Personally, I hadn't even heard about reparative therapy until this morning when I read an article in the NYTimes. It turns out that reparative therapy, at least in regards to the issue in the article, is a small segment of the psychological world that should be put to rest. So what was the article about you ask? Well, I am working my way there. In California, there has been a ban put on reparative therapy as used to cure homosexuality. This therapy, largely developed in California, has been used by a wide array of people to try and cure their children and young adults of homosexual tendencies. It shouldn't come as a surprise that some conservative religious groups have been utilizing or rather pushing this type of therapy as a "cure" for homosexuality. Have we retreated to the 1800's where you had traveling medicine men touting the latest cure for everything from anger to epilepsy to diarrhea? There is a good segment of the psychiatric community that considers this sort of therapy to be complete and utter quackery. I couldn't agree more with them, at least in regards to its utilization to "cure" homosexuality. Part of the reason that a ban was put on this sort of therapy is that those it had been utilized on had a tendency to sink into depression and were more likely to consider or actually commit suicide. I think that most rational and learned people would at this point agree with me and most of the world that homosexuality is not something that can be cured. Rather, it is something you are born with. Whether it is genetics or something else, we can't get rid of those feelings and if we try, we are in essence denying who we really are. I have had a good number of homosexual friends over the years and I wouldn't change anything about them. Yet, there are still those within society, both the United States and worldwide, that consider homosexuality a deviance from the norm, a disease, something "curable". Well, I have news for those people, homosexuality is not going away anytime soon.
Aside from this sort of therapy being largely detrimental to the mental health of those it has tried to "cure" of homosexuality, I find another large problem with religious groups pushing people and parents to utilize it. While I can not speak for every religion and their teachings, I think in general, most religions teach that we should be accepting and welcoming to others regardless of their sexual preferences, their skin color, or anything about them. It shouldn't matter what a person desires, or what their tendencies are, we are supposed to welcome them and accept them. I find that for the most part, those conservative religious sects who speak out against homosexuality and consider it to actually be a sin are distorting scripture, re-writing it to their own benefit, or simply making it say what they want it to. I find their actions to be morally reprehensible. Who are they to judge if a person is unworthy or not depending on their sexual preferences. If a person comes to any church with an open and willing heart, than that should be all that matters. By perpetuating their agenda of eradicating homosexuality, they are in fact doing more harm than good, both to themselves and to those who are gay and lesbian. By pushing homosexuality to the fringes and outright condemning it essentially says that those who are homosexual are not worthy, are sinners, and should be ashamed. Yet, maybe that is what these religious sects are trying to do, keep those away they do not want within their walls. If that is the case, then they are doing a good job. Only time will tell if these religious offshoots will prevail and actually last. As long as there are quacks who think that homosexuality is a sin and that it is curable, then I guess maybe they will be around for a while. I hope not however. What they need is a little enlightenment and perhaps a little more of an open heart.
While I have been railing against this reparative therapy, I must offer their own defense of its use. Those who support this type of therapy and who have vowed to fight the ban have said that one of the main reasons for its use as a "cure" for homosexuality is that in many cases, those who have homosexual tendencies have been victims of sexual abuse when they were younger. While this might be the case in a few instances, I highly doubt that the majority of those who have homosexual tendencies were sexually abused as children. If that were the case then we are in serious trouble. But its not, so lets move on. The excuse given is merely a vain attempt to keep this sort of therapy alive and functioning. I wonder how many people who have gone to be "cured" of their homosexuality have done so on their own volition. I would think that the number would be really small if that were the case. It would seem that in most cases, people who have received reparative therapy have been pushed, goaded, or pulled their by others. Shame on them. I don't know to what extent reparative therapy is used country wide, but at least it is banned in California. I only hope that in respect to "curing" homosexuality, is banned countrywide. It is time to move out of the dark ages and see the light. Homosexuality is not a disease, it is a preference that people are born with and something that we can't be eradicated despite the efforts that some people make to do so. Acceptance is key. The more we can open ourselves up to accepting them and everyone who is different than us, the more we can come closer together as a society.
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