Homosexuality cures do not work: CEN 8.21.09 p 5. August 31, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Popular Culture.trackback
There is no scientific evidence that “gay to straight” or reparative therapies work, a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) reported last week to the association’s national convention. However, in a major policy shift, the APA stated that it was ethical for therapists to help those seeking to overcome same-sex attractions and acknowledged for the first time that therapists should respect the religious beliefs of their clients when dealing with homosexuality.
The 130 page report prepared by the APA’s Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Homosexuality examined 83 studies and concluded the “the results of scientifically valid research indicate that it is unlikely that individuals will be able to reduce same-sex attractions or increase other-sex sexual attractions through SOCE [sexual orientation change efforts]” or reparative therapy.
Same-sex attractions were “normal and positive variants” of human sexuality, the APA said, affirming its 1973 position that homosexuality was not a mental illness.
The report criticized traditional religious teachings on the morality of homosexual behavior stating “there is a growing body of evidence that sexual stigma, manifested as prejudice or discrimination directed at non-heterosexual orientations and identities, is a major source of stress for sexual minorities.”
This stress had arisen from the “moral and religious values in North America and Europe” which gave the “the initial rationale for criminalization, discrimination and prejudice against same-sex behaviors,” the APA report said.
However, the APA held that patients should be permitted to seek help overcoming unwanted same-sex attractions. “The appropriate application of affirmative therapeutic interventions for those who seek SOCE involves therapist acceptance, support, and understanding of clients,” the report concluded, adding the proviso that therapists should not impose “a specific sexual orientation identity outcome.”
The report adopted an agnostic view on the efficacy of reparative therapies as “there are no methodologically sound studies of recent SOCE that would enable the task force to make a definitive statement about whether or not recent SOCE is safe or harmful and for whom.”
The task force recommended that psychologists help clients “explore possible life paths that address the reality of their sexual orientation, reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, respect the client’s religious beliefs, and consider possibilities for a religiously and spiritually meaningful and rewarding life.”
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, an ex-gay ministry, called the report a “positive step.”
“Simply respecting someone’s faith is a huge leap in the right direction,” said Mr. Chambers, a self identified ex-gay man who has overcome same-sex attractions and is now married with children.
But I’d go further. Don’t deny the possibility that someone’s feelings might change,” he told the Associated Press.
The Rev. Mario Bergner, a onetime gay activist who became an Episcopal priest and now leads the Boston-based Redeemed Lives ministry helping those with “unwanted same-sex attractions, was concerned the report ignored the work scientists who had found that sexual orientation can be changed.
He stated the “APA statements on Evangelical Christians is a display of both ignorance and hubris. Evangelical Christian pastoral care givers, such as myself, do not provide reparative therapy of any sort, because we are not therapists. We provide pastoral care and discipleship that employs the insights from Christian and non-Christian therapists who for decades helped men and women find freedom from unwanted same-sex attractions.”
The APA’s “hubris” was two-fold, Fr. Bergner said. “By suggesting people with same-sex attractions seek churches that will affirm these attractions, [the APA] has made itself the judge above global conservative Christianity, Judaism and Islam,” he said, adding that the APA’s statements “may result in denying men and women with unwanted same-sex attractions the personal freedom to seek treatment.”
The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which supports reparative therapy, lauded the APA’s acknowledgment of the “importance of faith and religious diversity.”
However, the “report reflects a very strong confirmation bias; that is, the task force reflected virtually no ideological diversity. No APA member who offers reorientation therapy was allowed to join the task force.”
It further claimed the APA “selected and interpreted studies that fit within their innate and immutable view” and ignored studies that contradicted its preconceived conclusions.
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