Reconciling Sexuality and Spirituality
Just Nominated in the Lambda LGBT Awards for Best Non-Fiction!
256 pages paperback

Jallen Rix, a young Southern Baptist, joined an ex-gay ministry when he discovered his same-sex attractions. Although the ministry did not make him heterosexual, it did manage to damage and destroy any sense of stability and self-esteem. This book is Dr. Rix’s journey, not only through the ex-gay world and recovery from it, but also his discoveries of how the elements used in these oppressive environments are many of the same damaging tactics used widely in many power-abusive religious organizations today.

Also available as an mp3 audiobook.

“God would prefer me dead than I have another gay thought.”

Hopelessness is what gay Christians feel when they are told that they must be “straight” to gain God’s acceptance. No matter how hard they try – presenting an outward heterosexual artifice, passionless marriages, celibacy, exorcism, prayer – they still, deep down, feel like inauthentic failures, to such a degree that some have committed suicide. The people responsible for this outrage are part of the “Ex-Gay” movement. This fundamentalist fringe of Christianity believes that God has told them that homosexuality is a sin, so they assume that flipping from gay to straight is possible and change-worthy, despite decades of psycho/sexual research to the contrary.

Speaker, author, and educator, Jallen Rix has come a long way to be a sex expert. Growing up as a Southern Baptist, he was taught that spirituality was heavenly but sexuality was from the devil. While obtaining a B.A. in creative arts and a minor in theology, he also went to great lengths to change his sexuality from gay to straight in an ex-gay ministry -- to no avail. That experience set him on a journey of discovery that ultimately resulted in Jallen earning his Doctorate of Education in Sexology from The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. This has equipped him to teach human sexuality at the university level as well as consult in private practice. Over the years, Jallen has become an expert on the damaging effects of, and recovery from, the ex-gay movement. He has appeared on TV talkshows, such as Talk or Walk and ABC’s News Magazine 20/20. As an educator, Jallen creates an accepting and safe environment that provides support, humor and insight for a wide variety of audiences.

For more information, see Jallen's Author Page