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The Ex-Gay Story in the Pop Music World By Roberto Marchesini NARTH International Representative - NARTH ItaliaItaly's "Festival di San Remo," the most important musical happening in my country which is seen on T.V. by millions of Italians, became the unlikely platform this year for a powerful ex-gay testimony. The singer, Giuseppe Povia, winner of the festival in 2006, presented a song entitled, "Luca Era Gay" (Luca was once gay) -- SEE VIDEO HERE. The title of his song, implying that some gays can change to heterosexuality, was sufficient to destabilize the Italian gay movement. Gay activists threatened to block...

Italy's "Festival di San Remo," the most important musical happening in my country which is seen on T.V. by millions of Italians, became the unlikely platform this year for a powerful ex-gay testimony. The singer, Giuseppe Povia, winner of the festival in 2006, presented a song entitled, "Luca Era Gay" (Luca was once gay) -- SEE VIDEO HERE. The title of his song, implying that some gays can change to heterosexuality, was sufficient to destabilize the Italian gay movement. Gay activists threatened to block the festival, and Europarlimentary member Vittorio Agnoletto asked for a European resolution to stop Povia from...

The 24-page booklet by the National Education Association and American Psychological Association, tells students that homosexuality is a "normal expression of human sexuality". "What's so scary and dogmatic about this report is that it communicates that religious-based viewpoints are harmful, and even dangerous," said Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action. The booklet particularly targets the idea that homosexuality is a condition that can be changed. It instructs educators, "Schools should be careful to avoid discussions of transformational ministry in their curriculum." Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said that the talk of...

Many people have heard that homosexuality is largely genetically determined, homosexual relationships are essentially the same as heterosexual relationships except for the gender of the partners, homosexual parenting and heterosexual parenting are no different in their affects on children, and homosexual marriage will decrease stigma and thereby increase mental health in our society. A social science perspective and research review give a dramatically different picture. Some say it does not matter who is loving children as long as they are loved. I saw a resume written by a male homosexual couple seeking a birthmother to give her baby to them...

US, February 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the same time that news has come out that the Toronto Catholic School board has refused to participate in pro-homosexual activities, homosexual activists are making significant inroads in US schools, as a booklet titled, "Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth," is set to be distributed to all 16,000 school districts in the country. The 24-page booklet by the National Education Association and American Psychological Association, tells students that homosexuality is a "normal expression of human sexuality". "What's so scary and dogmatic about this report is that it communicates that religious-based viewpoints...

Despite claims by some mental-health experts, new research indicates that a change in sexual orientation is possible for some homosexuals. In the book Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation, which was released today, authors Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse address two of the most disputed questions in the homosexuality debate: Is change possible and can the attempt to change be harmful? C. S. Lewis said that science produced by Christians would have to be “perfectly honest. Science twisted in the interests of apologetics would be sin and folly.” Jones and Yarhouse took Lewis’...

("Childhood Family Correlates of Heterosexual and Homosexual Marriages: A National Cohort Study of Two Million Danes," by Morten Frisch and Anders Hviid, Archives of Sexual Behavior Oct 13, 2006; [E-publication ahead of print]) A major study is about to be published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal, Archives of Sexual Behavior, which provides striking new evidence for the influence of childhood family factors on sexual-orientation development. The study used a population-based sample of 2,000,355 native-born Danes between the ages of 18 and 49. Denmark -- a country noted for its tolerance of a wide variety of alternative lifestyles, including homosexual partnerships...

Surrounded by President-Elect Sharon Stephens Brehm, CEO Norman Anderson and other prominent members of the American Psychological Association (APA), President Gerald P. Koocher voiced support for the treatment of those distressed by unwanted homosexual attractions. In a Town Hall Meeting dedicated to open exchange between members and APA leaders, Dr. Koocher fielded a question from NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi about APA's position on the treatment of unwanted homosexuality. Highlighting the importance of client autonomy and self-determination, Dr. Koocher stated, "APA has no conflict with psychologists who help those distressed by unwanted homosexual attraction." Ex-gays picket the APA to show that...

At the APA Conference in New Orleans — where APA President Koocher commented about the ethicality of sexual reorientation therapy — Clinton Anderson, director of the APA Office of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns, offered further commentary.* Mr. Anderson said he does not dispute that some people leave homosexuality. "I don't think that anyone disagrees with the idea that people can change, because we know that straight people become gay and lesbian — so it seems totally reasonable that some gay and lesbian people would become straight. The issue is not whether sexual orientation changes...the issue is whether therapy changes...

Latest well-publicized genetic link to homosexuality not conclusive. A study contending that boys with older brothers are biologically more likely to be homosexual has been challenged by a Canadian psychiatrist who dismisses the study as "rubbish," and by a Dutch psychologist who says the claims are "unsubstantiated." Joseph Berger, a Distinguished Life Fellow with the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality's (NARTH) Scientific Advisory Committee, says in an article posted on NARTH's website that the study is "absolute utter rubbish" and "should never have been published." Anthony Bogaert, a Canadian...

Study Claiming Biological Basis for Homosexuality “Absolute Rubbish”: NARTH Psychiatrist TORONTO, Ontario, July 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent study suggesting that homosexual orientation results from biological factors in the prenatal environment is based on severely flawed research and biased assumptions, a leading Canadian psychiatrist has charged. Researchers at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, conducted the study entitled “Biological versus nonbiological older brothers and men’s sexual orientation.” The study suggested that male same-sex attraction results from an immune reaction on the part of the mother to the presence of the male child in her womb, a reaction the study’s...

Research fuels religious debate over homosexuality Nurture versus nature and scripture versus science — the Abrahamic faiths continue their struggle to define views on homosexuality “Steve,” a married 48-year-old Orthodox Jew from Jerusalem with six children, is proud of his success: After 18 months of counseling, he has restricted his sexual encounters with other men to only once in the last four months. Steve, who is not — in his words — “a biological homosexual,” attributes his restraint to a therapy group that uses religious values as part of the treatment.As someone who until recently had a long-term male lover...

May 1, 2006 Letters Gay Adoption A fair summary of the April 1 letter to the editor regarding gay adoption would be that foster children adopted by gay people are more vulnerable to sexual predators than children adopted by heterosexual parents. As attorneys, such a provocative and wholly unsupported statement should be troubling to us all. As a former police officer who now practices family law, I am keenly aware of and sensitive to the plight of abused children. The letter writer offers no evidence whatsoever of a nexus between the reaction of a child to the advances of a...

Dr. A. Dean Byrd Reviews Dissertation on Factors In Re-orientation Success March 13, 2006 - In a doctoral dissertation directed by Dr. Jay C. Wade, Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, Elan Y. Karten investigates the psychological and religious characteristics of dissatisfied same-sex attracted men who seek sexual re-orientation interventions. As a logical follow-up to Spitzer's landmark study, the Karten research was specifically designed to investigate the following: the respondent's relationship to his father; type of sexual self-identity; quality of psychological relatedness to other men; and which form of religious values demonstrated the strongest relationship to change. Karten defined...

NARTH Publishes Report on Mental Health Organizations and Gay Advocacy http://www.narth.com/docs/press13.html

California Psychologist Wants 'Extreme Bias' Against Homosexuals Added To 'DSM' January 6, 2006 - In early December 2005, Washington Post writer Shankar Vedantam reported on the efforts of UCLA psychology professor Edward Dunbar to encourage the psychiatric community to add "extreme bias" against homosexuals (or ethnic groups) added to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Professor Dunbar is considered an expert on hate crimes and serves as a consultant with the Los Angeles City Police Department, the LA Unified School District and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The Post article quotes Darrel...

Accuse mental-health associations of allowing gay activists to distort researchSenior members of the psychological community delivered a scathing condemnation of the American Psychological Association (APA), at the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) conference last month. Dr. Nicolas Cummings, Ph.D, a former president of the APA, said pro-homosexual social activist influence has undermined the scientific legitimacy of psychological research within the organization. Dr. Cummings charged that research by the APA is now limited to projects where “they know what the outcome is going to be…only research with predictably favorable outcomes is permissible.” (reported by Linda Ames Nicolosi...

Ex-homosexuals and "reparative therapy" advocates recently gathered in Marina del Rey, California, for the 13th annual conference of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH. Reparative or reorientation therapy is designed to help men and women in conflict with their homosexuality attain the goal of reaching their heterosexual potential. NARTH comprises more than 1,000 therapists, sociologists, and psychoanalysts who believe homosexuality is not inborn and can be changed. However, the organization's November 11-13 gathering in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles County) attracted an angry group of protesters, many of whom argued that reparative therapy is dangerous...

John Cloud, a gay man who wrote the cover story for Time magazine (Oct. 10) on the rise of gay teen advocacy groups on high school campuses, has a long history of promoting the gay political agenda while disguised as a mainstream reporter. Cloud's sexual orientation was not mentioned in the Time article. In past Time articles, Cloud has promoted gay attacks against the Boy Scouts, portrayed transgender activists as a new opprosed minority group; wrote approvingly of anonymous gay sex orgies for an alternative newspaper in Washington, DC; and earlier had penned a guide to gay bathhouses in Washington,...

[This article is key to understanding what children in public schools might be taught as normal and acceptable. Of course, we're already seeing some of it. If you're remotely interested in this topic you'll want to read the article in its entirety. ] Gay Cornell University Professor Ritch Savin-Williams argues that teenagers are rejecting gender categories in their pursuit of satisfying sexual relationships. And, he's encouraged by the trend. Reviewed by Frank York Professor Rich Savin-Williams in The New Gay Teenager, presents the premise of his book in the first page of his Preface. He observes: "Gay people have historically...