Dr. Robert Spitzer's retraction occurred in an American Prospect magazine article that hit newsstands today. Spitzer’s rejection of his own research, which was originally published in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior, is a devastating blow to “ex-gay” organizations because it decisively eliminates their most potent claim that homosexuality can be reversed through therapy and prayer.
Dr. Spitzer’s repudiation of his 2001 study is an earthquake that severely undermines the validity of ‘ex-gay’ programs. Spitzer just kicked out the final leg from the stool on which the proponents of ‘ex-gay’ therapy based their already shaky claims of success.
Spitzer’s 2001 study was a surprise and created a media firestorm because he had previously led the charge in 1972-73 to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. At the time, this was a shocking story that captured the nation’s attention. Dr. Spitzer was the last person in America one would have expected to produce a study bolstering the claims of ‘ex-gay’ activists.
According to today’s American Prospect article:
“In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques [of my study] are largely correct,” Dr. Spitzer told the American Prospect in an article by Gabriel Arana titled, My So Called Ex-Gay Life. “The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.”
He said he spoke with the editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior about writing a retraction, but the editor declined. (Repeated attempts to contact the journal went unanswered.)
Spitzer said that he was proud of having been instrumental in removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. Now 80 and retired, he was afraid that the 2001 study would tarnish his legacy and perhaps hurt others. He said that failed attempts to rid oneself of homosexual attractions “can be quite harmful.” He has, though, no doubts about the 1973 fight over the classification of homosexuality.
“Had there been no Bob Spitzer, homosexuality would still have eventually been removed from the list of psychiatric disorders,” he said. “But it wouldn’t have happened in 1973.”
Spitzer was growing tired and asked how many more questions I had. Nothing, I responded, unless you have something to add. He did. Would I print a retraction of his 2001 study, “So I don’t have to worry about it anymore”?
Dr. Spitzer’s research was particularly harmful because he was the only non-socially conservative scientist to produce a study claiming some people could “pray away the gay.”
“This man is an atheist, so he’s not Bible thumping and doesn’t have an ax to grind,” said Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), in an October 7, 2011 interview on NewsPlus with Mark Segraves. “He just decided, let’s talk about this ex-gay thing and see if it’s true. And he has concluded it can be true for people who are highly motivated to change.” PFOX currently has a video of Dr. Spitzer on the front page of its website.
Virtually every anti-gay organization in the country quotes Dr. Spitzer’s work. It will be an integrity test to see which groups remove citations of his work in the coming week. Those who continue to use his study to back their agenda are deliberately misleading people and we intend to hold them accountable.
This is not the first major “ex-gay” study to be debunked. For decades, anti-gay organizations gleefully pointed to Homosexuality in Perspective, a 1979 book written by Dr. William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, that claimed to cure gayness. Indeed, the husband-and-wife sex research team went on Meet the Press on April 22, 1979 to discuss their findings. In his groundbreaking 2009 book, Masters of Sex, author Thomas Maier discovered that the results of Masters & Johnson’s study were entirely fabricated. Virginia Johnson acknowledged that the results were fake and she had actually argued in 1978 that the book should never have seen the light of day – but it was already too late in the publishing process to undo the damage.
Fortunately, the Archives of Sexual Behavior can honor Dr. Spitzer’s wishes and retract his study. They have an ethical and moral obligation to act as quickly as possible to right this terrible wrong that has fueled anti-gay campaigns for more than a decade. Truth Wins Out praised Dr. Spitzer, saying that his admission has solidified his legacy as a respected doctor and significant historical figure.
“It is never easy to admit wrongdoing and Dr. Robert Spitzer deserves much credit for reversing course,” said TWO’s Besen. “He acted in a noble and honorable manner which is consistent with the vast majority of his career.
Not one mainstream organization of medical and mental health professionals has found any evidence to support so-called “ex-gay” therapy; in fact, the evidence they have found suggests that it can actually be harmful to patients.
Wayne Besen is an American gay rights advocate and the founder of Truth Wins Out, a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism and the "ex-gay" myth. The article was first published on truthwinsout.org and is republished with permission.
If you have attended ex-gay groups or been involved in ex-gay programs and want to share your experiences, you may do so below. If you would like to read other narratives, visit www.beyondexgay.com/narratives or The Top 10 Ex-Gay Stories of 2011 on Truth Wins Out.
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Everything they do should be based on gay people's willlingness, not force.
Besides, could gay people can truly be satisfied and live happily ever after if they really changed? I am doubting.
There are far too many heterosexuals on this planet. Sure, maybe gay and lesbians can change, but WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO? I mean, I tried sex with a woman once, but it's not as good as the real thing.
My PLU friends do get married with women just to make their parents happy.
While I used to dislike people who live under the shadow of the society, now I tend to see how great my friends are - they sacrifice their time and decision for others, which in this case are the family. I sometimes wish I could have at least half of their thoughtful and willing heart (though not to marry a woman), and be less me-me-me all the time.
Are they wrong? Well who am I to judge.
Who is the innocent victim? Poor girl. She has no idea the man sleeping beside her is a gay man. He lives in a secret life. Potentially he might transmit STD to her if he is still having fun around with guys.
I am not here to judge the gay married men instead of speaking on behalf of their wives - the real victim.
Who dare to tell me if your dad is gay or your sister newly married husband is gay and yet you feel so blessing for your mother/sister?
My best friend who is a Christian pastor is getting married this month. His reason to get married because of his job. He has to cover up his gay life. I tried to discourage him to do so. He told me he had no choice. I was very disappointed but I will still be there for him simply because he is my best friend. When he falls, I will be there to support him. He knows I will keep his gay life secretly. I will until my next life.
Who would dare want to change
the perfect work creation of the lord throug prayer sic
religion is all lies for there is no god.
I am gay atheist amd proud
gay are 100 per cent natural
religion belief is a mental sickness
It took 25 years for Mike Wallace, recently deceased, anchorman at CBS 'to regret', not repudiate, not to apologise for his 1967 45 mn long much insensitive (in today's thinking) documentary "The Homosexuals" (available on YouTube).
Fear and ignorance are Man's worst enemies, and when the media push the sensationalism button we all should have our voices heard.
No, I don't think so. I think straight people could choose to ACT gay or lesbian* and gays/lesbians could choose to ACT straight. That's not the same thing as a gay person *becoming* straight.
If I had been born into a really conservative society with unbearable pressure against being gay, I might choose to marry a woman to get that pressure off my back. But that would not make me stop preferring men sexually -- and living against your nature hurts like hell, which is why so many gay married guys hook up with guys on the side.
These "change" programs start off by selling a lie. They tell gays and lesbians they will be happier after they change. Then, after they get into the program, they find out it's a constant, day-to-day struggle against their nature. The feelings for the same sex never go away, and if somebody goes into one of those programs because of shame about gay feelings, then the shame never goes away. That's not *happy*.
About the news story -- it isn't so newsworthy that a researcher retracted an earlier position. People make mistakes. It's respectable and honorable to say, "Well, I said that some years ago, but I've looked again at the evidence, new information etc. and now I think that was a mistake."
It IS newsworthy because these "change" organizations have no scientific integrity whatsoever. They are famous for picking quotes that support their position -- even twisting pro-gay studies to make them sound anti-gay! Exodus International's website still refers to Spitzer's retracted study. They don't care for half a second that they are now lying about Spitzer's viewpoint, because his old position makes them look good.
The only thing we can do is expose the lies and hypocrisy until the public shame forces them to find different propaganda.
And why eventually girls accepted? It's same like those 2 Taiwanese mothers who support their sons, THEY DON'T HAVE A CHOICE, just like one mother said to the media: "What else can I do if I didn't accept? Or ask him to die?"
Is there anyone will ask an expert to tell him how they can change from having sex with women to having sex with men, because he is bored of sex with women? Is there anyone who this STR8PHOBIA society made him to believe that men having sex with women is a sin?
Either way I think they would be mad.
PS. Why do we so care about the conclusion made by people such as Dr. Robert Spitzer?
If a bisexual person dates opposite sex people for many years, then dates someone of the same sex, that's not a straight person changing to be gay.
#23 - We don't need Spitzer's opinion to believe that we are OK, just as we are. But we do need to care about groups that try to hurt us, by lying about Spitzer's research. They don't mind making gays and lesbians suffer, and we should be able to defend ourselves through knowledge.
#21 Is your uncle act feminine? If he does, send him to mental hospital immediately. lol Come on. He is gay for sure. I recommend you to try on him, let him wear his underwear and you turn on gay porn. Take a look at his cock and eyes. The truth will tell. lol
#22. lol By the way, the pastor is bottom.
I am in Bkk for my vacation. He is in The Philippine to get ready to get married at the end of this month. Before I left, he told me he wanted to visit Bkk before his wedding. Oh Shit. I asked him, what the hell are you coming here? Don't you have to ask her permission to come here. FCUK. What worry me the most is whether he can actually able to get hard and fcuk his wife eventually. I was about to arrange a prostitute for him to try. He said, he will be fine. He did it once when he was in high school. After more than two decades, I am wondering whether he is fine with it. He is still very interested in gay sex. Whenever he finds a cute guy, he will keep looking at him hungrily. lol I do not know what to say, his poor wife will have to suffer. Not enough sex + potentially getting STD from him. What a FCUK !
I have a female friend who married a guy for just a month. She divorced him after his cock could not stand up and was not able to really having sex with her. Finally he told her, he is a gay and was trying to see whether it would work or not. She is my good friend, she suffered so much in her short marriage. When through suffering and embarrassing. Now she has to carry her one month marriage with a nice title. A divorce woman.
Guys, I hope the above real stories will tell you how much you could do harm to the girl who you want to victimize. Do you mind if I do it to your sister?
Its far better to have faith in your own brain and its own assessment of things and your own instincts.
And some highly motivated straights could go from straight to gay :)
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion and I think Dr. Spitzer, at age 80, was brave enough to publicly revamp his opinion and discredit his works.
In the same manner, I believe gay should also be open minded and rational. Gay is not an abnormality but a minority, just like ethnicity and cultural minorities. While we fight for our rights and equality, we should also learn to respect others, as we respect ourselves.
Further, there is more to the gay and straight issues than just sex. And, marriage is not all about bed and bedroom. Marriages based on love would be the least insecure about sexual identities. After all, love conquers all.
Other people here, please love each other and respect each other....
Other people here, please love each other and respect each other....
Other people here, please love each other and respect each other....
Can a highly motivated straight man become lesbian?
Guys, please do not simply answer. The question needs very high IQ to find out the answer that make sense. Do not ask me the answer because I do not have such an intelligent IQ. I better admit it. Perhaps #37 can discover/invent a new theory/solution of it. He will save the world. lol lol MAKE GAY HISTORY ! LOL
Yes, they have tried. It is just temporary controlling (I mean temporary). I wont say they have changed.
OBVIOUSLY Only the people who brain's into too much water would believe such person call Ex-gay.
Dr.Spitzer has hurt us. Remember the former Australian tennis player Margaret Court's fallacy, still hurt us. There is no doubt that there will be some other so-called experts, Dr, celebrities continue to hurt us. If we so much care what even fallacy, which idiot is, then our lives will continue to live in their shadow.
Dr Robert Spitzer renounces infamous ‘ex-gay’ study and #37 invented a new version of it as a gay man. Did you read the above article before you posted your comment?
For any one who claims sexuality is a matter of choice ... actually makes me happy. At least I now am convinced so many so called straight folks are actually queer as I am. They, just don't have the freaking *beep* to admit that.
Orh ... IC.
For any one who claims sexuality is a matter of choice ... actually makes me happy. At least I now am convinced so many so called straight folks are actually queer as I am. They, just don't have the freaking *beep* to admit that.
Orh ... IC.
#13 Pastors can make a choice not to marry and if that is the end of their career, so be it. I was a pastor for 12 years before I quit because I refused to date women and get married. My sanity is more important than ministry and what good could I do if I lost my sanity by marrying someone I am not sexually attracted to? I feel sorry for your pastor friend and the woman he's about to marry. I read #26 as well, and his decision does not augur well for him.
#42 If the straight man has no choice but to become lesbian, (such as he might be killed if he didn't), then it's possible for him to undergo a gender reassignment surgery and become a woman who loves women (since he is straight), the outcome then would be a lesbian. This is just theoretical, because in real life, I don't any man would be motivated to become a woman.
Thank you Fridae for publishing this report and for giving voice to the diversity of opinions generated here.
Additionally, I feel it's also important for this to be on LGBT websites because some of us have unfortunately bought into the ex-gay nonsense and even continue to defend those claims on LGBT forums such as Fridae as evidenced in this and earlier news articles. So not only do we need to educate those straight people who don't know better or have been mislead for years by researchers like Dr Spitzer but also LGBT people who most of us would assume know better than to support the gays-can-change claim.
Ten years ago, his "Study" not his fart. Put after to say "sorry,It was me,all over now“. He has hurt many people. He caused confusion. He thought about that?
I do not know so called the Dr. What he's thought? what he is thinking now. Where he obtained his Dr, Is what he received the Dr. title, Whether he have any new “study, announce” or will in not far future?
Who knows what these “clever” people are want and what those "experts" are thinking.
Besides, you are only truly heterosexual if you prove it, and that is by having loads of children. Being gay is a value not something statistics can prove. I say all those who have been funded to research "gay" should give the money back, and stop using gay people as a means to their own ends.
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