After years of progrs on gay rights, how did the US bee so anti-LGBTQ+? | US news | The Guardian

Contents:

• CAN PEOPLE STOP BEG GAY?
• IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?
• GEIC OR NOT, GAY WON’T GO AWAY
• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• SOME GAYS CAN GO STRAIGHT, STUDY SAYS
• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

CAN PEOPLE STOP BEG GAY?

Relig fundamentalists who believe homosexualy is a matter of choice nsir obv that gay people n reverse their cisns. The oppose mp argu that gays are "born that way, " and th that sexual reorientatn therapy is effective, as well as cel and the latter perspective hs closer to the mark, the science of sexualy supports a more measured stance. There are no verified s of formerly gay people pletely riddg themselv of same-sex attractn, but do appear possible for some people who are predisposed to same-sex attractn to expand their sexual repertoire — velop attractns for oppose-sex partners as well, and even opt for the oppose sex exclively.

As Diamond noted January the Archiv of Sexual Behavr, femal' sexual fluidy may emerge om the fdg that, across the board, they are sexually aroed by imag of both men and women (whereas men are typilly aroed only by members of their preferred sex) erotic plasticy may expla why women wh same-sex predisposns report better succs adjtg to heterosexual liftyl than gay men do. "Lastly, gay people aren't really "born that way" the sense of havg same-sex attractns om the moment of birth.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?

Sexual orientatn cements around puberty, and acrdg to Gelf Rieger, a sexual orientatn rearcher at Cornell Universy, " is que possible that there are several fluenc on formg a homosexual orientatn. [Why Are There Gay Men?

But nsirg that very few scientists view homosexualy as a problem needg fixg, will the clil reorientatn therapi ever be veloped? The revelatns surroundg Marc Bachmann's psychotherapy practice along wh his statements equatg gay people to barbarians reflect the eply held view among too many people that homosexualy is a psychologil or moral choice that n be altered and ed should be. As someone who profs to help gays and lbians bee "straight, " Dr.

There are several nservative relig anizatns, like Exod Internatnal and Homosexuals Anonymo, that claim to have helped people change their sexual orientatn through prayer, unselg, or a batn of both. Moreover, there are licensed mental health profsnals who practice what are lled reparative or nversn therapi signed to make gay people heterosexual. The bt-known group of such clicians is the Natnal Associatn for Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy (NARTH), led by psychologist Joseph Nilosi.

GEIC OR NOT, GAY WON’T GO AWAY

He and his followers claim that gays and lbians suffer om a damagg blend of childhood trma, shamg their fai of orig, and chronic unmet needs for love and affectn om their same-sex parents. Reparative therapy supposedly helps gay clients bee heterosexual by workg wh them to amelrate toxic feelgs stemmg om their damaged childhoods. Robert Spzer, a proment psychiatrist who, oddly enough, led the charge to remove homosexualy as a disease om the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual, had unrtaken rearch wh 200 women and men who unrwent reparative therapy and believed themselv to be "cured" of homosexualy, as evinced by their abily to engage sexual relatns wh the oppose sex, marry heterosexually, and nceive children.

In fact, there are many reports of people unrgog treatments offered by ex-gay mistri who not only return to homosexualy but have also been trmatized by this so-lled therapy. The real diseas are homophobia and heterosexism, not homosexualy.

It is important to regnize that the great majory of psychotherapy profsnals argue vociferoly that such "treatment" is uhil bee homosexualy is not an illns — rather the "illns" is our tolerance of sexual and genr behavrs fallg outsi rtrictive societal norms. I also tell clients that reparative and nversn therapi, bis beg effective, are psychologilly harmful to gays and lbians, which is another reason I do not remend them and will not assist clients procurg such treatment.

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

People like Marc and Michele Bachmann believe that acceptg and even celebratg gay and lbian people will evably lead to the moral cle of our society. You don't simply shout "I'm gay" and a rabow halo sprouts atop your head. Across s of wispread ostracism, followed by years of patchwork acceptance and, most recently, moments of heady triumph, gay people voked that phrase to expla why homophobia was unwarranted and discrimatn Gaga even spun an anthem om is the right mantra to clg to?

And she told The Tim’s Alex Wchel that homosexualy for her “is a choice.

”“For many people ’s not, ” she nced, but add that they “don’t get to fe my gayns for me.

SOME GAYS CAN GO STRAIGHT, STUDY SAYS

They plaed that she reprented a mory of those same-sex relatnships and that she had furthermore hand a cudgel to our opponents, who might now ce her profsed malleabily as they make their se that centiv to change, not equal rights, are what we while her crics have good reason to worry about how her words will be nsted and ed, they have no right to mand the kd of silence and nformy om Nixon that gay people have jtly rebelled agast.

AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

She’s entled to her own tth and manner of exprsg Wiseman Bis which, there are problems wh some gay advot’ sistence that homosexualy be discsed and regard as somethg graed at the first hgg a whole movement on a ncln that hasn’t been — and perhaps won’t be — scientifilly ppoted and proved beyond all doubt, they hch to a movg target. The exact dynamics through which someone wds up gay are “still an open qutn, ” said Clton Anrson, the director of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Concerns Office of the Amerin Psychologil Associatn.