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from Events/Announcements
Former APA President Supports NARTH's Mission Statement, Assails APA's Intolerance of Differing Views
By A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., MBA, MPH
Former President of the American Psychological Association Robert Perloff was
the keynote speaker at the annual NARTH Conference, which was held in
Washington, DC on November 12-14, 2004.
Dr. Perloff is the Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Business
Administration and of Psychology at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of
Business, University of Pittsburgh.
The former APA president's lecture -- entitled "Free to Choose" -- received a
standing ovation from the conference participants. The gathering at the
Washington's Wyndham Hotel comprised the largest attendance of any NARTH
Conference.
Dr. Perloff began his lecture by emphasizing the importance of client
self-determination, a cornerstone value of all of the mental health professions. He stated,
"I am here as the champion of one's right to choose ... It is my fervent belief
that freedom of choice should govern one's sexual orientation ... If homosexuals
choose to transform their sexuality into heterosexuality, that resolve and
decision is theirs and theirs alone, and should not be tampered with by any
special interest group -- including the gay community..."
In support of the mission statement of NARTH, he concluded,
"The individual's right for self-determination of sexuality -- or sexual
autonomy -- is, I am happy to see, inherent in NARTH's position statement:
'NARTH respects each client's dignity, autonomy, and free agency...every
individual has the right to claim a gay identity, or to develop their
heterosexual potential. The right to seek therapy to change one's sexual
adaptation is considered self-evident and inalienable.' I subscribe fully to the
aforementioned NARTH position statement."
Noting that he was a Fellow of APA's Lesbian and Gay division, Dr. Perloff
reiterated his support for gay and lesbian issues. However, he vigorously
declared his opposition to the efforts of the gay community within APA to
prevent psychotherapists from accepting clients who wished to develop their
heterosexual potential. Dr. Perloff articulated the following reasons for his
position:
- "The individual has the right to choose whether he or she wishes to become
straight. It is his or her choice, not that of an ideologically driven interest
group.
- "To discourage a psychotherapist from undertaking a client wishing to
convert, for reasons I will explain, [is] anti-research, anti-scholarship, and
antithetical toward the quest for truth.
- "To deny a client the opportunity to engage in a psychotherapeutic experience
is potentially harmful to the client, who may well have emotional problems and
mental health roadblocks independent of that client's sexual orientation."
Dr. Perloff noted the growing body of research that contradicts the popular
notion that change in sexual-orientation is not possible. He concluded, "The research on
sexual conversion is, therefore, very much a work in progress, an open question,
and efforts to declare that conversion is 'doomed to failure' and is 'futile'
are irresponsible, reactionary and intellectually flawed."
When asked about the American Psychological Association's opinion of his
presence at NARTH, Dr. Perloff indicated that he had recently received a warning
phone call from a former member of APA's Board of Directors. This fellow
psychologist "told me that a group of APA members were deeply concerned" that I
had the "audacity and political incorrectness" to address NARTH (defined as a
bunch of "bad guys").
Dr. Perloff's response to the caller was, "If APA or any of its special-interest
mafias seek to bring ethics charges against me, they will face litigation the
likes of which they have never encountered before."
He commended NARTH for its position, which he views as representative of the
clear majority of Americans because of the popular support for traditional
marriage that was expressed in the recent national elections.
Dr. Perloff encouraged NARTH to increase its membership and to continue
articulating its views. He stated that freedom of choice is "a powerful and
unassailable right inherent in human behavior, especially in a democratic
society such as ours, where freedom of expression is guaranteed by the United
States Constitution."
"NARTH," he added, "is a voice in the wilderness."
Updated: 8 February 2008
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