Patient: Bachmann Clinic Told Me to 'Pray Away Gay'

(Newser) – A former patient of the clinic owned and run by Michele Bachmann's husband says he was urged to "pray away the gay" when he went for therapy there. He was told prayer could help him be "re-oriented" and "rid him of his homosexual urges," ex-patient Andrew Ramirez tells the Nation. The therapist "basically said being gay was not an acceptable lifestyle in God’s eyes," he added. Bachmann has denied his counseling clinic in suburban Minneapolis engages in such therapy. But an undercover video of another counseling session also reveals a similar approach to what Ramirez encountered at the clinic, which promises "Christian counseling," reports ABC News.

In the video, a gay man posing as a patient is told that prayer and effort can eradicate his homosexual urges and help him be attracted to women. Michele and Marcus Bachmann have refused to answer questions about therapies, citing patient confidentiality, though Marcus has referred to gays as "barbarians" who "need to be disciplined." The clinic has collected $137,000 worth of Medicaid payments for care, and a $30,000 government job training grant. (Click to read about the Twitterverse's titters about Marcus' own sexual orientation.)