Nazi Germany was where "conversion camps" for gays was first thought up on a massive scale. Homosexuals were forced to wear pink triangles and taken to camps where they were humliated, tortured, drugged with electro-shock therapy and other methods. They would then be "tested" for sexual arousal response to homo-erotic images to see if these "treatments" worked. Those that failed were tortured, lobotomized or killed. Needless to say, because homosexuality just like heterosexuality is inherent, almost all the people in those "conversion" camps were killed or lobotomized. What does this tell us? That being gay NOT merely a lifestyle choice like tennis or an addiction like smoking. It is an inherent psycho-sexual trait that the person cannot help.
What do the EXPERTS say? The people who have been studying human sexuality for over 70 years? The medical professionals , child psychologists and more. The
American
Academy
of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological, Association, theNational Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a “cure.” In addition these are their findings:
- Homosexuality is not a mental illness or sexual dysfunction (like pedophilia). The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses since 1975
- Homosexuality poses no ethical or social danger to society. The average gay person is just as well adjusted and productive a citiizen as the average straight person provided they are met with respect and treated with dignity.
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In 1998, at its December 11-12 meeting, the American Psychological Association Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed a position statement opposing conversion therapy. According to the 1998 position statement: "The potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone 'reparative therapy' relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction.The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed.Therefore, the American Psychiatric Association opposes any psychiatric treatment, such as 'reparative' or 'conversion' therapy which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon a prior assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation."
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There is yet no proof of an independently confirmed homosexual turning into an independently confirmed heterosexual. NONE. It means that no homosexual who was tested and confirmed by three or more independent medical professionals as 100% homosexual (and not bi-sexual or sexually compulsive or dysfunctional heterosexual) has been proven to change into a 100% hetersexual as tested and confirmed by three independent medical professionals.
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The ONLY proof the ex-gay programmes have comes from first person testimony from people highly motivated to believe they have changed. These are very unreliable. In addition, increasing studies show that when the majority of so called "ex-gays" DO submit to independent testing it is revealed that they have NOT changed their sexual orientation, only their outward behavior. They admit that desiring the same sex is still what comes instinctively to them and they still have to try to surpress it.
Whether unintentionally or deliberately, ex-gay programmes dishonestly misrepresent all homosexuals the SAME WAY. They also do not recogize bi-sexual ity is different from homosexuality. They claim bisexuals have changed when the truth is the person just chose to stick to one gender and they CAN do so easily because they are attracted to BOTH. Case in point- Anne Polk, poster girl for Exodus an ex-gay ministry. In "Love Won Out", Anne admitted that she always did have attraction to men. She admitted she felt sexual desire for a man named Mark when she was younger. "He appealed to me sexually," Anne writes. "We were drawn together by sheer animal magnetism." THEREFORE ANNE WAS NOT TRULY GAY TO BEGIN WITH!!! She was bi-sexual. It was misleading and irresponsible for Exodus to represent her as a exclusively as a homosexual who had turned strait when she was not. This the PROBLEM many of these ex-gay ministries have. They are run by quacks with no standing in the wider medical and scientific community. They catagorize "homosexual" VERY broadly. If a man engages in sex with men, they call him a homosexual, even if he may be a heterosexual doing it for money, a sexual compulsive or a bi-sexual. They also believe that if you change a person's superficial behavior, it means you have made them heterosexual. WRONG! Being gay has NOTHING to do with having sex or choice of lifestyle. A person can be gay and a virgin or married with children, or single and sexually active. Perhaps the most revealing failure of the ex-gay movement is when the very people who FOUNDED these programmes now speak out againt them. Cases in point:
- Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper helped to start Exodus and then realized that they were hurting and not helping gay people. They now speak out against the lies and hypocrisy of the organisation
- John Paulk, the ex-gay guru working with Exodus and Focus on the Family appeared in a full-page ad with a group of "former homosexuals" under the headline "We're standing for the truth that homosexuals can change". Later in September 2000, John Paulk was found "fraternizing" at Mr P's, a well-known Washington, DC, gay saloon. He was fired from his position and the organisations swept it under the rug
- Wade Richards, an ex-gay spokesperson who worked with right-winger Peter LaBarbera, has now come out of the closet and denounced the ex-gay ministries.
- Jeremy Marks, the leader of the ex-gay group Courage, acknowledged that ex-gay ministries do not turn people from gay to straight. He is part of a new ministry that caters to helping and healing gay Christians from religious abuse
Now these are just the LEADERS and FOUNDERS and well known spokespeople of the ex-gay movement. This does not even begin to cover the high failure rate, suicide rate, broken homes, financial loss (parents spend BIG bucks to send their children to these programmes) broken marriages (when gays are made to enter straight marriages that inevitably fail) and the bizzare and often inhumane and ridiculous "therepies" used. Everything from electroshock to demonic exorcisms. If you want to find out more, try Wayne Bessen's well reasearched- ANYTHING BUT STRAIGHT- UNMASKING THE SCANDALS AND LIES BEHIND THE EX-GAY MYTH. In addition go to http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts.html for the facts and research as well as the American Psychological Association's website at www.apa,org and search "Homosexuality Facts"
(Original Air Date: 10/19/05) Sexual orientation used to be something kept hidden from family and co-workers, but now more and more people are "coming out" and finding acceptance. Anjela says her mother and sister don't support her sexual orientation, and feel she can't be Christian and gay at the same time. Can they reconcile this touchy issue? Then, two men debate whether a person can go from gay to straight, and parents of a 4-year-old boy fear their son's desire to play with dolls and wear heels means he'll grow up to be gay. Are they overreacting to his wishes to be a princess instead of a prince? Talk about gender and gay issues here.
