September 28, 2011
Column #1,570
Can Gays Go Straight?
By
Mike McManus
Conventional wisdom of
psychologists is that it is impossible for gays to go straight.
For years, the
American Psychological Association has said, “Can therapy change
sexual orientation? No…(H)omosexuality…does not require
treatment and is not changeable.”
The American Psychiatric
Association adds that the “potential risks of `reparative
therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety and
self-destructive behavior.”
However, two psychologists –
Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse have written an article
for the peer-reviewed “Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy” that
proves that some homosexuals can in fact, become heterosexual.
Previous research has been
criticized for not following the subjects over a significant
length of time and for “relying on memory rather than following
change as it occurs.”
The study followed 98 people
who entered ministries affiliated with Exodus International,
which believes that “Christ offers a healing alternative to
those with homosexual tendencies…”
Of the 98 men and women
studied, 61 were followed for seven years, while others dropped
out. Of the 61, more than half were “successful by the standards
of Exodus Ministries.” Some 23% of the subjects reported having
a successful “conversion to heterosexual orientation and
functioning, while an additional 30% reported stable behavioral
chastity with substantive dis-identification with homosexual
orientation.”
At the opposite extreme. 20%
“reported giving up on the change process and fully embraced gay
identity,” the article reported.
Dr. Yarhouse of Regent
University said the rest had mixed results, with 16% reporting
some reduction of same-sex attraction, but not enough to be
considered a success. Another 7% did not respond and 5% said
they were confused, but were no longer claiming a gay identity.
This study is of profound
importance.
Exodus
International has been around for 35 years, and now has 240
local affiliates which are helping thousands of people who are
unhappy with their homosexual or lesbian identity, who want to
become heterosexual. Every affiliate can point to successful
people.
What has not been
known before are the odds of success.
I asked leaders of
local affiliates if the study’s conclusion sounded correct -
that about a quarter are fully successful, and another 30% have
become chaste.
“I would agree
with the statistics,” said Bob Ragan, who leads Regeneration in
Metro Washington, that serves a couple of hundred people a
year. “What is the success rate of AA? About 30%. I think we
do as good a job as AA.”
In terms of his
own personal situation, he says: “I have chosen celibacy. I’m
58, and the Lord has been with me for a long time.”
Ron Smith, who
directs New Hope Ministries in San Rafael, CA,, also says the
research results reflect his ministry’s outcomes. His personal
story is that he spent 18 years with a male partner, but now
“has an interest in dating.”
Asked to describe
his process of change, he said, “I felt a state of discontent in
that lifestyle. I went on a search and found it in becoming
Christ-centered, which created the change. When Christ became my
center, I found a new level of contentment.”
To find such a
ministry near you, go to
www.ExodusInternational.org. Exodus says that it “upholds
heterosexuality as God’s creative intent for humanity, and
subsequently views homosexual expression as outside of God’s
will. Exodus upholds redemption for the homosexual person as the
process whereby sin’s power is broken, and the individual is
freed to know and experience their true identity, as discovered
in Christ and His Church.”
Yarhouse and Jones
initially wrote a book in 2007 about their work, “Ex-Gays? A
Longitudinal Study of Religious Mediated Change in Sexual
Orientation.” They were criticized by other psychologists for
only having followed their subjects for three years. So they
continued for another four years, interviewing their subjects
annually.
And they wrote
their paper for a secular journal that had to be reviewed by
peers who were inherently skeptical.
They dream of two
outcomes. First, that “homosexuals who are not content with
having a gay identity, can explore what their options are,” and
learn their odds of success. It was not written for broader gay
community as a shot across the bow.
Secondly, they
hope that by having their study published in the scientific
“Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy,” that mental health
organizations, such as the American Psychological Association,
will support the right of people to pursue the possibility of
changing their sexual orientation from homosexual to
heterosexual.
Yarhouse concludes, “I hope the APA would find or create the
space to consider future studies and respect the right of people
to choose to participate in these ministries.” |