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Posted on 10/25/2011 6:07:26 PM PDT by Graybeard58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- A major seven-year study published in a mainstream journal is challenging the secular notion that gays and lesbians cannot change their sexual orientation.
The longitudinal study followed 61 subjects for between six and seven years and found that 23 percent of them reported successful conversion to heterosexual orientation and function and another 30 percent reported stable behavioral chastity with a significant dis-identification with gay orientation. Twenty percent of the subjects had given up and embraced a gay identity.
It is believed to be the first study of its kind -- that is, one that followed people over a series of years and monitored success or failure. The study followed subjects who voluntarily were taking part in Christian ministries affiliated with Exodus International, the nation's largest ministry devoted exclusively to reaching out to homosexuals.
Partial results of the study were released in 2007 and 2009 but now are being published in a peer-reviewed journal, which its authors hope gives it more credibility to those who had criticized it. The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, Volume 37.
"The results that we report in our study suggest that change is definitely not impossible, and it's probably not uncommon, either," coauthor Stanton L. Jones, a psychologist at Wheaton College, told Baptist Press. "That doesn't mean that change is easy. We think that these results need to be taken into account as a way of respecting the religious freedom of individuals."
Baptist Press reported on the earlier findings in '07 and '09. Having the study published in a peer-reviewed journal, Jones said, is significant.
"It signifies that the methodology meets the basic requirements for being taken seriously as a piece of scientific literature," Jones said. "Critics still dismiss the study. They say, 'Well, it's only one study,' or they say it's not a large enough sample. But I think the study stands as a significant challenge to the reigning views on this matter, especially given that the major mental health organizations say in alternate voices that change of sexual orientation is impossible or that change in sexual orientation is highly unlikely."
A statement on the American Psychological Association's website says that promotion of change therapy "contributes to a negative climate for lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons."
"All major national mental health organizations have officially expressed concerns about therapies promoted to modify sexual orientation," the APA statement says. "To date, there has been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation ... is safe or effective."
Changing attitudes on the subject isn't easy, Jones said. Stories about gay people who tried but didn't change tend to get more media attention, he said. Also, he noted, the issue has become political. When Attorney General Eric Holder announced in February that the Justice Department would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, part of Holder's reasoning was that there's "a growing scientific consensus ... that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable." The study by Jones and coauthor Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University directly challenges that argument.
"To admit that the study has any validity is to draw into question ... the change in [public] policies," Jones said.
The study does not examine why some people are more successful in changing their orientation than others.
"We can't answer that," Jones said.
Some critics say the study was deficient because it did not record the physical responses of subjects to sexual stimulus. In some mainstream circles, that is done by placing pornography in front of the subjects and either monitoring the physical response or monitoring the brain for a response. But such a test, Jones said, would have gone against what Exodus strives to obtain -- sexual purity in both thought and practice.
"Christians and others who are pursuing a moral framework for change don't look at that as a benign interaction," Jones said. " ... People who are undergoing change don't want to submit themselves to exposure to gay porn as a measurement method as to whether they have changed."
Jones and Yarhouse caution against projecting success ratios based on their study. For instance, they say, it would be wrong to say that 23 percent of people can change their orientation, just because 23 percent of the people in their study did so. Nevertheless, they say, the study shows that change is possible.
"I know individuals who have been married for 20 and 30 years after coming out of the gay community," Jones said. "The claim that nobody has ever changed is not substantiated either by our study or by any number of powerful anecdotes that are out there." --30-- Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press. Learn more about the study at ExGayStudy.org.
Nurture not nature. Cultural influences make this “Lance” behave that way, not biological instincts. Even if his biological instincts were so inclined, this hypothetical Lance you mention still chooses to engage in that activity.
So whether ones engages in normal heterosexual or aberrant activity, it is still a choice of the individual involved.
Today? Most could care less...unfortunately.
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“To date, there has been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation ... is safe or effective.”
However, it is considered safe and effective to surgically remove a persons sex organs, put them on hormone therapy and tell them they have changed their gender.
Which wouldn't be the same thing as being "born gay" anyhow. But this simply means that no doctor has pin pointed a "gay gene." Nature, nurture, and that mysterious thing we call free will all have a place; it has been shown, I believe, that out of identical twins separated at birth there is a far higher chance that any "gay" proclivities seen in one will appear in the other, than would exist between fraternal twins.
Bizarre world, isn’t it. You can talk about addadictomies and not catch the opprobrium you would if you talked about forming or breaking the “gay habit.”
Those hardcores are in denial...and I would have no problem laughing while I tell them so.
The game is coming to an end.
But a black man wakes up every day and hes black.
A white wakes up every day and hes still white.
That aint ever going to change.
So damned sick and tired of the ‘ born this way BS ‘.
Many enlightened and even not so enlightened “chicks” do. Some even accept practicing bisexuals, in which she’d probably want him to at least wash his member beforehand....
why has nashville become a hotbed for liberal commie muzzzlem sharia shanannyganism and Alinsky trickery????? Also TSA forced check point on the road more thuggery by Big Sis’ goons- and I heard yesterday that gives Janet Napolitano a hard on because big sis- used to be a he!! Another insanity is this fact or fiction??
Yeah, Rosie could be the “man” in the relationship.
> I believe, that out of identical twins separated at birth
> there is a far higher chance that any “gay” proclivities
> seen in one will appear in the other, than would exist
> between fraternal twins.
I don’t have the references ready, but other than genetic makeup, identical twins are as different as any other random two people.
I happen to know a couple sets of identical twins, and, indeed, they are very different people.
So, unless you believe there is a “gay gene”, then you shouldn’t believe that if one identical twin is gay, the other is more likely to be so than any other random person in the general population.
On the other hand, even if a “gay gene” could be discovered, it does not excuse gay behavior any more than the clinically proven predisposition to alcoholism excuses drunkenness.
Homosexuality and Lesbianism is not a race, it is not a nationality, it is not an ancestry, it is not a faith-based conviction.
It is a BEHAVIOR.
I don't think "sanity" is an option with psychology/psychiatry. It's a pseudo-science, if at all. Mostly junk.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too — you can’t insist there is no genetic contribution to the picture and ignore research that finds empirical evidence that there is.
Please note that still and simply, I hold the position that it is a HABIT. (And it is a habit which I do not practice, if you are wondering.) Don’t get all self righteous on me because I insist on truth, even truth which might be inconvenient to some person with good intentions.
What chick wants a dude who used to boff hundreds of chicks?
Nobody notices this is where the Southern Baptist Convention does its thing, eh.
The country music scene brings all sorts of rag tag philosophy to the place. The downside of being famous, I suppose.
Yup. The Left is very convinced they know more—being all uber-evolved, smarter and kinder than Conservatives...
That said...I’ve known and have friends that are gay, from high school, college, work (L.A. film writing/production/studio execs has a male gay dominance)...I do think there are some “biological errors” isn’t THAT what got Dr. Laura in troulbe a few years back? Just...that we are somewhat defined by our physical nature. There are indeed some people with blurry sexual organs. And, no I’m not putting these people down because I recognize the biology error...just that...yes...sometimes I think the miraculous stuff that happens in a body can go hay wire.
I think people should find a mate (op sex) and have kids. That is the ideal. Sometimes, this just won’t or can’t happen. I don’t want to shun a large group of people, that as a group, are usually hard working and kind. (Yes, I know the fringe is a pain.)
I know a person that feels attracted to the same sex has a lot on their plate. I also know that some of these people, as a result of religion, will try to fight and overcome this enormous obstacle. I bet lots of us have married friends (m/f) that one or the other made a conscious choice to challenge their “desire”. And, I’d bet a lot of them are very glad they made the choice.
There is a movie out recently about a man who did this and was NOT happy about his choice. It was a sweet little movie, nothing horridly offensive...but it gave the other point of view. I don’t recomend it or not...just...it was a decent movie and gives a different POV. (If you care, it had Christopher Plummer as lead. He’s still as good as ever.)
I want every decent human being to find a mate and build a life filled with some happiness. I believe this should be with the op sex. I also know that some just can’t do this. And I believe it can be biological as well as a choice.
The left, unfortunately, seems to be about fads as much as it is about “education.” So they are always learning — not a bad thing of itself — but never able to come to an understanding or knowledge of the truth — which situation is a very bad thing.
Well put.
I can choose to be fat or thin.
I can choose to drink or not drink.
I can choose to take harmful drugs or take in only healthful substances.
I can choose to be active or a couch potato.
I can choose to read widely and be informed or only go by the instructions from the mass media and my emotions.
I can choose to be chaste in marriage or not.
I can choose to be sexually active (for either the hetero or homo team), or celebate
Choices. Life is Choices.
> you can’t insist there is no genetic contribution to the
> picture and ignore research that finds empirical evidence
> that there is.
I am not ignoring such research, I am simply ignorant of same.
A cursory sample of google hits shows a vast variety of studies and studied opinions, none of which seem to be conclusive, except, of course, for the agenda-based ones on opposing sides.
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