A Survivor Of Gay Conversn Therapy Shar His Chillg Story | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• SHOCK THE GAY AWAY: SECRETS OF EARLY GAY AVERSN THERAPY REVEALED (PHOTOS)
• GAY MEN GIVEN ELECTRIC SHOCKS 'TO CURE HOMOSEXUALY' AT QUB
• GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS
• 5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• THE MOST SHOCKG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• MORMON 'GAY CURE' STUDY USED ELECTRIC SHOCKS AGAST HOMOSEXUAL FEELGS
• THE CEL, DANGERO REALY OF GAY NVERSN THERAPY
• A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT OVER ATTEMPTS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE
• A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY

SHOCK THE GAY AWAY: SECRETS OF EARLY GAY AVERSN THERAPY REVEALED (PHOTOS)

Wh the recent announcement om Exod Internatnal that is closg s doors, and wh s lears offerg apologi for their actns, the LGBT muny is now left wonrg, "Can this really be the end of ex-gay reparative therapy?

GAY MEN GIVEN ELECTRIC SHOCKS 'TO CURE HOMOSEXUALY' AT QUB

The patient is given a "sli change" hand button which enabl him to pe or avoid a shock by rejectg a shock cue the 1940s, homosexuals were also voluntarily mted to psychiatric facili by their fai, wh the hospals promisg that the patient would eventually leave the facily cured of their "sexual illns. This cisn occurred agast the backdrop of great cultural shifts brought on by the civil rights movements of the 1950s to the 1970s, begng wh the Ain-Amerin civil rights movement and then ntug on wh the women's and gay rights the late 1960s, Christiany Today began prtg articl and edorials ncerned wh the growg homosexual movement. Image source, Dr Tommy DicksonImage ptn, Dr Tommy Dickson said that e of electril aversn therapy had been almost totally abandoned by the mid-1970s the UK"When I was about 15, I realised I am one of the people who are homosexuals and who are reviled really by the society I grew up , so was a big shock to me.

"John was also enuraged to date women while unrgog the a rearch paper published the Ulster Medil Journal 1973, amics om the partments of Mental Health, Social Studi and Psychology at QUB said their e of electril aversn therapy was rare by that they did still e evince treatment worked"We have a particular tert the e of methods for producg heterosexual tert exclive homosexuals, " they reported. "The most fluential factor rcg the e of the treatments was the growg gay liberatn movement as queer men and women were ung and refutg that sickns label that had been attributed to them, " he source, PAcemakerImage ptn, Thoands attend the Belfast Pri para 2019A spokperson for Queen's Universy Belfast said that, regrettably, aversn therapy was ed a number of suatns the past.

GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS

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. ” LGBTQ people had long protted the cel and scientifilly dub forms of “treatment, ” but the ncept that homosexualy was a disease was accepted by the majory of the medil tablishment. This clud the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, which nsired homosexualy to be a psychiatric the 1960s and 1970s, as a vol gay rights movement took to the streets to mand equaly, the profsn began to turn s back on the ncept that people uld be “nverted” to heterosexualy.

Their methods varied, and clud everythg om talk therapy to “gay nversn” mps and nferenc, LGBTQ people were isolated om fay and iends, hypnotized, told to pray until their homosexualy subsid, stcted to beat effigi of their parents, mocked, ached on “proper” genr rol, and told their sexualy was unnatural and And Anne Plk, both “formerly gay” pose wh their son, Timothy, a mpaign for Gay Conversn to Heterosexualy. And Exod Internatnal, an umbrella group that nnected var nversn therapy groups and gay mistry anizatns, closed down 2013 after nearly 40 years of operatns after s print, Alan Chambers, cid ’s impossible to change someone’s sexual orientatn. “The practic have no basis science or medice and they will now be relegated to the dtb of quackery, ” said California ernor Jerry Brown as he signed a bill banng gay-to-straight therapy the state 2012.

5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

Beyond studi foced solely on reparative therapy, broar rearch clearly monstrat the signifint harm that societal prejudice and fay rejectn has on lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people, particularly youth. For example, rearch on the issue of fay acceptance of LGBTQ youth nducted at San Francis State Universy found that "pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:. "Our AMA… oppos, the e of 'reparative' or 'nversn' therapy that is based upon the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or based upon the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientatn.

THE MOST SHOCKG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issu, which stat that “there is no published scientific evince supportg the efficy of “reparative therapy” as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientatn.

The potential risks of “reparative therapy” are great and clu prsn, anxiety, and self-stctive behavr, sce therapist alignment wh societal prejudic agast homosexualy may rerce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. The possibily that the person might achieve happs and satisfyg terpersonal relatnships as a gay man or lbian are not prented, nor are alternative approach to alg wh the effects of societal stigmatizatn discsed...

MORMON 'GAY CURE' STUDY USED ELECTRIC SHOCKS AGAST HOMOSEXUAL FEELGS

Therefore, APA oppos any psychiatric treatment, such as “reparative” or “nversn” therapy, that is based on the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or is based on the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his or her homosexual orientatn. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Amerin Psychologil Associatn reaffirms s posn that homosexualy per se is not a mental disorr and oppos portrayals of sexual mory youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn;.

THE CEL, DANGERO REALY OF GAY NVERSN THERAPY

However, the crease media mpaigns, often upled wh ercive msag om fay and muny members, has created an environment which lbians and gay men often are prsured to seek reparative or nversn therapi, which nnot and will not change sexual orientatn. Aligned wh the Amerin Psychologil Associatn's (1997) posn, NCLGB [NASW's Natnal Commtee on Lbian and Gay Issu] believ that such treatment potentially n lead to severe emotnal damage. Servic that purport to "cure" people wh non-heterosexual sexual orientatn lack medil jtifitn and reprent a ser threat to the health and well-beg of affected people, the Pan Amerin Health Organizatn (PAHO) said a posn statement lnched on 17 May, 2012, the Internatnal Day agast Homophobia.

A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT OVER ATTEMPTS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE

“The most important fact about 'reparative therapy, ' also sometim known as 'nversn' therapy, is that is based on an unrstandg of homosexualy that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health profsns.

The Amerin Amy of Pediatrics, the Amerin Counselg Associatn, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, the Natnal Associatn of School Psychologists, and the Natnal Associatn of Social Workers, together reprentg more than 477, 000 health and mental health profsnals, have all taken the posn that homosexualy is not a mental disorr and th there is no need for a 'cure.

In the late 60s, a female nurse agreed to go on a “date” wh a patient (as advised by a nsultant), and the pair spent the eveng lghg at the whole stupid, sorry story of aversn are also tal of lleagu who appeared to enjoy the btaly of the procr (“you uld jt tell they did”), as well as the paradox of homosexual nurs havg to admister aversn therapy.

A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY

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. But mastream psychologists say the therapy is effective, uhil and often harmful, exacerbatg anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental 2013, two s volvg the therapy to nvert gay people to heterosexuals h the urts, wh one seekg to sue unselors who offer the therapy and the other seekg to fend are five thgs you need to know about the therapy and the current psychologists say nversn therapy don't workA diagnosis of major prsn do not evoke much rponse, eher a stigmatizg or supportive, om a person's social work, a study dited. Instead, societal ignorance, prejudice and prsure to nform to heterosexual sir are the real dangers to gay people's mental health, acrdg to a 1997 statement on "nversn" or "reparative" therapy by the APA.