Mich. Dept. of Corrections ‘looking’ into ex-gay ministry affiliation with prisons

LANSING — A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections announced Monday that the department was reviewing its affiliation with the controversial ex-gay ministry Corduroy Stone of Lansing.

“The department’s position is that when you are ministering to a group or even an individual that the content of that not be defamatory or derogatory,” said John Cordell, a department spokesman. “We have shut down ministries in the past for doing just that [being defamatory or derogatory].”

Cordell said the department has kicked out the Nation of Islam and white supremacist groups out of prison ministries for making racial comments. The department has a policy to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

He said he believed the ex-gay ministry would “fall under that.” Cordell said he was unaware of the group, but that he would forward information about it to Mike Martin, director of special activities in the prison system.

Under the program, Corduroy Stone is allowed to visit prisoners without that prisoner losing visitor credits.

Corduroy Stone, and its founder Mike Jones, have been under national scrutiny for months after 24-year-old Lansing resident Patrick McAlvey told the national organization Truth Wins Out of his experience with the ministry.

McAlvey alleges that when he was 19 he turned to Jones and Corduroy Stone in an attempt to rid himself of same-sex attractions. Instead, he said, he was asked about penis size, his personal grooming habits, forced into “cuddle” therapy and subjected to demeaning examinations of his body image where Jones would rate his appearance.

Until recently the group was affiliated with Exodus International Ministries, a large ex-gay organization. The relationship between the two groups, Corduroy Stone and Exodus, ended recently, but Jones refused to comment on why the two groups had split.

McAlvey and Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen say the dissolution of the relationship shows the national ministry was distancing itself from Corduroy Stone’s programs.

Besen applauded the announcement by MDOC that it was looking into Corduroy Stone’s relationship with the prison system.

“I think it’s terrific they are looking further into this mess,” said Besen. “Corduroy Stone doesn’t have the credibility to continue and is a threat to public health if allowed to continue.”

Besen said the program was based on “prayer and pseudo-science.”

Calls to Jones were not returned by press time.