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Trouble on the reorient express

The linked article below is written mostly supportive of those who feel that gays and lesbian people can be switched to heterosexuality, but in it are some telling statements worth pointing out.

The majority of the those within the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community (GLBTQ) have been opposed to re-orientation therapies, and the prevailing viewpoint is that these thypes of therapies do ore harm than good. Numerous ex-exgays have come forward and shared that once they began to accept themselves as they were and love themselves they found happiness and fulfillment as gay and lesbian. They say that what was causing their depression and other problems was an inability to accept themselves and the rigid push to be something that they weren’t. A few (but vocal) exgays say that homosexuals can change their ways. These are mostly ultra-religious, and  become, obcessed with the issue of forcing all gays and lesbians to change. I have always thought this zealous behavior was problematic. Seemed to me that if their conversion was so real, they would just go about being heterosexual and leave the rest of us alone. But their need to demonize GLBTQs  leaves me wondering who are they really trying to convince and save?

It has seemed as if the shift has changed in their tactics. At one time, groups like Exodus was at the forefront of the public dialogue, but after numerous examples of top Exodus (or other similar groups) leaders being caught participating in same-sex incidents, the focus has shifted to a pseudo-scientific attack. I say, pseudo-scientific, because while they parade some work as a research study, it generally fails in every regard as to what is understood as objective science. Still this is OK. Science move forward by people doing good science and bad science and the good rising to the surface.

The research study being discussed here is a good example of that.

If we go back to the base argument, it is that homosexuality can be cured. Some claim for religious reasons it is something that needs to be cured because it is against God’s Will. If Science can prove that it can be cured, that would lend support to the theory that it is a pathology and wrong. But no scientific data supports that position. Even the research being discussed here doesn’t support that. Dr. jones himself says:

“cured” of their homosexuality completely.

So is it possible that what Science has been saying and what these anti-gay crusaders are saying will finally be seen as the same? I doubt it. It isn’t hard to find articles and blog reports that present this study as just one more that proves homosexuality can be cured. Funny, even the researcher doesn’t say that, but it is how Christian websites read these results. Less than 1/3 of the study participants had any level of success and none had complete success.

At the recent American Psychological Association conference, a statement was published which was the strongest statement to date about the possible dangers of reparative therapies, but it also accepted that some people could control their sexual orientation and lead celebit lives, mostly for religious reasons. to me ths seems like a true statement.

But I believe most people feel that as individuals we life the happiest and most rich life of experiences when we have integrated our sexual, intellectual, physical, and emotional selves as a self-accepting whole self. So, if some people want to shut down and amputate a part of themself, why stop them? But their life experience will not be the same as if they were now straight.

Those who reported making the change did not have the same heterosexual experience as those who had always been heterosexual.

“A typical hetero male finds himself attracted to a wide range of females. But among the successful people who reported conversion the typical response was I’m very happy with my sexual responses to my wife, but I don’t experience much hetero attraction to other women. Also, when asked and pressed about whether they still find attraction to men, they will say: ‘Yes, if I let my mind go in that direction.’ “

If anything, I think this study proves beyond doubt what gays and lesbians have been stating all along. Sexual orientation, straight , gay, or bi is a naturally occurring state of being. Some, if they work hard enough can achieve a some measure of control over what is natural.

So why don’t the scientists involved see this study as a failure in terms of support for their underlying theory? Because they are both Evangelical Christians, and so the actual scientific findings don’t support their personal religious views, and their personal religious views win out. That is at least part of why this is bad science.

There are unreported part of this study that I think would be very interesting to explore. The study was of 98 men and women over a 6 year period who had sought help from Exodus International. Almost all, were born-again Christians. About 40% of the study group left the study:

Of those, some said that they had embraced their gay identity and wanted nothing more to do with the study or Exodus International. One left because he said he had been “cured,” only to admit later that he had lied about his sexual transformation. Others said they did not trust the researchers because of their association with a Christian organization.

I wonder what is the actual number of those who came to accept their identity, and of those who did not trust the religious association, what percentage started as born-again Christians? Since most were bon-again at the start, did these individuals lose their religion along the way? The number who left the group was about equal to those who experienced some level of success with the program. It would be interesting to see some comparative data of these two specific subgroups of the participants. It would also be interesting to look at the 27 participants who had no level of success whatsoever.

Earlier, I said this represented a shift in tactics. One could wonder about that, given that this research was done using those who were part of an Exodus group. My thinking comes from looking at what those inside Exodus are saying and how that differs from some of the more zealous who claim that homosexuality can be cured.

Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, said his decision to change his own sexual orientation was motivated by his evangelical faith and his conservative Southern upbringing.

He spent years trying to reconcile the two, even attending a gay Christian Church for a time in Florida, before realizing he would have to choose one over the other.

“It takes years, no matter what struggles you have in life, to resolve these issues. People don’t walk into one meeting of Weight Watchers and walk out a size two.”

Now married with two children, he holds no animosity towards friends who are gay and thinks the world has improved by becoming more tolerant gay life. He does not expect the overwhelming majority of homosexuals to take his path. He knows for those who follow his way, it would be tough.

Homosexuality: Trouble on the reorient express.