Today’s news could be expanded into several books discussing all its cultural, ethical, political, religious and financial implication. That would be pointless, however, since you surely already have a definite opinion on all of the above – and given the polarization of the debate no amount of data or logic can realistically hope to budge it in the slightest. I will thus stick to the basic facts.

• Exodus international is a religious institution founded in 1976 in the USA with the purpose of «curing homosexuality»
• In time, it spawned 270 “ministries” all over the world, collectively called Exodus global alliance
• Beside being denied their basic human rights, the gay persons who (often forcibly) entered the organization “reorientation” programs were subjected to institutionalized shaming, bullying and other forms of psychological violence bordering on torture. Many reports over the years mentioned physical violence as well
• Not one independent and properly conducted research on the topic ever proved that sexual orientation can be forced. This was also made obvious by the frequent scandals involving the homosexual behaviors of the organization’s very founders and ministers
• Last week Alan Chambers, leader of Exodus international, stepped down from his role and issued a public apology «to the people who have been hurt… “ex-gay survivors” who went to Exodus for help only to experience more trauma» in 37 years of activity and for «having been part of the system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt». He condemned the religious rejection of gay people and admitted the program failure in 99.9% of the cases
• Exodus international is officially closing down for good, even if its website still features a request for donations
• 150 other branches of the Exodus global alliance in 17 countries are still in business as usual