his name is kirk murphy. and for the first time on television, his family is sharing their story with us. and they're doing it because they want you to know who kirk really was. they want you to know what impact they say it had on the rest of his life. >> this is my brother, kirk. this is when he was -- >> this is the last time mark murphy remembers his brother, kirk, as a happy child. the photo was taken when kirk was 4. a year before he was placed in therapy at ucla to treat what doctors identified as exaggerat exaggerated feminine behavior. >> it left kirk with the belief that he was broken. >> kirk's sister and brother say he was never the same after therapy. >> the only thing they did is destroy our brother. they took him away from us. he was empty, nothing there. >> in 1970, kirk murphy was a smart, outgoing 5-year-old growing up near los angeles. his mother, however, was worried about him. >> well, i was becoming a little concerned about playing with the girls toys and stroking the hair, you know, the

. >>> last night we told you about kirk murphy. kirk was just five years old when he was treated at ucla's gender identity clinic under a pseudonym to reveal his real name. the purpose was to eliminate kirk's feminine behavior and make her more masculine. the man who ran the study was george reichers. he calls the program a success. decades later the research done on kirk is still being cited by those who think kids can be prevented from becoming gay. that infewer yates kirk's family. they say the treatment that reichers called a success literally destroyed him. they want you to know what he went through and the impact it had on the rest of his life. cnn confronted reichers with their allegations. here now is anderson cooper's special report on "the sissy boy "experiment. >> kirk, what do you think of your new nephew? >> [ inaudible ] >> kirk murphy killed himself nearly six months after this video was taken in 2003. he was 38 years old and had struggled with being gay for most of his life. a struggle his family blames on experimen

here is anderson cooper. >> this is my brother, kirk andrew murphy. this is what he was supposed to be. >> this is the last time mark murphy remembers his brother, kirk, as a happy child. the photo was taken when kirk was 4, a year before he was placed in an experimental therapy at ucla to treat what doctors identified as exaggerated feminine behavior. >> it left kirk just totally stricken with the belief that he was broken, that he was different from everybody else. >> reporter: kirk's sister maris and brother mark say chiskirk w never the same after therapy. >> they destroyed him. he was empty,ing in there. >> reporter: in 1970 kirk murphy was a smart, outgoing 5-year-old growing up near los angeles. his mother, k.t. murphy, however, was worried about him. >> well, i was becoming a little concerned about playing with the girls' toys and stroking the hair, the long hair and stuff. i was seeing feminine mannerisms that bothered me because i wanted kirk to grow up and have a normal life. >> mrs. murphy says she saw a psychologist on a local tv program

the other, larry ferguson, told us he did evaluate kirk murphy as a teenager. he told us he didn't see any red flags when evaluating kirk. but kirk's family says he lied to those examining him, something he learned to do, they say, to avoid punishment, which were part of the experimental therapy rekers conducted. >> he was conditioned to say what he thought they wanted to hear. >> rekers insists the therapy was intended to help. >> i only meant to help. the rational was help children help the parents who come to us in their distress, asking questions what can we do to help our child be better adjusted? >> george rekers has had a nearly three decade career as a champion of the anti-gay movement. in addition of being a founding member of the family research council, he was a member of narth, who attempts to treat those with what they call unwanted homosexuality. just last year, however, in a surprising twist, george rekers' days as a prominent anti-gay activist abruptly ended. rekers was caught with a young male escort he hired to accompany him on a trip to europ

the other, larry ferguson, told us he did evaluate kirk murphy as a teenager. he told us the family was well adjusted and didn't see any red flags when evaluating kirk, but a psychiatrist who followed up with kirk when he was 18, dr. richard green, wrote that kirk told him he tried to kill himself the year before because he didn't, quote, want to grow up to be gay. rekers insists the therapy was intended to help kirk and his parents >> i only meant to help. the rationale was positive to help children help the parents who come to us in their distress asking questions, what can we do to help our child be better adjusted? >> george rekers has had a nearly three decade career as a champion of the anti-gay movement. in addition to being a founding member of the family research council, he was also a board member of the national association for research and therapy of homosexuality, or narth, an organization whose members attempt to treat those who struggle with what they call unwanted homosexuality. just last year, however in, a surprising twist, george rekers days

the other, larry ferguson, told us he did evaluate kirk murphy as a teenager. he told us the family was well adjusted and he didn't see any red flags when evaluating kirk. but a psychiatrist who followed up with kirk when he was 18, dr. richard green, wrote that kirk told him he tried to kill himself the year before because he didn't, quote, want to grow up to be gay. rekers insists the therapy was to help kirk and his parents. >> i only meant to help. and the rationale was positive to help children help the parents who come to us in their distress asking questions, what can we do to help our child be better adjusted? >> george rekers has had a nearly three-decade career as a champion of the anti-gay movement. in addition of being a founding member of the family research council, he was a board member of narth, who attempts to treat those who struggle with what they call unwanted homosexuality. just last year, however, in a surprising twist, george rekers' days as a prominent anti-gay activist abruptly ended. rekers was caught with a young male escort he hired

he was 38 years old, kirk murphy hung himself. the research lives on, however. it's still being cited by those who think they can prevent kids from being gay. and some kids are being sent to something called reparative therapy. ryan kendall was sent to reparative therapy when he was 14. here's randi kaye with part three. >> reporter: growing up, ryan had a secret, a secret he shared in the pages of his diary. but when ryan was just 13shgs his mother read his diary and discovered ryan was gay. it was the beginning of the most painful years of his life. >> i didn't question the world i had grown up in. i thought there was some legitimacy to the idea that i was an evil sinner who was going to burn in hell. >> reporter: ryan says his parents were determined to change their son. as ryan tells it, his parents signed him up for reparative therapy. >> every day i would hear, this is a choice. this can be fixed. >> reporter: did you believe that? >> i never believed that. i know i'm gay just like i know i'm gay and short and half hispanic. it's part of my fundamental ide

his name is kirk murphy. for the first time on television, his family is sharing their story with us. they're doing it because they want you to know who kirk really was. they want you to know what he went through, and they want you to know what impact they say it had on the rest of his life. here's anderson cooper's special report. >> this is my brother kirk andrew murphy. this is when he was supposed to be -- >> reporter: this is the last time mark murphy remembers his brother kirk as a happy child. the photo was taken when kirk was 4, a year before he was placed in experimental therapy at ucla to treat what doctors identified as exaggerated feminine behavior. >> it left kirk just totally stricken with the belief that he was broken. that he was different from everybody else. >> reporter: kirk's sister and brother say kirk was never the same after therapy. >> the om thing they did was destroy our brother. they took him away from us. he was empty. nothing there. >> reporter: in 1970, kirk murphy was a smart, o

what happened to kirk andrew murphy isn't just a piece of history. today all around the country, children whose families are concerned they may be gay are being sent to therapy based, in part, on george rekers' research. it happened to ryan kendall when he was 14. >> i thought there was some legitimacy to this idea that i was an evil sinner who was going to burn in hell. and for years, i thought that god hated me because i was gay. >> ryan says the therapy he was forced to get drove him to drugs and into a very deep depression. well, tonight in part three of our investigation, i'll share ryan's story on "anderson cooper 360." you'll hear from ryan and the psychologist who treated him who says he's kept hundreds of children from growing up to be gay. >>> despite mounting calls from colleagues, representative anthony weiner gives no indication that he will resign. dana bash will join us right after the break and she'll tell us what weiner's wife, hue ma abedin is advising him to do. gah! [ children shouting ] [ grunts ] [ whacking piñata ] [ whacking

but the research that was done on kirk murphy lives on. it's still being cited by those who think they can prevent children from becoming gay. and some children like kirk whose parents don't want them to be gay were sent to something called repairtive therapy. ryan kendall was one of them. dproei i growing up, ryan kendall had a secret that he shared in the pages of his diary. but when ryan was just 13 his mother read his diary and discovered ryan was gay. it was the beginning of the most painful years of his life. >> i didn't question the world i had grown up in. i thought there was some legitimacy to this idea that i was an evil sinner who was going to burn in hell, and for years i thought that god hated me because i was gay. >> reporter: ryan says his parents were determined to change their son, as ryan tells it, his parents signed him up for what's called repairativ therapy with the national association of research and therapy for homosexuality, otherwise known as narth. >> every day i would hear this is a choice, this could be fixed.

. >>> also 5-year-old kirk murphy was enrolled in a government study aimed at making efem net boys more masculine. kids like kirk are being sent to something called reparative therapy. that's part three of our 360 investigation. uncovering the truth. those stories and more at the top of the hour. more piers morgan in a moment. >>> so one of the little known things i think about you is this extraordinary story on 9/11. you had an office in cantor fitzgerald's office block. a friend of yours allowed you some office space, and you were 20 minutes late for work. you were going to go in to work that day and just weren't quite on time as you would have been. >> i was sitting at the "good morning america" studios actually. i went there this week and they remembered. i was rushing saying come on, come on, i've got to go to the office. the office was on the 101st floor and the window. and little red, my doll that stands like that was in the window looking down manhattan. i remember leaving the gma studios and heading down and then we stopped. as we left the studios, we saw the airplanes going in

. >> reporter: this is the last time mark murphy remembers his brother kirk as a happy child. the photo was taken when kirk was 4, a year before he was placed in experimental therapy at ucla to treat what doctors identified as exaggerated feminine behavior. >> it left kirk totally stricken with the belief that he was broken, that he was different from everybody else. >> reporter: kirk's sister and brother say kirk was nerve are the same after therapy. >> the om thing they did, destroy our brother. they took him away from us. he was empty. nothing there. >> reporter: in 1970, kirk murphy was a smart, outgoing 5-year-old growing up near los angeles. his mother, however, was worried about him. >> well, i was becoming a little concerned about playing with the girls' toys and stroking the hair. you know, the long hair and stuff. i was seeing feminine mannerisms. it bothered me because i wanted kirk to grow up and have a normal life. >> reporter: to treat kirk's so-called sissy behavior he was preeptedly placed in a room with two tables and observed through a one-way window. he was

. >> this is the last time mark murphy remembers his brother, kirk, as a happy child. the photo was taken when kirk was 4. a year before he was placed in an experimental therapy at ucla to treat what doctors identified as exaggerated feminine behavior. >> it left kirk just totally stricken with the belief that he was broken, that he was different from everybody else. >> reporter: kirk's sister, marris, and brother mark, say kirk was never the same after therapy. >> the only thing they did was destroy our brother. they took him away from us. he was empty. nothing there. >> reporter: in 1970, kirk murphy was a smart, outgoing 5-year-old, growing up near los angeles. his mother, kt murphy, however, was worried about him. >> well, i was becoming a little concerned about playing with the girls' toys, and stroking the long hair and stuff. i was seeing effeminate mannerisms that bothered me, because i wanted kirk to grow up and have a normal life. >> reporter: to treat kirk's so-called sissy behavior, he was repeatedly placed in a room with two tables. he was observed through

. >>> tonight 360 file, last week we showed you what happened to this little boy, kirk andrew murphy who was five years old when he got involved in a government-funded study aimed at making feminine boys more masculine. the study claim kirk's treatment was a success. they concealed his real name in the study calling him craig to protect his real identity. that secret is why it's taken so long for his real story to be told. recently her sister learned that little boy was the boy in that study, still being cited as a success by people who think they can prevent children from becoming gay. but the truth is that kirk's story ended tragically. he killed himself when he was 38 years old. his family says he was harmed by the treatment he received as a 5-year-old child and struggled with being gay his entire adult life. jim burrow writes a blog called box turtle.com. he studied the research done on murphy. i talked to him. >> jim, how did you first hear about kirk's story? >> well, maris, kirk's sister actually left a comment on my blog one night. and i came across it and responded to her. a

he studied the research done on murphy. i talked to him. >> jim, how did you first hear about kirk's story? >> well, maris, kirk's sister actually left a comment on my blog one night. and i came across it and responded to her. and the comment was that i had just found out that my brother, kirk, had been the subject of all this research. and i'm devastated. and i kind of wanted to reach out to see if i could help her in any way. she had a lot of questions. i answered them to the best that i could. and over time i kind of thought, you know, i didn't know if she was going to be ready to tell the family story or not so i was really reluctant to engage her. but over time, we kind of built a certain amount of rapport. and i kind of felt that this was a story that kind of needed to be told. she kind of felt that, too. we had to figure out how to do it because it obviously involved her mother. and a lot of other family members. over time we decided this was the thing to do. >> this is something which happened in 1970. >> yes. >> wh