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from Events/Announcements
Former Surgeon General Sponsors
Sexual Health Conference
May 17, 2004 - Former Surgeon General David Satcher is sponsoring a conference,
"The Call to Action on Sexual Health: Science and Belief, Seeking Common Ground," to be held on May 24, 2004.
The event, to be held in Washington, DC, will be attended by more than 300 healthcare professionals and advocates from all over the United States.
Surgeon General Satcher previously issued a statement criticizing society's stigmatization of homosexual behavior and claiming that sexual orientation cannot be changed.
According to Dr. Satcher, the purpose of the upcoming conference is to "seek common ground to sexual health problems. ...We will bring together experts of diverse backgrounds to discuss the best available science related to sexual health in the context of deeply held beliefs."
In June, 2001, Satcher issued "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior." After its release, the Ford Foundation awarded a grant to the National Center for Primary Care at Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine to continue this effort. Dr. Satcher is director of this national center.
Sexual Orientation Unchangeable?
Satcher's Call to Action included the following statement about sexual orientation:
"Sexual orientation is usually determined by adolescence, if not earlier, and there is no valid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Nonetheless, our culture often stigmatizes homosexual behavior, identity, and relationships. These anti-homosexual attitudes are associated with psychological distress for homosexual persons and may have a negative impact on mental health, including a greater incidence of depression and suicide, lower self-acceptance, and a greater likelihood of hiding sexual orientation."
Physician Dr. John Diggs disputed elements of Satcher's Call to Action in 2001, including his claim that sexual orientation is unchangeable. After pointing out several factual errors in Satcher's report, he wrote:
"All told, the Surgeon General's 'Call to Action' calls into question the primacy of promoting the health of the public .... True public health informs the public....On a number of points we are, instead, misinformed by the document. Fear not, the document can still be useful ... as confetti."
Updated: 8 February 2008
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