John Smid

Who is John Smid?

John J. Smid is the former director of the Memphis, Tennessee ex-gay ministry Love In Action, a group that claims to convert lesbians and homosexuals to heterosexuality.

Before claiming he had changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality, Smid lived for years married to a woman and fathering children. It was during this marriage that he realized he was gay, divorcing his wife in 1980. Four years following his divorce, Smid became a Christian and sought conversion from homosexuality to heterosexuality. In 2011, three years after leaving Love In Action and stepping down from its leadership, Smid announced he was still homosexual and stated he had "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual."

During his time directing Love In Action, Smid faced controversy over the organization's treatment of gay teens in their youth program "Refuge". Smid subsequently resigned his position in 2008, and in 2010 apologized for any harm he had caused, noting that his teen program "further wounded teens that were already in a very delicate place in life".

In 2012, Smid wrote and self-published the memoir Ex'd Out: How I Fired the Shame Committee.