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from Political News
Gay Group Issues Report
Questioning Reparative Therapy
March 3, 2006 -
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) has just issued, "Youth in the
Crosshairs: The Third Wave of Ex-Gay Activism." The report claims that ex-gay
groups could be sued for deceiving the public about the effectiveness of
treatment for individuals struggling with same-sex attractions.
NGLTF author of the study, Jason Cianciotto, says "There's no evidence that
conversion therapy actually works, but there's a growing body of evidence that
it can be extremely harmful and unethical."
The report highlights a 2002 study of 202 people who underwent conversion
therapy. Twenty-six of the 202 interviewed said therapy was successful.
Ninety-percent of the rest in the study allegedly reported long-term harm:
depression to the point of attempted suicide or strained relationships and
family and parents.
However, the NGLTF report fails to mention the following: that the study,
conducted by Shidlo and Schroeder, did not seek a representative sample of
reorientation therapy clients, but specifically adverstised in gay publications
for anyone who could "help us document the harm." Therefore, the fact that the
majority of study respondents claimed to have been "harmed" was in no way
surprising.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International responded to the study's
claims: "I really think the core of their problem with us is a fear-based
mentality. If people like me exist, then they weren't born like this (gay).
Change is possible or could be possible."
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Ex-gay leaders have
advised parent on signs of 'pre-homosexuality' in children, and one prominent
ex-gay therapist wrote in his Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality about
his experience treating a 5-year-old boy, the report states."
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force joined in an alliance with the Woodhull
Freedom Foundation in 2004. According to an NGLTF press release, the purpose of
the alliance is to challenge age of consent laws and laws criminalizing public
sex acts in places like public restrooms and parks (referred to as
"non-traditional forms of sexual expression"):
The laws which the project will address range from the archaic - like Michigan's
law prohibiting unmarried people from having sex and living together - to the
grossly unjust - like Kansas' differing age of consent laws based on the gender
of the persons involved - to those addressing facially valid public policy
concerns - like laws against public lewdness, but which are routinely misused to
persecute and prosecute people who participate in non-traditional forms of
sexual expression.
Additional Reading:
Gay Shamans Touted As Gatekeepers To The Spirit World;
NARTH Concerned Over New Sexual Alliance.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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