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 | Results of studies |
| Anecdotal observations |
| A proper future study |
Results of studies of reparative therapy and transformational ministries:
Some evaluations of these therapies have been performed. None have been published in peer reviewed journals. None have produced really useful data:
| Ex-gay conservative Christian ministries: Some ex-gay
ministries do not claim specific success rates; a few estimate 30 to over
70%. But their data
should be considered suspect, because:
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| Exodus International: Two psychiatrists, were allowed to interview
members of Exodus International in 1978. The percentage of clients with a
homosexual orientation who became heterosexual, was under 0.4%. Two of the founders of the
organization, Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, later fell in love and criticized their own organization and
other ministries for gays as fraudulent. They said that their program was "ineffective...not
one person was healed." | ||||||||||
| In 1979, Masters and Johnson claimed an impressive conversion rate of 50 to 60%
which was maintained for 5 years after treatment. These results are often quoted by
proponents of reparative therapy. Unfortunately, the number is not particularly
significant, because:
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It is not known whether any homosexuals were able to change either their sexual orientation or behavior during the study. 1
| National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality: In 1997, NARTH announced the results of a study of 860 clients who had experienced reparative therapy. The study is not particularly useful, because they have not published data on the percentage of persons with a homosexual orientation who were able to change their orientation to heterosexual, even temporarily. More details. |
| Dr. Spitzer study: Dr. Robert Spitzer is a psychiatry professor at Columbia
University. He conducted a study of 143 ex-gays and 57 ex-lesbians who
report that they have become "straight." 8,9
He
reported his findings at a meeting of the American Psychiatric
Association on 2001-MAY-9. He concluded, as a result of 45 minute
interviews with each subject, that 66% of the males and 44% of the
females had arrived at "good heterosexual functioning."
It is important to realize that the subjects in this study did not end
up with a heterosexual sexual orientation; almost all report that they
are currently bisexual. Unfortunately, there appear to be serious flaws in the study, and in its reporting in the media.
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| Schroeder and Shidlo: Another North
American study was launched to determine the experiences of people who have been treated by either
ex-gay ministries or by individual reparative therapists. The study is
sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and funded by
the H. van Ameringen Foundation. 10 By late 1997, they were half-way towards
their goal of 200 subjects. Shidlo had yet to find a single "cure" as a result of
reparative therapy. Two of their subjects initially reported that they had been cured, but later
admitted that they had simply decided to become celibate; their sexual orientation was
unchanged. They had find some harmful effects which
effected some individuals during and after therapy. They concluded their study in 2001. They determined that:
An article in Wikipedia speculates: |
It is probable that few if any conservative Christians participated in the Schroeder and Shidlo study because it is sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In their appeal for subjects, the researchers indicated their bias by stating: "You can be of help in the long process of getting the message out that these conversion therapies don't work and do the opposite of healing by informing your l/g/b communities of our search for participants to be interviewed. Please announce our project in any upcoming lesbian and gay community meetings and spread the word. Help us document the damage!" 11"Of the 8 respondents (out of a sample of 202) who reported a change in sexual orientation, 7 were employed in paid or unpaid roles as 'ex-gay' counselors or group leaders, something which has led many to question whether even this small 'success' rate is in fact reliable." 12
Schroeder and Shidlo presented a paper about their study at the same annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. in 2001-MAY.
According to the New York Times:
"Dr. Schroeder said 18 subjects who deemed themselves 'successes' in becoming heterosexuals 'don't fit into what the public sees as success'."
" 'They were celibate or they continued to really struggle with homosexual desire or behavior,' he said."
"Many subjects, Dr. Schroeder said, had invested 5 to 15 years in the therapies, and when they were not successful experienced 'an inordinate sense of loss'." 13
Although both this study and Spitzer's study were presented together at the APA conference, this study received almost no attention from the media.
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More detailed information is available on most of these studies.
Anecdotal observations on RT:
| Dr. Jack Drescher, a medical doctor who works extensively with gays, commented: "My own clinical experience with gay men who failed to change in reparative therapy is that they suffered damage to their self-esteem, experienced resultant anxiety and depression, and often felt a deep mistrust of mental health professionals. This mistrust and shame may explain why no good follow-up studies of these individuals exist." 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| A representative of the Honolulu, HI Gay and Lesbian Education and Advocacy Foundation (at HawaiiGay1@aol.com ) wrote that over a 25 year period, hundreds of their members had tried reparative therapy groups. He commented: "I can honestly say, I have never seen one of them claiming they were cured or felt better until they began to accept their goodness as a Gay person." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mel White, a prominent Evangelical Christian, unsuccessfully attempted to change his homosexual orientation over a period of decades. His book describes his experiences. 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Investigative report of ex-gays: In 1995, reporter Justin Chin joined an ex-gay program which is affiliated with Exodus Ministries in California. His study was funded by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and was published in The Progressive. 5 He found that: "Ex-gays are sexually celibate but homosexuality is still central to them: Everything in their lives revolves around homosexuality and avoiding it. Listening to Exodus conference junkies and ex-program members speak, it is easy to see how this subculture is maintained. Ultimately, the difference between gays and ex-gays is like the difference between cheese and cheddar. The ex-gays try to drown their homosexuality in Bible verses, marriage, family, and their own new subcultural niche, but their homosexuality remains." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The author attempted to survey each of the 36 websites of the GayChange
WebRing. 6 These are mainly Internet sites
created by individuals or small Christian ministries. From the sites' content,
all appear to be conservative Christian in outlook. Five
returned the dreaded "404" error message; one was a discontinued site;
two did not publish their Email address. On 2000-MAY-20, we sent a
survey by Email to each of the 28 accessible websites. The core of the survey letter asked:
We received 7 replies:
Our survey produced very little meaningful data. The few results support the concept that RT does not change a person's sexual orientation, but can occasionally change an individual's behavior, largely by choosing celibacy. |
A proper future study of Reparative (or similar) Therapy:
Although tens of thousands of individuals are (or have been) involved in these forms of experimental therapy, very few studies have been made of its safety or effectiveness. Those that have been made are seriously flawed
An meaningful study could be conducted along the following lines:
| Organize a research group containing scientists who have no preconceived beliefs about the nature of sexual orientation. Since this is probably impossible, then the group should at least include balanced numbers of therapists who hold various opposing views on the safety and effectiveness of these therapies. | ||||||||
| Design a study to:
| ||||||||
| Determine how many persons with homosexual orientation before therapy were able to change their orientation to heterosexual or bisexual during therapy and maintain this for many years after therapy. | ||||||||
| Publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal. | ||||||||
| Have the study independently replicated by one or more additional groups. |
The cost of such a study would be miniscule when compared to the expense of blindly continuing reparative therapy at its present level. This type of study has never been conducted. The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) has called for a review similar to this, to be designed jointly by themselves and the American Psychological Association. Unfortunately, the APA has refused to cooperate. Such a study has little chance of being performed in today's religious and social climate.
Related essays on this web site:
References:
- Masters and Johnson, "Homosexuality in Perspective", 1979
- "Ex-gay men and women needed for new study," NARTH, at: http://www.narth.com/docs/newstudy.html
- Jack Drescher, MD, Letters to the Editor, Psychiatric News" at: http://www.psych.org/
- Mel White, Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America", Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, (1994) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- "Our Reporter Survives the Ex-Gay Ministries. Exodus International Programs To Cure Individuals of Homosexuality," The Progressive, 1995-DEC.
- A list of web sites in the GayChange Webring is at: http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=gaychange;list
- "Answers to frequently asked questions," at: http://www.barna.org/PageStats.htm
- "Study suggests some gays can go straight," CNN.com news, 2001-MAY-9, at: http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/05/09/sexual
- Malcolm Ritter, "Some gays can turn straight, controversial study suggests," Associated Press, 2001-MAY-8.
- "Changing sexual orientation: Does counseling Work," at: http://www.jasperweb.com/therastudy/index.html
- "Survey -- Homophobic therapies: Documenting the damage," at: http://www.oasismag.com/Issues/9605/
- "Reparative Therapy," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
- Erica Goode, "Scientist Says Study Shows Gay Change Is Possible," New York Times, 2001-MAY-09, at: http://www.nytimes.com
Copyright © 1996 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-JUN-03
Author: B.A. Robinson
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