Cure for gayness
Further Reading
The medicalisation of queer preference in the West has a long and well-documented history. From the nineteenth century through to the millennium, those who participated in same sex acts could be categorised as committing a sin, a crime, or suffering from a disease. These three understandings of homosexual eroticism often overlapped; what was a sin could also be a crime, and what was a crime could also be a medical disorder. While in the majority of Western countries the conceptualisation of homosexuality as a medical disorder has been eradicated, it still has a presence in countries once subject to European colonisation.
My research focuses on the example of India. Prior to colonisation, India had a rich tradition of same-sex eroticism, from the Kama Sutra to the ghazal poetry under the Mughals. These histories of homoerotic content, whether from Hindu epics or Mughal art, have been the subject of contentious histories on the subcontinent. Since the advent of British colonial rule in India, there has been a suppression of non-normative sexuality and gender phrase, in keeping with British colonial ideals. One facet of this suppression was the creation o
The Lies and Dangers of Endeavors to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
Organizational Positions on Reparative Therapy
Declaration on the Impropriety and Dangers of Sexual Orientation and Gender Culture Change Efforts
We, as national organizations characterizing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals, educators, and advocates, come together to express our professional and scientific consensus on the impropriety, inefficacy, and detriments of practices that seek to transform a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, commonly referred to as “conversion therapy.”
We pose firmly together in support of legislative and policy tries to curtail the unscientific and risky practice of sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts.
American Academy of Infant Adolescent Psychiatry
"The American Academy of Kid and Adolescent Psychiatry finds no evidence to support the application of any “therapeutic intervention” operating under the premise that a specific sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression is pathological. Furthermore, based on the scientific evidence, the AACAP asserts that suc
It is dangerous to be diverse, and certain kinds of difference are especially risky. Race, disability, and sexuality are among the many ways people are socially marked that can make them vulnerable. The museum recently unhurried materials to document gay-conversion therapy (also called "reparative therapy")—and these objects allow curators like myself to explore how real people experience these risks. With the help of the Mattachine Population of Washington, D.C., Garrard Conley gave us the workbook he used in 2004 at a now defunct religious gay-conversion camp in Tennessee, called "Love in Action." We also received materials from John Smid, who was camp director. Conley's memoir of his time there, Boy Erased, chronicles how the camp's conversion therapy followed the idea that being gay was an addiction that could be treated with methods similar to those for abating drug, alcohol, gambling, and other addictions. While there, Conley spiraled into depression and suicidal thoughts. Conley eventually escaped. Smid eventually left Love in Activity and married a man.
In the United States, responses to queer , homosexual, queer, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, and gender non-conforming
Can Psychiatrists Really "Cure" Homosexuality?
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A British survey published last month found that one in 25 therapists would assist gay and pansexual patients attempting to convert to heterosexuality. That's despite the fact that many medical groups, including the American Medical Association, have for years condemned such practices, saying they don't work and can actually bring about harm.
It may not be surprising that Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson and televangelist pastor Jerry Falwell, among many others, have supported programs designed to convert homosexuals away from "sin" and into the arms of God-fearing heterosexuality. But what may surprise you is one of the research sources cited by the Catholic Medical Association in 2006 when it declared that science "counters the myth that same-sex attraction is genetically predetermined and unchangeable, and offers hope for prevention and treatmen