# John Smid > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Smid > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Smid.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smid > Source revision: 1349919799 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **John J. Smid** is the former director of the American [ex-gay](/source/Ex-gay) ministry [Love in Action](/source/Love_in_Action), a group that claims to convert [lesbians](/source/Lesbian) and [gay men](/source/Gay_men) to [heterosexuality](/source/Heterosexuality).[1] ## Career During his time directing Love in Action, Smid faced controversy over the organization's treatment of gay teens in their youth program "Refuge".[2] Smid subsequently resigned his position in 2008,[3] and in 2010 apologized for any harm he had caused, noting that his teen program "further wounded teens that were already in a very delicate place in life".[4] In 2011, three years after leaving Love In Action and stepping down from its leadership, Smid announced he was still homosexual and stated he had "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual."[5] In 2012, Smid wrote and self-published the memoir *Ex'd Out: How I Fired the Shame Committee*.[6] In the 2018 film *[Boy Erased](/source/Boy_Erased)*, based on the [book of the same name](/source/Boy_Erased:_A_Memoir), the character Victor Sykes, portrayed by [Joel Edgerton](/source/Joel_Edgerton), is based on Smid. A November 2018 *[Radiolab](/source/Radiolab)* podcast titled *UnErased: Smid*[7] features Smid's life story. ## Personal life Before claiming he had changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality, Smid lived for years married to a woman and fathering children. It was during this marriage that he said he was gay, divorcing his first wife in 1980. Four years following his divorce, Smid became a Christian and sought conversion from homosexuality to heterosexuality.[2] He married a second time, but by 2011 said, “I would consider myself homosexual and yet in a marriage with a woman.”[8] That year, he and his wife divorced. On November 16, 2014, Smid married a man, Larry McQueen. The couple married in Oklahoma, as same-sex marriage was not yet recognized in [Texas](/source/Texas), where they lived.[9] ## References 1. ["Ministry seeks to lead away from gay life"](http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ADSB&s_site=azstarnet&f_site=azstarnet&f_sitename=Arizona+Daily+Star%2C+The+%28AZ%29&p_multi=ADSB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EACE6378E9DD63A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM). *[Arizona Daily Star](/source/Arizona_Daily_Star)*. 1997-11-08. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 1. Borger, Julian (2005-08-26). ["Straight and narrow: church's 'gay cure'"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/26/gayrights.usa). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 1. Herrington, Chris (2008-04-10). ["Fly on the Wall"](http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/fly-on-the-wall/Content?oid=1143603). *[Memphis Flyer](/source/Memphis_Flyer)*. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 1. ["Ex-gay leader apologises"](http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/australia-news/new-south-wales-news/2010/03/30/ex-gay-leader-apologises/23288). *[Star Observer](/source/Star_Observer)*. 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 1. Besen, Wayne (2011-10-12). ["Former 'Ex-Gay' Activist Admits Gay People Don't Change"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111015003443/http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/10288-former-ex-gay-activist-admits-gay-people-dont-change.html). *[Falls Church News-Press](/source/Falls_Church_News-Press)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/10288-former-ex-gay-activist-admits-gay-people-dont-change.html) on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 1. ["Ex'd Out"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130218182842/http://www.gracerivers.com/exd-out/). *Grace Rivers*. Archived from [the original](http://www.gracerivers.com/exd-out/) on February 18, 2013. 1. ["UnErased: Smid"](https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/unerased-smid/). *[WNYC Studios](/source/WNYC_Studios)*. November 28, 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-14. 1. Goldberg, Michelle (2011-10-14). ["Ex-Gay Leader John Smid's About-Face"](https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/13/ex-gay-leader-john-smid-s-about-face). *The Daily Beast*. Retrieved 2023-08-15. 1. Wrigh, John (November 18, 2014). ["Former 'Ex-Gay' Leader John Smid Marries His Same-Sex Partner In Oklahoma"](https://www.towleroad.com/2014/11/former-ex-gay-leader-john-smid-gets-same-sex-married-in-oklahoma/). *[Towelroad](/source/Towelroad)* ## External links - [LGBTQ+ Voices: Interview with John Smid](https://queeromahaarchives.omeka.net/items/show/3309), LGBTQ+ Oral History Collection (UNO-0240), Archives and Special Collections, University of Nebraska at Omaha Libraries. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Smid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smid) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smid?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.