It is dangero to be different. The mm recently llected materials to document gay-nversn therapy—and the objects allow curators like myself to explore how real people experience the risks.
Contents:
- GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS
- A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT OVER ATTEMPTS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE
- THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT
GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS
Conversn therapy is sometim lled “reparative therapy” or “ex-gay therapy. Pecially among transgenr In some relig practic, homosexualy and other forms of genr exprsn and inty are sometim viewed as “evil.
It may clu g anti-gay slurs and prayers. But provirs, ually unlicensed, n often disguise the terms they e to avoid beg terms clu:Sexual attractn fluidy exploratn therapy (SAFE-T)Elimatg, rcg, or creasg equency or tensy of unwanted same-sex attractn (SSA)Reparative therapySexual reorientatn effortsEx-gay mistryPromotg healthy sexualyAddrsg sexual addictns and disorrsSexualy unselgEnuragg relatnal and sexual wholensHealg sexual brokennsConversn therapy techniqu n lead to feelg “ls than” or “damaged, ” impactg self-teem. A number of medil and mental health anizatns have issued public statements rejectg the e of nversn therapy bee of many provirs who claim to be qualified to provi nversn therapy are often not licensed mental health practners or medil study found that LGBTQ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or qutng) people who are rejected or discrimated agast are:8 tim more likely to report havg attempted suiciAlmost 6 tim more likely to report high levels of prsnMore than 3 tim as likely to e illegal dgs3 tim more likely to be at high risk of HIV and other STDsAcrdg to rearch, nearly 700, 000 LGBTQ adults the U.
A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT OVER ATTEMPTS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE
In 1899, a German psychiatrist electrified the dience at a nference on hypnosis wh a bold claim: He had turned a gay man straight. Homosexualy, pecially same-sex relatnships between men, was nsired viant, sful and even crimal for centuri. In the late 19th century, psychiatrists and doctors began to addrs homosexualy, too.
(Cred: Imagno/Getty Imag)There were plenty of theori as to why people were homosexual. For Eugen Steach, a pneerg Atrian endocrologist, homosexualy was rooted a man’s tticl. This theory led to tticle transplantatn experiments the 1920s durg which gay men were strated, then given “heterosexual” tticl.
” Others theorized that homosexualy was a psychologil disorr stead.
THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT
Sigmund Frd hypothized that humans are born nately bisexual and that homosexual people bee gay bee of their ndng. But though Frd emphasized that homosexualy wasn’t a disease, per se, some of his lleagu didn’t agree.
They began to e new psychiatric terventns an attempt to “cure” gay people. Robert Galbrah Heath, a psychiatrist New Orleans who pneered the technique, ed this form of bra stimulatn, along wh hired prostut and heterosexual pornography, to “change” the sexual orientatn of gay men.
But though Heath ntend he was able to actually turn gay men straight, his work has sce been challenged and cricized for s methodology. An offshoot of the techniqu was “aversn therapy, ” which was found on the premise that if LGBTQ people beme disgted by homosexualy, they would no longer experience same-sex sire. Others were given electril shocks—sometim to their genals—while they looked at gay pornography or cross-drsed.