by Wayne Besen • May 25, 2026 • News, Opinion, Politics, Truth Wins Out, Weekly Column • Comments (0) • 118

Former ‘Ex-Gay’ Leader Alan Chambers Arrested for Soliciting 14-Year-Old Was Predictable

Right Wing Churches Still Support Exploitative ‘Ex-Gay’ Programs

In 2012, Exodus International, the world’s largest “ex-gay” ministry, began to crumble. The movement, which had existed since 1973, convulsed when then-Exodus President Alan Chambers announced at a Gay Christian Network conference that “the majority, meaning 99.9% of them [Exodus clients], have not experienced a change in their orientation.” This was a damning admission coming from a high-profile organization with the motto, “Change Is Possible”.

Exodus’ financial backers were furious that Chambers, for once, blurted the truth. The Family Research Council and Focus on the Family summoned him into their respective offices to demand Chambers return to spouting the party line, that people could “pray away the gay”.

Under immense pressure, a deeply conflicted Chambers alternated between walking back his admission and moving forward towards the undeniable fact that the “ex-gay” industry was a noxious experiment that had failed. It was during this tumultuous era, a year before Chambers shut down Exodus, that I gave him the nickname “Tortured Chambers.”

I knew Chambers was deeply troubled, full of contradictions, and wrestling with internal demons. However, I only learned this week the depths of his depravity. Chambers was arrested after an online sexual relationship with a police officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy, with the intention to meet the phantom child.

Chambers sent sexually explicit material during the illicit conversations, including pictures of his torso and genitals. The affidavit states Chambers made references to “forbidden love” and asked the undercover cop, “Is it bad that I want to make love to someone who is 14?” The police also unearthed messages from secret email accounts that Chambers allegedly used to solicit male sex workers.

“Today our detectives stopped a predator before he had the chance to harm a child,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on X.