In 1999, McKrae Game founded a group based on the Exodus International organization called Truth Ministry. Truth Ministry grew into one of the largest conversion therapy groups in the US. These organizations taught that gay men and women could change their sexual orientations through prayer and psychotherapy. Exodus disbanded in 2013 because its leaders believed they were doing more harm than good. At that time, Game changed the name of his group to “Hope for Wholeness,” but carried on.

In 2017, Game was fired by the organization’s board of directors.

In June, Game came out publicly as gay.

In a video from Charleston, SC newspaper, Post and Courier, Game discusses his “severed ties with the conversion therapy movement” and how he is “trying to come to terms with the harm he inflicted while also learning to embrace a world and community he assailed for most of his adult life.”

Game told the Post and Courier he now believes ex-gay therapy is a lie. “Conversion therapy is not just a lie, but it’s very harmful.”

Game, 51, is married to a woman. He describes telling his wife that his “attractions [to men] are worse than they ever were. I struggled more so trying to deny them than being able to accept my attractions and just say, you know, I’m a gay man.”

The former minister put out a lengthy statement on Facebook last week in which he apologized for the harm he has caused and asked for forgiveness from those he has hurt. He wrote:

I WAS WRONG. Please forgive me.

I certainly regret where I caused harm. Promoting the triadic model that blamed parents and conversion or prayer therapy, that made many people believe that their orientation was wrong, bad, sinful, evil, and worse that they could change was absolutely harmful.

It’s all in my past, but many, way TOO MANY continue believing that there is something wrong with themselves and wrong with people that choose to live their lives honestly and open as gay, lesbian, trans, etc. Learn to love yourself and others.

According to UCLA’s Williams Institute, “almost 700,000 LGBT-identifying adults have gone through some form of conversion therapy as of 2018.”

The Human Rights Campaign reports:

To date, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice. Seven of these state laws were enacted under Republican governors. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including at least fifty cities and counties in Arizona, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

Game’s full Facebook post can be viewed below.