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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2001)
may IB. 2001 chi mi h :h\n news 21 N I W U@ ME Q M C R E I K P syched O ut 2BD 2BATH TREES BIG YARD PRIVATE CLUB,TENNIS, POOL, 4 S MIN TO PORTLAND \ » \ \ / / i ✓ ON MT HOOD Questionable study says some homosexuals can change orientations / / / • ' * ' » \ by Jim R adosta slam m ed the study, saying right-w ingers h ave m isinterpreted it to prove sexual ori en tatio n is ch an g e able. T h e results, he claim ed, show just the opposite. Besen said that a disproportionate num ber of the subjects, 37 percent, were suicidal before undergoing the study and that 93 per cent said religion was extrem ely important in their lives. Even though participants “ Ex-gay” men and women protest during the 2 0 0 0 Am erican were a hand-selected Psychiatric A ssociation Convention sample o f activists— with 78 percent hav new study claim ing some hom o ing spoken out publicly on conversion thera sexuals can be scared straight py— only 17 percent o f the men and 55 percent through prayer, therapy and o f the women said they were entirely heterosex mentoring relationships is unsci ual after at least five years o f expensive, time- consuming therapy. entific and profoundly biased, queer advocates said May 10. They questioned Dr. Lorraine Hart, a psychologist and a mem the research’s validity because o f the author’s ber of the Knoxville, Tenn., chapter of Parents, anti-gay views, close ties to right-wing political Families and Friends of Lesbians, said she is groups and lack o f objective data. deeply dismayed that mental health profession Dr. Robert Spitzer of New York’s Colum bia als still are considering claims that homosexuals University presented his findings during the can or should change their orientation. “Per annual meeting of the American Psychiatric haps we ought to research how to repair hom o Association in New Orleans. He said he inter phobia instead of homosexuality.” viewed 200 men and women who have experi Joan M. Garry, Gay and Lesbian Alliance enced and sustained a significant shift from Against Defamation executive director, said the homosexual to heterosexual attraction. “conclusions are based on ...people who are so Many o f the subjects had sought change troubled by their sexual orientation that they because o f disillusionm ent with a promiscuous will go to any lengths to attempt to ‘change’ it. lifestyle and unstable, stormy relationships, Spitzer defines them as ‘highly motivated,’ and according to Spitzer. By the time o f the study that’s not surprising. These are people who live interview, three-quarters in a world in which gays, lesbians and bisexuals o f the men and h alf o f are treated like second-class citizens.” the women had becom e In 1973, Spitzer was a key member of an APA married. panel that removed homosexuality from a list of a O ne surprising discov mental disorders. Since then, though, he seems to ery, Spitzer said, was that have undergone major conversion therapy himself. 67 percent o f the men Spitzer, who insists he holds no anti-gay bias, who rarely or never had now publicly says sexual minorities shouldn’t be felt any opposite-sex at allowed to adopt, marry or serve openly in the mil traction before the itary. He made these remarks during a news confer __________________ change effort now report ence last year with representatives from the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, two Dr. Robert Spitzer significant heterosexual attraction. Even those religious political groups. whose orientation did not Phil Hobizal of the Portland Fellowship, a change— but who gave up hom osexual be local ex-gay ministry, also has entered the debate, havior— experienced a significant improvement coming to the defense of the counseling practices. in emotional health, according to the study. “There are those people who did not find our pro Tim McFeeley, N ational G ay and Lesbian gram helpful and have chosen to embrace their homosexuality, and we say they have the freedom Task Force political director, called the research to do that,” he told the Washington Post. “snake oil packaged as science.” He said 43 per cent o f the interviewees were referred to Spitzer Meanwhile, researchers Michael Schroeder by ex-gay ministries and another 23 percent by and Ariel Shidlo presented a long-term study the anti-gay N ational Association for Research May 9 that stands in stark contrast to Spitzer’s find and Therapy o f Homosexuality. ings. O f their interviewees, a whopping 88 percent were unable to “convert” their sexual orientation. “To say the very least, the data is tainted and biased,” McFeeley said. "T h is pseudoscience Another 9 percent reported that they were struggling or celibate. And just 3 percent report lacks credibility.” ed being successful and living contentedly as T he N A R T H Internet site is filled with dia heterosexuals. tribes about genetics, reparative therapy and “Just imagine a drug company putting a prod “the misuse o f science.” T he lead essay under the heading “Activism in the Schools” is writ uct on the market that had an 88 percent failure ten by none other than Scott Lively, former rate and only a 3 percent ‘success’ rate,” M cFeel ey said. “Yet proponents o f conversion therapy right-hand man to Oregon Citizens Alliance executive director Lon Mabon. are willing to subject clients to a so-called treat ment that has been rejected by every major W ayne Besen, H um an R ights C am paign medical and mental health association. ” j n asso ciate director o f co m m u n icatio n s, M y V ii SOLE — REALTORS WELCOME C A L L 503 314 - 3169 COUNTRYBUILDER.COM 815 SW Alder Street Portland, OR 97205 503.228.5844 Upstairs 503.225.1241 Downstairs A C R t i N COMPANY “The best workout spares no effort... the same holds true for Christine!” C h r is t« * ^ - “/ wasn 't sure I could buy a First Time Buyers ♦ FHA/VA Loans ad an d called. 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