Gay Conversn Therapy's Disturbg 19th-Century Origs | HISTORY

Contents:

• A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT OVER ATTEMPTS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE
• I WAS 19, GAY AND READY TO BE ‘CURED’ BY NVERSN THERAPY
• 5 THGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT
• GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS

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

Disregardg all evince that the ex-gay movement is credibly damagg to more than 90% of those who unrgo "treatment" (bee they clearly jt didn't believe God enough), Settg Captiv Free wants you to know that you were not "born this way. " Homosexualy is a s that you need to purge om your system, and the only way to do is to follow their three-parts-a-day the app is only downloadable om Google Play (iTun and the 69, 822+ people who petned them don't believe nversn therapy for some reason), there is an abridged versn available on the mistry’s webse. But Hont About Your S (But Not TOO Hont): Adm that you have homosexual tennci, but don’t say anythg else about .

Stop Callg Your Homosexualy an "Alternative Liftyle": It's "Wicked, " "Evil, " and a "S": The are the only thgs you should ever ll om now on, preferably hhed ton. Even better, feel ee to refer to your homosexualy wh water-based metaphors: It's a "broken cistern" that will never satisfy your thirst.

I WAS 19, GAY AND READY TO BE ‘CURED’ BY NVERSN THERAPY

Change For the Right Reasons (the Glory Of God): After all, homosexualy is nothg but "lt, porn, and sexual immoraly, " ss that are applible only to gay people and never to straight on. Always Read Scripture, But Only the Parts We Tell You to: Who knew curg homosexualy uld be so much like dog high school homework? Remove Yourself From Anythg Even Remotely Gay: Don't watch porn (aga, 's only a gay thg), don't go on gay webs, and most of all, certaly don't associate wh gay people.

Any of those thgs might make you feel like your homosexualy is a natural part of your inty and n be accepted by those around you. Realize That Beg Homosexual Mak You Feel Alone Fet that we told you to shut yourself away om most of the world, and ignore the ia that maybe gay people feel so alone bee of the discrimatory and hateful attus that they face, helped by people like . Rencile Wh Those Who Tried to Help You Stop Beg Gay: All those people who lled you "faggot" and told you that you were gog to Hell?

5 THGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

But if at the end of this 60-day therapy, you still have homosexual tennci, then you didn't really believe and you didn't really want to change. Pecially among transgenr In some relig practic, homosexualy and other forms of genr exprsn and inty are sometim viewed as “evil. 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.

” The article reported that male homosexuals rpond well to group psychotherapy, unr the re of 64-year-old Universy of Pennsylvania profsor and psychiatrist Samuel Hadn.

THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT

Hadn was not the only—or most proment—psychiatrist to claim homosexualy was a curable mental illns, but he was reprentative. Throughout the 1960s, psychiatrists Irvg Bieber and Charl Soris were regularly quoted newspapers and magaz, argug that homosexual sire was a form of psychosocial maladjtment, rultg om childhood.

GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS

Frd himself had explicly stated by 1935 that homosexualy was not an illns and strongly disuraged attempts to treat ; neverthels, by the 1950s, his theori were wily misappropriated by nservative Amerin and émigré psychiatrists vted reaffirmg the heterosexual, breadwner-homemaker hoehold the wake of World War II. Wh the popularizatn of behavral therapi the 1960s and ’70s also me new attempts to treat homosexualy, the form of “aversn” therapi, cludg electric shocks.

Already by the 1960s, such cur had provoked ristance: April 1965, jt months after that TIME article ran, the Philalphia-based gay rights anizatn Jan ved Hadn to give a lecture on his rearch, only to surprise him wh fierce ristance om the dience. In June 1969, the Dorian Society of Seattle worked wh a Universy of Washgton pediatrics profsor to found the Dorian Counselg Service for Homosexuals—the first center of s kd the untry. Siar centers would be found across the untry the years to e, cludg the Gay Communy Servic Center Los Angel, Inty Hoe New York, and the Erom Center Philalphia.

Gay activists would also claim a major victory December 1973, when the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn voted to remove “homosexualy” om the send edn of the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM-II), which meant that homosexualy was officially no longer nsired a disorr self.