ex-gay
ex-gay adjective: of or pertaining to the movement that considers homosexuality a disease and claims it can be cured by conversion therapy.
Adjective
ex-gay (not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to the movement that considers homosexuality a disease and claims it can be cured by conversion therapy.
- Ex-gay ministries began as redoubts for men and women trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality.2003 January 1, Casey Sanchez, “Memphis Area Love In Action Offers Residential Program to "Cure" Homosexuality”, in Southern Poverty Law Center, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2025
- Instead of fire-and-brimstone denunciations from the pulpit, the ex-gay movement allowed the Christian right to couch its condemnation of homosexuality in a way that seemed compassionate.2012 April 11, Gabriel Arana, “My So-Called Ex-Gay Life”, in The American Prospect, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2026
Noun
ex-gay (plural ex-gays)
- A person who considers themselves or is considered by others to be no longer homosexual, usually due to conversion therapy.
Forms of ex-gay
| plural | ex-gays |
|---|
Origin of ex-gay
From ex- + gay.
Words formed from ex-gay
- ex-ex-gay
- ex-gay therapy
Questions about ex-gay
- What does ex-gay mean?
- Ex-gay means of or pertaining to the movement that considers homosexuality a disease and claims it can be cured by conversion therapy.
- What part of speech is ex-gay?
- Ex-gay can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near ex-gay in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ex-gay (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “ex-gay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ex-gay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.