John Smid was executive director of Love in Action for 18 years (Picture: MSNBC)

The former head of a group that claimed it could stop people being attracted to those of the same sex has married his male partner.

John Smid, executive director of the ‘Love in Action’ group from 1990 to 2008, said he had tried to deny his own sexuality but had finally come to realise that it would not change.

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And in a spectacular departure from his ‘Pray the Gay Away’ sermons, the man who once called homosexuality ‘a sin’ has married partner Larry McQueen.’

John Smid (L) and his partner Larry McQueen. (Picture: Larry McQueen/ Facebook)

‘I’ve believed in faith that something was going to happen, and it never did, and so at my age, right now in my life, I don’t have that many good years left in me, and I can’t live like this for the rest of my life, so I said no I’m not willing to keep pushing after something that’s not going to happen,’ he told US news outlet The Lone Star Q.

Mr Smid says he has never met anyone who successfully change from homosexual to heterosexual (Picture: Getty Images)

In a marriage announcement on Facebook, Mr Smid wrote:



‘I gradually got to know [McQueen] over time until we reached a place in our lives that we saw we wanted to get to know one another through a dating relationship.

‘As we dated we shared our vision for life, our personal philosophies, and our faith values. We found a compatibility that was comfortable and exciting.’

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‘Ex-gay’ Christian ministry Love in Action courted controversy in 2005 when it promoted a programme that claimed it could change the sexuality of children.

Love in Action is the subject of a critical documentary called This is What Love in Action Looks Like.

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