The American Psychological Association says that if you are gay and your religious beliefs condemn gay behavior, therapy isn’t going to help you. They say you should try celibacy or simply change churches. Of course, changing churches is a nice way of saying ‘change your stupid religious beliefs,’ but there are diplomatic ways to say almost anything.
Attempting to cure yourself of same-sex attraction can actually be dangerous.
No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the resolution, adopted by a 125-to-4 vote. The association said some research suggested that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.
I think physical relocation is also a good way to lesson the burden of same-sex impulses. There are many areas of the country where homosexuality is not frowned upon and doesn’t present too many difficulties. If you are depressed or thinking suicidal thoughts, it may be because the people in your life don’t accept you for who you are. Getting away from them may be the best therapy.
Agreed. I suspect that a lot of people — and not just gays — feel trapped where they are by family, thanks to the irrational importance our society places on family ties. There is nothing special about family unless your family makes it so. Sticking with a supportive family is a wise move, but sticking with an unsupportive or actually hostile family is, no pun intended, suicidal.
That said, anyone who can maintain an even psychological keel in the face of misunderstanding and hostility should probably stay put. Letting the bigots segregate themselves just makes it easier for them to convert others to their cause.
Kind of ironic, isn’t it? The bigots always claim that gays “recruit” people, when it’s the bigots who do the recruiting.
I don’t know, seems like 125-4 means there is some “split of opinion” or “controversy” on the subject, you know, like global warming.
There is no gay cure because there is nothing to be “cured” of. Howsabout we educate our children that sexuality is normal, no matter who our bodies tell us to have a relationship with?
Jeez, this shit pisses me off. The homophobes are the problem, not the gays.
Some good advice here. The APA is right of course; the very concept of aversion/conversion therapy is ludicrous, and only serves as yet another reminder that a large segment of society still regards gay men and women as second-class citizens – or worse. That is the salient point of my recently released biographical, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others, including fellow Mormons). The book includes an episode in which the main character’s co-religionists convince him to try this therapy; of course it fails miserably. More information on Broken Saint is available at http://www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.
Mark Zamen, author