HUFFINGTON
07.14.13
STRAIGHT TALK
sexuality or is born that way. But
in reality, it does matter. Poll after
poll shows it.”
In recent months, Mathew
Shurka, now 25, has joined the
ranks of former patients who have
stepped into the debate. Nearly a
decade after he and his father flew
from New York to LA to meet the
therapist — and one week after
Gov. Brown signed the California
law -- he made a YouTube video
for Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better
Project,” an anti-bullying campaign. Sitting before his computer
in a black T-shirt, Mathew explained why he supported the law.
“It was pretty horrible,” he said
of his experience with the therapy,
smiling nervously. “Nothing about
it ever had to do with being myself.” Mathew, whose family spent
around $35,000 on his therapy,
has smooth olive skin, straight
white teeth, and a thoughtful
manner. He often pauses in the
middle of a sentence to find the
right word, his hazel eyes wandering the room. “You don’t really
ever learn to accept who you are,”
he says in the video.
Eight months after recording
that video, Mathew invited me
to accompany him to California,
where he reunited with his thera-
IT WAS PRETTY
HORRIBLE. NOTHING
ABOUT IT EVER HAD TO
DO WITH BEING MYSELF.
pist for the first time in more than
five years. The therapist, who I’ll call
John, had agreed to meet us on the
condition that no identifying details
about him would be published.
We met at a hip coffee shop in
an LA suburb, where Mathew ordered a mandarin orange soda.
John, who was on a juice cleanse,
stuck to herbal tea. “I’ve always
been an NPR-listening, progressive-minded guy,” he said. He
noted that he hadn’t practiced
conversion therapy in years, and
seemed embarrassed by his former associations with the rightwingers and religious ideologues
who populate that world.
After a few minutes of chitchat,
Mathew excused himself to make
a phone call and I took the opportunity to ask John about his
background. John massaged his
temples and asked me to put away
my recording device. He said that
his involvement in conversion
therapy had been a professional