'Ex-Gay'Icon Is an Ex-con: Wall Street Whiz Re-emerges as ‘Ex-Gay’ Guru
A joint investigation by the organization Truth Wins Out and the SouthFloridaGayNews.com has revealed that the spokesperson for a New Jersey based national religious group seeking to ‘cure’ homosexuals is a convicted felon.
The leader of JONAH, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality, Arthur Abba Goldberg, who is now serving as President of his Temple, was sent to federal prison 20 years ago for a conspiracy defrauding the United States of America.
"We have long considered Arthur Goldberg a con-artist, but our investigation shows he is also an ex-con," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out.
"His diabolical past mirrors his dishonest present-day work with JONAH. Whether it was shady deals on Wall Street or shading the truth on gay issues, Goldberg is someone who lacks credibility and can't be trusted," Besen added.
Stated SFGN Publisher Norm Kent, who authored today’s article, “Mr. Goldberg’s silence today about his conduct yesterday is a clear indicator that 18 months in prison 20 years ago has not inhibited his willingness to deceive others in order to advance himself today.”
Added Kent, “You free yourself by admitting your wrongs, not erasing them. Goldberg is hardly in a position to be advocating how gay men and women should be authentic with their own lives when he is a fraud with his.”
In 1989, Goldberg pled guilty in federal court in California and Illinois to three counts of wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The accusations he admitted to included his participation as the engineer of a phony bond and investment scheme which netted his Wall Street investment firm nearly $11 million in illegal fees.
The U.S. Attorney who handled the case at the time, K. William O’Connor had told the court at his sentencing that Goldberg’s crime was “a fraud of spectacular scope.” He has asked for a lengthy prison sentence.
The SEC banned Goldberg and his firm from ever selling securities again. In addition to his prison term, Goldberg was disbarred in both New Jersey and Connecticut. Despite that, he lists himself as a Doctor of Laws today on the website of the NARTH, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, where he serves as the Executive Secretary.
Goldberg is also the President of PATH, Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality, a coalition of organizations created to “treat gays.”
“It seems,” said Besen, “that he is the one who needs to be treated. Start with doses of truth serum.”
Goldberg is presently the President of Congregation Mount Sinai, a temple in Jersey City. Previously, he had authored a book telling gays they can change, “Light in the Closet: Truth, Homosexuality, and the Power to Change.”
Said Kent, “We conducted an investigation into Goldberg to shine a little light in his own closet; to tell the world the truth about who Goldberg really has been in his life, and how he change today by owning up to his past yesterday.”
The full story can be read online at www.southfloridagaynews.com, Florida’s leading gay and lesbian weekly newspaper, with links to www.Truthwinsout.org
For more information, call Publisher Norm Kent at 954 -530 -4970 or Wayne Besen at 917-691-5118
Email contacts are publishernorm@southfloridagaynews.com and wbesen@truthwinsout.org
South Florida Gay News.com is the premiere media and information source for the region’s GLBT community and the largest gay and lesbian weekly in Florida.
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called ‘ex-gay’ industry and educates America about the lives of GLBT persons.
SFGN IS LOCATED AT
2520 NORTH DIXIE HIGHWAY
WILTON MANORS FL 33305
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Co-editors Michael Mahler and Deb Spilko