"There is a kernel of truth in what they say, that those of us who have chosen to follow Christ...are repressing," says Johnston, who says he lived as a gay man for 11 years before renouncing his homosexuality in 1988.

Afflicted with full-blown AIDS since last October, Johnston now lives off a small pension from his former job and receives no income as chair of the "National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day" project and president of Kerusso Ministries.

The event is sponsored by more than 40 national organizations representing millions of members, Johnston says. Completely funded by private donations, it does not earn enough to cover its costs.

"The Christian message is never going to be popular to the masses," Johnston says, adding that it is his "burden" to show people "the road to life."

"What comes naturally to us is not righteousness...it is sin," he says. "Repressing that which is contrary to God's council to us is a virtuous thing."

Although critics of the "ex-gay" movement say that repressing one's desire is psychologically devastating, Randolph Catlin, chief of mental health at University Health Services, says it is not necessarily damaging.

"Although people can, if they are homosexually oriented, participate in a heterosexual lifestyle, it's extremely unusual for them to no longer feel that they have a homosexual orientation," he says.

The only danger of the "ex-gay" movement would be "if people were made to feel that being gay was somehow a disease or a disability," he adds.

His statement resonates with the words of Johnston and other "ex-gays," who say they are healthier now that they are repressing their homosexual orientation.

"I don't think there's any doubt [that Johnson] is living a much healthier life right now," says Peter J. LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, a Washington-based organization that opposes the gay-rights movement.

"It galls me that there is a segment of the homosexual movement which would seem to want to ban the idea that you can change." he says. "They are so intent on promoting gay-rights propaganda that they would deny people happiness of the Michael Johnston variety."

The Pursuit of Happiness

But many gay students on campus, including Brian J. Saccente '98, believe that events like "National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day" breed unhappiness.

Raised in a Catholic family, Saccente turned his back on his Catholicism because of the church's espousal that homosexuality is a sin.

"It's unfair to dupe someone into thinking that you can change your sexuality," he says. "This whole 'Come Out of Homosexuality Day' is sort of like, 'Hey, Come Lighten Your Skin Day,' which wouldn't be tolerated."