NO CURE FOR GAYNESS (OR RELIGION)
Aug. 6th, 2009 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogA few of you have seen this, but for the rest of you:
ITEM: The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments, on account of such treatments not only don’t work, but can screw them up even more.
Which some of us have already known for a very long time. But who am I to be critical?
Anyway, the interesting bit is this: the resolution is the product of a report that examined 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960, and essentially concluded that the root of the problem for unhappy gays isn’t being gay, but the conflict between their sexual orientation and their religious beliefs.
As such, the APA urged therapists to “consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.”
The money quote (from Judith Glassgold, a Highland Park, N.J., psychologist who chaired the task force):
The last sentence interests me. There’s nothing new about choosing faith over sex (monks and nuns have been doing it for centuries, so to speak), and while I’m not religious, I realize that for a lot of people, faith matters to them whether I subscribe to their beliefs or not. So the obvious solution – just ditch the religious baggage, become a hedonist and ENJOY yrself, for crying out loud, Catholics do it all the time – probably isn’t realistic.
So it’s good to have a backup plan that addresses that.
Still, I doubt it’s going to mean a drop in business for the crackpots at Exodus International, if only because PT Barnum was right. And because Fox News is the top cable news outlet in America. And because the fundamentalists who push the “gay is curable” meme don’t give a toss about yr godless science anyway.
Which is why I don’t get into arguments over whether sexual orientation is changeable or not. It’s irrelevant, because as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t need changing in the first place.
A solution in search of a problem,
This is dF
ITEM: The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments, on account of such treatments not only don’t work, but can screw them up even more.
Which some of us have already known for a very long time. But who am I to be critical?
Anyway, the interesting bit is this: the resolution is the product of a report that examined 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960, and essentially concluded that the root of the problem for unhappy gays isn’t being gay, but the conflict between their sexual orientation and their religious beliefs.
As such, the APA urged therapists to “consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.”
The money quote (from Judith Glassgold, a Highland Park, N.J., psychologist who chaired the task force):
"Both sides have to educate themselves better. The religious psychotherapists have to open up their eyes to the potential positive aspects of being gay or lesbian. Secular therapists have to recognize that some people will choose their faith over their sexuality."
The last sentence interests me. There’s nothing new about choosing faith over sex (monks and nuns have been doing it for centuries, so to speak), and while I’m not religious, I realize that for a lot of people, faith matters to them whether I subscribe to their beliefs or not. So the obvious solution – just ditch the religious baggage, become a hedonist and ENJOY yrself, for crying out loud, Catholics do it all the time – probably isn’t realistic.
So it’s good to have a backup plan that addresses that.
Still, I doubt it’s going to mean a drop in business for the crackpots at Exodus International, if only because PT Barnum was right. And because Fox News is the top cable news outlet in America. And because the fundamentalists who push the “gay is curable” meme don’t give a toss about yr godless science anyway.
Which is why I don’t get into arguments over whether sexual orientation is changeable or not. It’s irrelevant, because as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t need changing in the first place.
A solution in search of a problem,
This is dF
