A pastor linked to Fox News host and former Trump-era Defense official Pete Hegseth is drawing backlash for spreading extreme and widely debunked claims about homosexuality and so-called conversion therapy.
The pastor, identified as a leader at Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a far-right church near Nashville, Tennessee, has openly claimed that gay people can be "cured" through Christianity and suggested that every man who has ever sought counseling for homosexuality was abused by a gay man as a child.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, published May 5, the pastor—whose name was confirmed by Right Wing Watch—argued that “no one has to be gay” and that “Jesus can cure you of your homosexuality.” He went on to assert that his own father, a fellow pastor, had counseled “many” people dealing with “temptation,” and that “100%” of them had allegedly experienced horrific abuse by gay men during childhood.
Without evidence, he claimed that such abuse caused “guilt, shame, and sexual confusion” in boys and a “distrust and eventual hatred of men” in girls.
The post further declared that “no one is born gay,” calling homosexuality a “perversion almost always catalyzed by horrific abuse in childhood.” The pastor urged followers to repent and claimed that Jesus Christ could deliver gay individuals from what he described as a life of sin and shame. “Jesus Christ saves sodomites every day,” he wrote, reviving one of the most historically loaded slurs used to demean the LGBTQ+ community.
Just two days later, on May 7, the pastor followed up with another post saying the “gay mirage” would soon be overturned, a reference that appeared to dismiss same-sex marriage as illegitimate.
While Pete Hegseth has not publicly endorsed these specific comments, he is reportedly a member of the church and has a long record of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric himself. In past interviews, Hegseth has blamed women and gay people for weakening the U.S. military.
During a June 2024 episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, he said the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) under President Barack Obama marked the beginning of a “Marxist” shift in the military focused on individualism and “social engineering” over unity and readiness. He claimed the policy change was a gateway to the “trans agenda” in the military and that many original supporters of the DADT repeal now regret it.
These sentiments echo comments he made in 2015 while appearing on Fox News, where he argued that military inclusivity was eroding the armed forces’ effectiveness. He claimed at the time that the Obama administration prioritized social issues over national defense, calling the inclusion of LGBTQ+ service members a distraction from the military’s mission.
Meanwhile, the pastor’s claims about the origins of homosexuality and his endorsement of “conversion therapy” fly in the face of overwhelming consensus among mental health professionals.
Every major medical, psychiatric, and psychological organization in the United States—including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics—has condemned conversion therapy as both harmful and scientifically baseless.
These institutions argue that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are not only ineffective but often deeply damaging. According to a 2013 survey, 84% of former patients who underwent conversion therapy reported experiencing lasting emotional harm, often rooted in shame and internalized self-hatred.
A peer-reviewed study released in March 2022 by The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ youth organization, found that 13% of LGBTQ+ youth had been subjected to conversion therapy, with 83% of those cases occurring before the age of 18. That same study showed these individuals were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide afterward.
Despite this, conversion therapy remains prevalent. The Trevor Project estimates that over 1,300 conversion therapists are still operating in the U.S., often under the radar. Many advertise discreetly in private social media groups, encrypted forums, or through word-of-mouth within religious communities.
These practices often masquerade as “counseling” or “mentorship,” but their techniques have been widely criticized as cruel and abusive.
Common methods promoted by such groups include redirecting sexual urges into exercise, envisioning painful consequences of same-sex attraction, forced Bible study, associating same-sex desire with guilt and punishment, inflicting physical discomfort, and compelling individuals to conform to rigid gender norms. Survivors often describe these experiences as traumatic, reporting that the therapy reinforced feelings of isolation, confusion, and worthlessness.
Despite these devastating impacts, conservative Christian groups and Republican lawmakers in several states continue to resist efforts to ban the practice. Some states have passed laws banning licensed professionals from engaging in conversion therapy with minors, citing public health concerns, while others have framed it as false advertising under consumer protection laws.
Still, legal and political efforts to overturn these bans persist. Advocacy groups aligned with religious conservatives have fought for the reinstatement of conversion therapy in states where it’s been prohibited, citing religious freedom and parental rights. In some cases, they have found sympathetic courts and lawmakers willing to reopen the debate, particularly in areas where the religious right holds political power.
The pastor’s rhetoric is part of a broader resurgence of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment on the American far right, fueled by cultural backlash and growing hostility toward LGBTQ+ visibility and rights. This movement increasingly frames LGBTQ+ identities not as natural expressions of human diversity but as spiritual crises, ideological threats, or results of trauma.
By linking homosexuality to childhood abuse and calling it a disease curable through faith, these leaders are doubling down on messages that have been condemned for decades as unscientific and harmful.
What makes this case even more concerning is the platform from which these views are broadcast. Pete Hegseth, as a Fox News contributor and former Trump administration official, commands a wide conservative audience. Even if he does not publicly echo his pastor’s most extreme language, his association with such rhetoric raises questions about how deeply these views are embedded in far-right politics and religious communities.
Critics warn that tolerating such rhetoric, particularly within high-profile political and media circles, risks normalizing discrimination and reinforcing harmful narratives among young and vulnerable individuals. Mental health professionals and LGBTQ+ advocates have repeatedly urged media outlets and public officials to denounce conversion therapy and those who promote it, not just for the sake of accuracy but to protect lives.
The long-term psychological impact of conversion therapy and anti-LGBTQ+ teachings has been well-documented. Survivors often carry lifelong trauma, and many struggle with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
Prominent ex-conversion therapy leaders, including those who once ran some of the nation’s largest “ex-gay” ministries, have since renounced the practice and come out as LGBTQ+ themselves, apologizing for the pain they caused others.
Yet the persistence of these beliefs, particularly when they come from figures of spiritual authority or are tacitly supported by media personalities, shows that the fight for LGBTQ+ dignity and safety is far from over. In states like Tennessee, where Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship is based, there are few legal protections for LGBTQ+ youth, making them particularly vulnerable to this kind of religious abuse.
In the end, the message being spread by Pete Hegseth’s pastor is not one of healing, but of harm. By framing queerness as a sin to be erased, rather than a part of human identity to be respected, these views put lives at risk. And when people in power either endorse or remain silent in the face of such rhetoric, the consequences are not just spiritual — they’re real, personal, and deadly.
