Gays Accuse NJ Therapy Group of False Promises

Four gay men are accusing a New Jersey organization of fraud for selling "conversion therapy" that falsely promised to make them straight.

They said at a Manhattan news conference Tuesday that they were subjected to humiliations that included stripping naked and taking a baseball bat to effigies of their mothers.

The four attended sessions at the Jersey City, N.J.-based Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing, or JONAH. The nonprofit advertises in Jewish publications and claims to rid men of same-sex attractions.

The men say the methods do not work and should not be marketed under New Jersey's consumer protection laws.

JONAH did not return calls requesting comment.

Its claim that being gay is a mental disorder that can be reversed has been rejected by the American Psychiatric Association.

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