Contents:
- IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?
- WHAT DO “PRAY THE GAY AWAY” MEAN?
- PRAYG THE GAY AWAY, ONE AWAY MSAGE AT A TIME
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?
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.
WHAT DO “PRAY THE GAY AWAY” MEAN?
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.
PRAYG THE GAY AWAY, ONE AWAY MSAGE AT A TIME
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. 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. The term “pray the gay away” is often ed as a term to reprent a belief that a person’s sexual orientatn or genr inty n be changed through prayer.
A large part of this belief system is the e of gay nversn therapy, often unr the guise of different nam like “genr rercement” or “inty dysfunctn”. Our show, “Pray the Gay Away”®, is a ser mil edy that looks at many polil, theologil and cultural beliefs the Uned Stat that have fueled both the growth and rejectn of morn nversn therapy. Gay nversn therapy is an approach that has been ed for over a century worldwi, but the morn versn of gay nversn therapy grew strength and ntued to build startg the 1980’s.
Our show, “Pray the Gay Away”®, is set 1982 as we show the growg support for gay nversn therapy that to nflict wh the growth of the gay rights movement (known today as LGBQT+ Rights). Here are a few articl to get you started on the topics of gay nversn therapy and the belief systems that are referred to as “pray the gay away”.