Name: Blake Sweet
Age: 22

Blake Sweet’s room displays snapshots of his life: photos with friends, a MacBook, posters of kittens and a half-dozen books of sheet music sit next to his keyboard and guitar.

His bookshelf has titles covering Islam, sects of Christianity and much more. Crosses of varying styles and sizes, are plentiful throughout his bedroom.

Sweet is finishing up his degree in vocal performance at Indiana State University in Bloomington, Ind. As a kid, his father built him a toy chest for army men toys, but Sweet preferred playing with his sister, running an orphanage for their toys.

The 22-year-old college student identifies as a celibate child of God who has same-sex attractions. Sweet chooses not to act on these attractions, as he doesn’t feel that doing so is obeying God’s interests.

Sweet is part of a fringe community broadly referred to as “ex-gays.” This umbrella term encompasses a diverse population who, for a variety of reasons, feel that being an active homosexual is not for them. They seek to lessen or remove their same-sex attractions (or SSA, for short), oftentimes (but not always) through religion.

Sweet’s methodology, celibacy, is one of several tactics ex-gays typically take. Others include pursuing sexual or non-sexual relationships with the opposite sex, taking a formal vow of celibacy, entering relationships with the same-sex that avoid any sexual conduct, amongst others.

Name: Terry Coleman
Age: 49

Terry's journey is complex, An HIV-Positive man since the 1990s, he was having homosexual sex, but not gay relationships, for more than 20 years.

Starting in college and ending in 2007, he has never been able to make a relationship out of it, simply desiring sex from other men.

Presently, he's a celibate man who attends a weekly Catholic support group for those with same-sex attractions.

[When I got sick] my mother asked, 'does this surprise you?' knowing that it shouldn't, because I was doing these things that cause people to get sick like that.

Name: Benjamin Anderson
Age: 27

Ben grew up in a conservative evangelical household, where "democrat" was synonymous with "heathen."

He struggled with his same-sex attractions for years, the struggle bringing him to France and Spain to utilize different ex-gay services.

Ultimately, he reconciled his gayness with his faith and, in winter of 2009, came back to the U.S. He has since entered a long-term relationship with another man, while retaining a strong faith in Christianity.

"When I was in second grade, that in some Mennonite church in the U.s., gay and lesbian people were allowed to attend. That was absolutely unacceptable, so we left the denomination at that point in time."

Name: Alden Golab
Age: 23

Alden, self-described as bookish, searched for ex-gay books and other resources after he realized he had same-sex attractions in high school.

His real struggle came in college, where he utilized Exodus International's resources and theories and applied them to his life to walk avoid acting on his same-sex attractions.

He worked with a support group throughout college to help keep him accountable on his same-sex attractions. Ultimately, he realized that this was not a viable life choice.

His experience in the ex-gay community was overwhelmingly negative, harming his relationship with his father, and even bringing about an aversion to human touch.

Presently in Chicago, he's in a long-term relationship with another man.