A notorious “ex-gay” therapist who takes money from unsuspecting patients promising to ‘cure’ them of being gay has been allegedly outed for secretly trolling for sex with men on dating apps.
From Truth Wins Out:
Norman Goldwasser, by day, is an Orthodox Jewish therapist at Horizon Psychological Services who compares homosexuality to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and misleads clients by claiming that their sexual orientation can be changed with his special brand of quack therapy, which is rejected by every respected medical and mental health association.
By night, an undercover investigation by Truth Wins Out has found, he solicits sexual partners on Manhunt, a gay dating App, using the profile “Hotnhairy72.”
During our operation, Goldwasser, going by the pseudonym “Dave”, offered to meet for sex with our operative, “Brandon,” at a Fort Lauderdale motel room. Goldwasser also had a profile on Bear Nation by the same name.
Oh, the hypocrisy.
Studies have shown that so-called “ex-gay therapy” can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide.
Also known as “reparative” or “conversion therapy,” the practice has been debunked and denounced by nearly every major medical organization including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Currently 15 states – Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Delaware – plus the District of Columbia – all have laws or regulations protecting youth from the harmful practice.
Additionally, local municipalities including cities and counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Wisconsin have also passed similar legislation.
In reporting the story for Truth Wins Out, Executive Director Wayne Besen writes that Goldwasser’s “double life of unconscionable lies highlights the rank hypocrisy and predatory nature of the fraudulent ‘ex-gay’ industry.”
Goldwasser has long ties to the "conversion therapy" community going back to Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), an "ex-gay therapy" organization which was ordered dissolved by a New Jersey Superior Court in 2015 for violating consumer fraud laws.
Besen, the author of Anything Bust Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, says his organization doesn’t condone outing others unless “there is overwhelming hypocrisy, exchange of commerce, and the threat of harm to LGBT youth.”
It seems the Goldwasser situation ticks all three boxes.
Besen told JoeMyGod that he had been communicating with Goldwasser in advance of the Truth Wins Out article, and Goldwasser apparently begged Besen to consider his children and grandchildren in regard to exposing him.
Besen shared this text message from Goldwasser with JoeMyGod:
“I reminded Goldwasser that he was asking for sympathy he never afforded his victims, some teenagers, as he coldly collected their money and ruined their lives,” Besen shared on JoeMyGod.
“I also told him that only caring about his own predicament without apologizing for the harm he caused other people was narcissistic — something he could, unlike homosexuality — fix by visiting a real therapist.”
This scandal comes to light as the new film Boy Erased opens in theaters this week.
The movie, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe, focuses on the true-life experience of Garrard Connelly whose parents sent him to “ex-gay camp” when they discovered his sexuality when he was a teen.
(h/t Truth Wins Out, JoeMyGod)
His children and
His children and grandchildren will recover from the shock of knowing their (grand)father is a despicable hypocrite than will the young people he subjected to this fake therapy.
You reap what you sow, Mr.
You reap what you sow, Mr. Goldwasser. We are all responsible for our own actions and while I can sympathize with the poor position in which you've placed your children and grandchildren, you should have thought of that BEFORE you started tricking with men. Your being gay has NOTHING to do with your children or grandchildren and they will eventually learn that. It's simply unfortunate that you cannot bring yourself to admit to who and what you are and be your authentic self. That's what we were all put on this earth to do. In the meantime, might I suggest you get your OWN life in order. And when you're thinking about your children and grandchildren being traumatized by the truth of what you are, you might want to spare a couple thoughts for the many LGBTQ youth you traumatized with your so-called "therapy."