Using quantitative social psychological studies on antigay attitudes and Slater's extension of the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, this critical discourse analysis of a series of newspaper ads, advocating interventions to 'treat' homosexuality via prayer or psychoanalysis, in an effort to make 'ex-gay' discourse more central to conservative, anti-gay political groups' public communication strategies, shows that the ads contain both narrative and statistical arguments stating that gay men and lesbians can be converted to heterosexuality.