may IB. 2001
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Questionable study says some homosexuals can change orientations
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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
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