John Smid

John J. Smid is the former director of the Memphis, Tennessee ex-gay ministry Love In Action, a group that claims to convert lesbians and gay men to heterosexuality.^[1]

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 realized he was gay, divorcing his wife in 1980. Four years following his divorce, Smid became a Christian and sought conversion from homosexuality to heterosexuality.^[2] 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."^[3]

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,^[4] 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".^[5]

In 2012, Smid wrote and self-published the memoir Ex'd Out: How I Fired the Shame Committee.^[6]

In November 2014, Smid married his same-sex partner, Larry McQueen.^[7]

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