distanced himself from his earlier statements.

The visit to the gay bar

In September 2000, Paulk was spotted at a Washington, DC gay bar. Witnesses said they saw Paulk flirting with gay patrons in the bar. When asked about the incident by Wayne Besen , a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign and author of Anything But Straight , Paulk denied he was in the bar, although photographs showed otherwise.

Initially, James Dobson , the chairman of FoF, stood by his side and supported his claims. Paulk subsequently admitted to having been to the bar, but only because he wanted to use the toilet. In addition, he did not know that gays also frequented there. However, Paulk himself wrote openly in his book about his habit of lying when he was homosexual. He later admitted that he wanted to meet men - 13 years after his alleged "cure" from homosexuality. Paulk left the leadership of Exodus and did not take up another term as chairman of Exodus.

Paulk left Exodus International for good in 2003 and currently resides in the northwestern United States with his wife and family. From 2005 he worked in the catering industry in Portland , Oregon and appeared as a chef for a local television station in Portland.

His wife Anne admitted in 2003 that their allegedly lesbian time consisted of just a few months of sexual fantasies during college.

Works

  • John Paulk, Anne Paulk: Love Won Out . Focus on the Family Publishing, October 1999, ISBN 978-1-56179-816-2
    • John Paulk, Anne Paulk: Reversal of love. The path of a man and a woman out of homosexuality . Schulte and Gerth, 2000, ISBN 3-89437-674-0
  • John Paulk (Tony Marko): Not Afraid to Change. The Remarkable Story of How One Man Overcame Homosexuality . Hartline Marketing, February 2000, ISBN 978-1-57921-150-9
    • John Paulk (Tony Marco): I was gay . Hänssler Verlag (Edition Trobisch), 2001, ISBN 3-7751-9176-3

literature

  • Wayne Beson: Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-gay Myth , Hayworth Press, November 2003, ISBN 978-1-56023-446-3

Web links

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  1. ↑ John Paulk appologizes for stance ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , richarddawkins.net @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.richarddawkins.net
  2. ↑ Sunnivie Brydum: John Paulk Formally renounces, apologizes for Harmful 'Ex-Gay' Movement . In: The Advocate . April 24, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ Out , January 2001, p. 68 [1]
  4. ↑ Mezzaluna - About Us . Mezzaluna.biz. Archived from the original on September 12, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 5, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mezzaluna.biz
  5. ↑ Mezzaluna - The Chef . Mezzaluna.biz. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 5, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mezzaluna.biz
  6. ^ Anne Paulk: Restoring Sexual Identity , Harvest House Publishers, July 2003, ISBN 978-0-7369-1179-5
personal data
SURNAME Paulk, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American member of the ex-gay movement
DATE OF BIRTH 1963