Ex-Gay Watch

by Jack Drescher, MD

A recent article in Scientific American by Thomas Maier has cast into doubt the veracity of a study published 30 years ago that purported to demonstrate that some people can change their homosexual orientation to a heterosexual one.

The study in question was carried out by the most pre-eminent American sex researchers of the last century, the husband and wife team of gynecologist William Masters and psychologist Virginia Johnson. In their own time they were as famous as Alfred Kinsey and like Kinsey, their names became synonymous with the study of human sexuality, if not with the notion of sex itself.

As with the Kinsey studies of the 1940s and 50s, Masters and Johnson’s scholarly books on human sexual responses attracted popular audiences in the 60s and 70s. Based on laboratory research with human subjects, they developed a model of sexual function and dysfunction that would eventually serve as a template for the Sexual Dysfunction section of the 1980 Third Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) and the subsequent volumes since then.

Not as well known today is their 1979 book, Homosexuality in Perspective, in which they describe their research history and objective:

A report of the basic science investigation of heterosexual function was made to the health-care professions in 1966 with the publication of Human Sexual Response . . . the second step in the investigative process was the creation of a 10-year clinical control period for the [Masters and Johnson] Institute’s newly developed techniques for treatment of heterosexual inadequacies [reported in their second volume, Human Sexual Inadequacy, published in 1970].

The homosexual phase of the open-ended investigation of human sexual response began in 1964 with the Institute attempting to respond to the overwhelming cultural and scientific need for an objective investigation of homosexual function. The same protocol of basic science precedence to new clinical treatment constructs was employed. The research program was initiated with an evaluation of physiologic response patterns demonstrated by sexually experienced homosexual men and women responding to effective sexual stimuli in a laboratory setting. This evaluation of homosexual function was completed in 1968 after almost five years of laboratory involvement.

The 10-year period of clinical control for creating and evaluating treatment techniques for homosexual dysfunctions and dissatisfactions began in 1968 and terminated in 1977. With this textual presentation, the Institute reports to the health-care professions both the basic science investigations of homosexual function and the new clinical programs designed to treat sexual inadequacies of homosexual orientation [pp. 235-236, italics added].

They go on to describe those sexual inadequacies. They excluded difficulty with anal intercourse “since rectal [sic] intercourse is not a consistently utilized form of male homosexual interaction, facility in rectal penetration could not be considered a vital factor in arriving at a definition of homosexual impotence” (p. 237).

They further asserted that, “the homosexual male has no absolute requirement for attaining or maintaining an erection of sufficient quality for accomplishing a penetrative act (Though admittedly a penetrative act, fellatio, creates only minor nomenclature confusion because the male does not need even a partial erection for oral penetration.)” and “since it is also apparent that rectal and vaginal penetration are not regularly recurrent sexual techniques employed by lesbians, these penetrative acts have not been considered in defining lesbian anorgasmic states” (p. 237). Read more…

In an interview with self-proclaimed “global voice of orthodox Anglicanism” VirtueOnline, reparative therapist Dr Joseph Nicolosi made some of his boldest claims yet.

The former President of NARTH, who told a London ex-gay conference last weekend that 75 percent of his clients were “cured” of their homosexuality, said the following:

[The] fact remains that if you traumatize a child in a particular way you will create a homosexual condition. If you do not traumatize a child, he will be heterosexual. If you do not traumatize a child in a particular way, he will be heterosexual. The nature of that trauma is an early attachment break during the bonding phase with the father.

Frankly, this kind of dogmatic statement is a gift to Nicolosi’s opponents: If you do x, y will happen; if you do not do x, z will happen. It is a perfect falsifiable statement; in other words, the only thing you would need to do to prove Nicolosi wrong is to find one homosexual who was not traumatized by an “early attachment break” with his father, or find one heterosexual who was.

In the interview, his 75-percent success rate is toned down to a more modest two thirds, some becoming completely heterosexual in a matter of months.

Beginning to wonder about Nicolosi’s judgment? Wonder no more. When asked about Reverend Ted Haggard’s claim to be completely cured of homosexuality, Nicolosi responded thus:

If he has beaten it in four months, he should write a book about how he did it. It would be an instant bestseller. I would buy a copy.

I don’t doubt it – clearly Nicolosi expects his audience to buy just about anything.

Reparative therapist Dr Joseph Nicolosi used a conference in London yesterday to recycle a host of offensive myths about gay men.

According to David Virtue, who describes his notoriously anti-gay website as “the global voice for orthodox Anglicanism,” Nicolosi “ripped” gay organizations for promoting a “lifestyle” that is “ultimately pathological, narcissistic, self-absorbed and offers no hope for people who want to change.”

Nicolosi, the former President of NARTH, told the audience of conservative Christians that 75 percent of his clients were “completely cured” by reparative therapy, and said that he had “a great deal of evidence showing … that therapy works.”

This is an astonishing claim, given the unremarkable results of scientific studies into reparative therapy. The much-touted Masters-Johnson study of 1979 relied on dubious case studies that may even have been totally fabricated. Robert Spitzer’s 2001 study relied on anecdotal evidence from subjects with a vested interest in proving ex-gay success. The 2007 Jones-Yarhouse study was not only severely flawed, but produced only negligible evidence of change. Read more…

Randy Thomas “wept” at finding out how many are being tortured and murdered abroad because they are attracted to the same sex.

I honestly don’t know what to do other than expose it here on the blog and pray for doors to open.  Some have for Alan in Uganda (currently getting ramped up for a government crackdown ::: shaking my head in bewilderment :::) and for a couple of other people we know with other countries.

It might seem surprising that Randy would claim “bewilderment” at the actions of Ugandans, since a member of his own organization’s board went overseas to participate in the conference that sparked such “bewildering” actions against gays. But it shouldn’t be surprising, according to Randy, because:

Yes, [Don Schmierer] is a board member but Exodus, as an organization, had nothing to do with that conference.

Apparently, because he is a board member and not a staff person, he has no accountability to the organization of Exodus International. He said the following in response to a commenter taking him to task:

Do you know what *all* has and hasn’t been done? We don’t treat everything as blog fodder for public show. Just because we don’t have daily briefings with activists intent on “destroying” us, or bloggers seeking something to blog about, doesn’t mean some significant discussions and inroads have been made in the background.

Actually, Randy blogs every single day, often several times a day. He recently celebrated his 1800th post.  A significant amount of his posts have to do with homosexuality or topics relating to “ex-gay” – sorry, “post-gay” – issues. And he is quick to provide publicity for other events, articles and blog posts created by Alan Chambers, Albert Mohler, Mike Ensley, and many allies of the ex-gay community. So a silence regarding a well-publicized conference featuring prominent ex-gay advocates, including a member of Exodus’ own board, is peculiar.

Alan Chambers made a statement on his blog that could be considered a great first step. But direct action is what is needed, not blog posts.

Ex-gay proponents Joseph Nicolosi, Arthur Goldberg and Jeffrey Satinover are in London today for the Sex & the City conference organized by Anglican Mainstream, the publishers of the tired, homophobic polemic God, Gays and the Church.

On BBC Radio Five Live last night, JONAH’s Arthur Goldberg made the mistake of invoking the 1979 Masters-Johnson study in support of ex-gay therapy – seemingly oblivious to the recent controversy surrounding its conclusions. When host Stephen Nolan asked (rather clumsily, admittedly) whether Goldberg woke up each day and made the decision to be attracted to women, rather than “bits of cloth” or animals, say, he answered quite confidently, “Yes.”

Oh Arthur. When being attracted to women instead of animals is a conscious choice you have to make every day, you’re the one who needs therapy.

Meanwhile, queer Quaker performance artist Peterson Toscano, who is currently touring the UK with his one-man show Transfigurations, offered some words of encouragement to protesters.

-53% of New Yorkers support marriage equality, according to a new poll.

-The Maine State Legislature holds hearings on two bills, one which would legalize same-sex marriage and one which would confer the rights and benefits of marriage to couples on the Domestic Partner Registry.

-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announces his candidacy for Governor of California.

-The murderer of transgender woman Angie Zapata is sentenced to life in prison.

-Notoriously anti-gay Mormon author Orson Scott Card joins the board of Maggie Gallagher’s National Organization for Marriage.

-NOM has also sent out a new fundraising letter asking for contributions to their “DOMA Defense Fund,” in the wake of their expensive, much-parodied “Gathering Storm” ad.

-Jonathan Rauch notes that recent victories for supporters of same-sex marriage have not come at the expense of religious liberty.

-Classically Liberal refutes the religious right’s assertion that Carrie Prejean (Miss California) was the victim of censorship.

-A new book reveals that Masters & Johnson’s 1979 study, which has been cited by ex-gay and anti-gay activists for decades as proof that gays can change their orientation, was unscientific and filled with fabrications.

Over 100 activists have pledged to join a protest in London on Saturday, when reparative therapist Dr Joseph Nicolosi (pictured) addresses conservative Christians at the Sex & the City Conference.

Nicolosi will be joined by NARTH colleague Jeffrey Satinover and JONAH President Arthur Goldberg for the weekend, organized by CARE and Anglican Mainstream, the Church of England group behind the egregiously homophobic 2008 publication God, Gays and the Church.

Among Nicolosi’s outmoded and offensive ideas are that lack of fatherly love leads to homosexuality (“If you don’t hug your sons, some other man will,” he tells fathers) and that being artistic is a warning sign of a gay child.

A major plank in the arguments of reparative therapy organizations like NARTH has been the 1979 study by Masters and Johnson, but as Warren Throckmorton reported this week, a new book suggests its findings were severely misleading, if not completely fabricated.

A tip of the hat to Peterson Toscano, who is currently touring the UK. (And this author will be sure to catch him if he can!)

This is the phrase the president of Exodus International used in a recent WORLD magazine article to describe his opinion of the recent cluster of victories for marriage equality. Who is being trapped? The gay men and women advocating for equal civil recognition of their loving partnerships:

“My major concern is that homosexuality is a counterfeit of what God intended us to experience in human sexuality,” said Chambers, president of Exodus International and a former homosexual who left the lifestyle 17 years ago. “There will be young people who are like I used to be, who will see homosexuality as their only option for happiness and relationship fulfillment. [Normalizing] gay marriage is a stumbling block for them. A lot of people look at this from a policy perspective. But I think of all of those hearts that are searching for something legitimate in a way that’s absolutely not able to meet their needs.”

These statements echo another recent interview in which Chambers said that he would not have had the strength to become “ex-gay” if gay marriage had been legal at that time, which is why he endorsed California’s Proposition 8.

Chambers is correct in one way. I’m sure that many young gay people, people like me, feel that embracing their sexuality honestly is indeed the only option for happiness and fulfillment. Some will be honest about their attractions but remain celibate to satisfy passionate religious convictions. But for those of us who seek a romantic partnership, many feel such fulfillment can really only fully be felt with another human being of the same sex. What Chambers misses, though, is the fact that embracing this option honestly feels freeing for us, not entrapping.

And in a nation built upon principals of personal freedom and the right to pursue happiness, all consenting adults, regardless of sex, should have the right to live a life with one another that grows a fulfilling human companionship. Those that choose to live a life rejecting their same sex attractions should also be able to pursue that path. But neither of those paths should actively seek to hinder the other.

Source: Edge Boston

According to Edge Boston, the police have located the twelve-year-old boy who called himself ChristianU2uber, along with his family.  The young man had been posting videos of himself talking about various subjects, but his claims of “having been gay, but changed” and tirades laced with repeated calls for others to stop calling him “homo” were of great concern to many bloggers.  In at least one video, he repeatedly slaps his face and head, apparently quite hard, and describes other violent outlets such as throwing bricks and watching them smash into pieces.

There was some discussion between XGW and other blogs about the pros and cons of posting about this originally.  On the one hand, we wanted more people to flag the account so someone might check into the matter.  On the other hand, we didn’t want to bring any more notoriety to his account, as it was already plastered with vile comments.  In the end, we posted without his picture after World Net Daily wrote about him as though he were a valiant defender of the faith with his talk against gay marriage.  Our post included a plea that others flag the account.

Youtube can be a rough place, but something did not seem right in this instance, and clearly someone needed to check on it.  One  had to ask where the parents where during this prolific outpouring.  Apparently enough people asked the question, including other blogs and news outlets.  Texas’ Collin County police have spoken with the boy, and his parents, and counseling is being provided.  

-New York Gov. David Paterson introduces a marriage equality bill in the state legislature.

-Openly gay Iowa state senator Matt McCoy receives a death threat.

-Via Wendy Gritter, Brian Pengelly encourages Christians to participate in the Day of Silence.

-An employee of Rick Warren attempts to rewrite history.

-A conservative heterosexual Christian chooses to accept and support her gay friends unconditionally.

-Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons announces his intent to veto a domestic partnership bill being considered by the state senate.

-The ACLU challenges a decision by several Tennessee school districts to block all GLBT websites from school computers.  Anti-gay sites are unaffected by the ban.

-Stephen Colbert produces his own version of NOM’s marriage ad.