FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AUGUST 14, 1997
CONTACT: KRISTIN HANSEN (202) 393-2100
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- People seeking professional
mental health therapy as a way out of homosexuality may soon face a brick
wall erected by those who want to deny any hope of change.
A decision expected on Thursday by an American Psychological Association
governing body would force sexual reorientation therapists to read a statement
to their patients declaring that homosexuality is normal and healthy. Many
therapists feel that this blatantly mischaracterizes the nature of homosexuality,
threatens the freedom to seek and to provide treatment, and may condemn
many patients to a life of hopelessness and needless suffering, denying
them a normal family life.
"Forcing therapists to read any such statement to their clients represents
gross interference with therapists' free speech rights, conscience, and
professional clinical judgment. Therapists are going to have to lie to
their patients about what it means to be gay," said Robert H. Knight,
Director of Cultural Studies for the Family Research Council. "This
goes against clinical knowledge and the tradition of professional psychological
training, not to mention 5,000 years of human experience and the teaching
of all major religions.
"The APA cannot claim that there is an absence of clinical evidence
showing successful therapeutic change for homosexuals. They are well aware
that people have been successfully treated for decades and that a growing
population of ex-gays is becoming more visible in America today. Cowed
by aggressive homosexual activists who say--without credible evidence--that
people are `born gay,' the APA is trying to snuff out genuine hope for
those struggling with gender identity problems.
"The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality
(NARTH) has a consistent track record of success on behalf of those willing
to change. A Recent NARTH study of 850 individuals who claim to have made
a degree of sexual-orientation change and 200 therapists who have counseled
such individuals found that 99 percent of them believe treatment to change
homosexuality can be effective and valuable. Exodus International, a Christian
outreach staffed by former homosexuals, also cites high rates of change
by those weary of their homosexual identity. The APA has also chosen to
ignore decades-old evidence from sex researchers Masters and Johnson, who
reported a 71.6 percent success rate--even after five years--for clients
who wanted to change their sexual preference.
"We call on the APA to reject this disastrous retreat from sound clinical
practice and to acknowledge the truth--that homosexual behavior entails
inevitable physical and psychological risks and that homosexuals can change."
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE FRC PRESS
OFFICE.
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