Shocker! You Can’t Turns Gays Straight With Therapy
Posted by: Nikki Dowling
Filed in:
news
2:40PM, Thursday August 6th 2009
The American Psychological Association has finally gotten around to saying that therapy aimed at turning gays straight is totally bogus. Good job, guys. We’ve only known that for, like, ever. In a vote of 125-to-4, the APA adopted a resolution saying that mental health personnel shouldn’t recommend so-called “repairative therapy” or similar treatments to gay clients. In fact, the effects of this bogus therapy could actually be harmful, leading to suicidal tendencies and depression.
Gay individuals who want to “turn straight” are usually trying to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. A lot of churches and religious organizations think being gay is wrong. The association thinks these people should accept their sexuality and, if it really bothers them, try celibacy. (Worst. Idea. Ever.) They could also switch churches. But, therapy should be aimed at helping these ambivalent peeps be who they are and also live a spiritual life, if that’s what they want. [NY Times]
Personally, I don’t think it’s the gays who should have to change. The churches and religious right are the ones who need therapy! They are way behind the times and it’s ridiculous that being gay is still not accepted. As far as I’m concerned, hating on gays is as bad as being racist or sexist and, in a few years, everyone will be wondering what the eff was wrong with the people who, by 2009, still thought being gay was a sin. Also, why are these people so enamored with an organization that doesn’t want them, anyway?
But that’s just me, what do you think?
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Raugiel
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 01:48 pm: [report]
I’m with you! Took them long enough to finally come out and say that this “therapy” is a load of bull.
redheads not warheads
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 01:53 pm: [report]
All I can say is duh.
And on a “yay for gay rights” sidebar-gays and lesbians will finally be counted in the 2010 Census. I hope by the time I am ready to procreate that some of this blatant anti-homosexuality blabber will be ancient history.
lea322
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 01:54 pm: [report]
I think it’s just as wrong to ask someone to ditch their religious beliefs as it is to ask them to ditch their sexuality. If celibacy is their way of reconciling the two, it’s not for us to judge that as the “worst idea ever”.
Chebs
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 01:55 pm: [report]
OMG stop the presses (or whatever the internet version is)! This news is so old, there’s already been a Law & Order episode about it. I wish I could remember when I saw it (high school? back when I had my crush on Jesse L Martin?), but basically, good for the APA for acknowledging something people have known for quite some time. /golfclap
tabby
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 01:59 pm: [report]
I want to know who the 4 people who voted against logic are.
Queen Frostine
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 02:01 pm: [report]
I think if you’re gay or bisexual and your church disagrees on your lifestyle, you should find a new spiritual community that accepts you as you are. There are plenty of churches and communities that welcome people regardless of their sexual orientation.
moonblossom
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 02:49 pm: [report]
I too am totally sick of the gay bashing in our culture. It really is up there with racism and sexism in my book….and by “up there” I mean lower than pond scum. Church holds very little appeal to me as it is. The gay bashing just makes it less appealling.
And, I have yet to discover the fascination with other people’s sex lives….gay or otherwise. Honestly, the only sex I’m interested in is the sex I am (or sadly - am not) getting.
*sam*
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 07:09 pm: [report]
FYI: the APA hasn’t pushed for ‘gay to straight’ therapy for *years* and the only reason they compiled this meta-analysis was because of the recent uprising of religious-based organizations claiming that these “therapies” work.
Coral
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 09:28 pm: [report]
The thing is, churches still are sexist and racist. I’m very religious myself, but more in a spiritual sense, rather than organized religion. Any organized religion, in my opinion, that does not accept a certain people or treat all fairly, is more cult-like than religious. With the Catholic Church and Christian churches, men are in power mostly, with priest positions, bishops, even the pope. Nuns and the sisterhood have a small submissive role. And I have gone to both ‘black’ and ‘white’ churches before, and I haven’t been accepted at ‘black’ churches. Even though I am half black! Hopefully gays will not feel that they have to change for a religion that is probably more cult-like in my opinion.
Ellis
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 11:01 pm: [report]
Sam took the words right out of my mouth - the APA has not endorsed therapies of this kind for a long time. I’ve found them to be very GLBT-friendly thus far, in fact. It’s still nice, though, to have something official and newsworthy out saying that therapies to straightify people are ridiculous.
Ellis
wrote on August 6 2009 @ 11:07 pm: [report]
And to lea322:
I wouldn’t judge most religious beliefs, and wouldn’t ask someone to change their beliefs lightly. However, I would compare believing that being gay is wrong to believing that walking is wrong. You can try to change or repress your sexuality, but you’re going to have about as much success and happiness as someone who spends their days forcing themself to crawl on all fours. It’s not a perfect metaphor, but you get the idea.
TrocarQueen105
wrote on August 7 2009 @ 06:32 pm: [report]
It’s instances like these that I want to know the 4 people who decided that it is still indeed possible to convert a homosexual to a heterosexual. Has it occurred to them that they are idiots?
I never understood something: If you believe in equality for all humans, then why can’t homosexuals get married? Also, if I have the right to marry whoever I want and my girlfriend has the right to marry whoever she wants, when do we lose the right to marry each other?
I’m not lesbian, but I believe that you can’t use the government to control love just because some people out there are bigots. It’s not like homosexuals are the only ones who engage in anal sex or use strap-ons, and it sure as hell isn’t like every heterosexual couple is able to have kids naturally. So what’s the problem? God loves everyone right? So where do you go saying He hates homosexuals?
canadiancutie
wrote on August 9 2009 @ 04:03 pm: [report]
Who gets to decide who is fully human & who is not? I really think the world will not be a mainly peaceful place until organized religion is abolished. Until then, we can have plenty of murders, suicides, and suicide bombers due to the lack of empathy organized religion promotes.
BlueVibe
wrote on August 12 2009 @ 03:25 pm: [report]
I didn’t choose to be straight, and I can’t change the fact that I am straight—why would I assume it was different for gays?
The APA is a scientific organization; what various religions think of homosexuality is irrelevant from that point of view. People can *believe* anything they want but it won’t magically make “repairative therapy” effective. I can believe all I want that there is a method out there to change lead into gold, but the laws of chemistry will continue to thwart me. It just doesn’t work.