Warren Throckmorton

Fixin' to move to WordPress

2006-11-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

I am about to move the blog to WordPress. For awhile there will be a transition of sorts. New posts will be over there but comments will no doubt continue here as people come to posts from search engines and the like. I like the functionality of WordPress.

Here is the new address: www.wthrockmorton.com. Go on over and tell me what you think. Leave a comment here or there; I will be reading both places for awhile.

UPDATE: THE NEW SITE IS READY FOR A SPIN. HEAD ON OVER TO THE NEW BLOG AND COMMENT THERE.

"You fight like a girl" - Fruit flies and the playground

2006-11-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

Fruitfly research is pretty hot stuff and this new study is sure to find its way on to late night television.

Fighting Like a Girl or Boy Determined by Gene in Fruit Flies

BOSTON, Nov. 20 /Standard Newswire/ -- Fighting like a girl or fighting like a boy is hardwired into fruit fly neurons, according to a study in the Nov. 19 Nature Neuroscience advance online publication by a research team from Harvard Medical School and the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna. The results confirm that a gene known as "fruitless" is a key factor underlying sexual differences in behavior. The findings mark a milestone in an unlikely new animal model for understanding the biology of aggression and how the nervous system gives rise to different behaviors.

I'll bet the boy fighters call each other dude and drink Gatorade between rounds.

Reality show idea combining this and the last post - Get men and women to fight and have raters decide if they are gay or not by how they fight. The raters go off the show if they are wrong. The celebrity version of the show would be huge. Anyone want to suggest a name for it?

Gaydar and stereotypes

2006-11-19T20:14:00.000-05:00

Michael Bailey is quoted extensively in this article regarding his research on gaydar. Social psychologists study stereotypes and the "I knew it all along" feeling (e.g., I just knew he was gay). I suppose I have furthered a few stereotypes by my support of Daryl Bem's Exotic Becomes Erotic theory.

I had to chuckle a bit at this aspect of the article where Dr. Bailey puts his gaydar square on Haggard: "The one blip on his Ph.D.-caliber gaydar was Haggard's broad grin."This is total speculation, we haven't done studies yet, but I think gay men tend to have much more expressive smiles. That's one thing that struck me about Haggard.'"

And here I thought it was because he was the pastor of a megachurch. Silly me.

Roy, Silo and Tango make the news again

2006-11-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Well, winter approaches in the US which turns one's thoughts to -- penguins.

Just to show that a good controversy over a short-legged critter can have, uh, long legs, here comes Roy, Silo and Tango again. If ex-gay is off the table, what shall we call Silo?

Another article regarding Haggard and reparative therapy

2006-11-15T15:06:00.000-05:00

AP's David Crary covers the Haggard issue with comments from the usual suspects.

This article covers some of the same ground as the Denver Post article on November 12. I was struck by a couple of points in this article. There was a certain dogmatism to the APA commenters. Doug Haldeman said there is nothing good that can come from conversion therapy. This is an extreme statement that is at odds with the experience of many who have been involved in it. Possible harm, yes; but "nothing good?" - I think that is easily falsified and is actually contrary to some of Dr. Haldeman's writings in APA journals.

I thought Joe Nicolosi made a good point by pointing out that each individual has the perogative to determine what same-sex attractions mean to him within a valuative framework. However, in my opinion, he undermined his position to some degree by assessing Mr. Haggard's history, apparently without any knowledge of him (one hopes it is without experiential knowledge), as needing to face "...the realities that you [Haggard] did not get certain central affirmations from your mother or your father..." How would one know that?

Mr. Crary correctly points out that:

There have been numerous studies, with varying conclusions, on how homosexuality originates and whether it can be changed. But there has been no authoritative study - accepted by both sides - examining the effectiveness and possible ill-effects of reparative therapy.

And so dogmatism on any side seems unwarranted.

Unprotected: How universities can be hazardous to student health

2006-11-15T11:44:00.000-05:00

I have interviewed the anonymous author of the new book Unprotected and briefly reviewed the book. Released tomorrow, the book provides a very sobering look at unrestained sexuality on campuses and how campus health services are often accomplices in the risky behavior (not at GCC of course :).

Catholic Bishops Approve Guidelines for Ministry to Gays

2006-11-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

Catholic Bishops easily pass the Guidelines for Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination. They may have succeeded in pleasing no one...

Ted Haggard - Pastor's Case Stirs Debate: Denver Post

2006-11-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

Today's Denver Post has an article by Kevin Simpson and Eric Gorski that reports on the various views of sexual orientation and how the restoration of Ted Haggard might proceed. A balanced article, the reporters include quotes from Anthony Bogaert, Daryl Bem, Robert Spitzer, Jack Drescher, Mary Heathman, Joe Nicolosi, Alan Chambers and yours truly. There is also a story of someone who went into Exodus and did not experience the change he was looking for.

Alan Chambers, Richard Isay on Today Weekend Show

2006-11-11T20:54:00.000-05:00

I missed seeing this segment that was on this morning. Did anyone see it? Anyone know if footage has been posted anywhere?

Mental health status and homosexuality

2006-11-10T10:39:00.000-05:00

Since the LA Times article appeared in October, I have received several emails asking about various aspects of my views that were reported in the article. Some ask about my view that same-sex attraction does not always stem from poor parenting, others ask about my views on homosexuality and increased risk for pathology. I have covered the parenting issues in prior posts and want to address briefly the matter of risk for pathology.

Some wrote to say that when I was characterized by reporter Stephanie Simon as believing homosexuals can have a "fulfilling life" that I ignore research documenting a higher level of mental health problems among homosexuals.

I disagree that the reporter’s characterizations of my views ignore social science research. On the contrary, my views are quite consistent with what we know about homosexual adjustment. While there are consistent reports of elevations of various mental health problems among homosexuals, there are many homosexually identified people who are untroubled by diagnosable conditions.

For instance, the most recent published comparison of gays and straights on suicidality found that homosexuals were more likely to feel suicidal than heterosexual participants, even with psychiatric history considered. However, the effect sizes on dimensions of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors were small to modest (2-4%). For women, when psychiatric history was considered, the relationships disappeared for all indicators except the contemplation of self-harm. Even for men, the modest effect sizes indicate there is much overlap between straight and gay groups; the results cannot be accounted for by sexual orientation differences alone. (Archives of Sexual Behavior, June 2006).

To withhold “even the possibility” (quote from the LA Times article) of homosexuals experiencing happiness is not warranted by the research we have. In all studies of psychiatric problems among homosexuals, large numbers of homosexuals report no psychiatric distress. In the study of suicidality noted above, the majority of homosexuals reported no indication of difficulty. While rates are frequently elevated among homosexual men, and sometime among lesbians, such elevations do not preclude the possibility of a satisfying life. If so, then we would need to extend such thinking to other groups (both essential human categories and those socially constructed as well) where elevated risks are found. For instance, other groups who have elevated risk for depression include the elderly, women, people of low socioeconomic class, people who smoke, people living in high stress situations, and people with chronic medical conditions. Suicide risk is elevated among Native American teens compared to all youth (2.5 times). Higher rates of psychiatric disorders and substance abuse problems have been reported among physicians. Evidence from a large study of physician suicide indicates that the suicide rate among male doctors is twice that of men in general. The rate among female doctors is four times higher than for all women. (South Med J 93(10):966-972, 2000). Women in general are about three times more likely to attempt suicide than men. Would one deny the possibility of a rewarding life to members of these groups? Surely not.

Thus, it would be inconsistent with the research on psychiatric risk to deny members of at-risk groups “even the possibility” of a "fulfilling life," whether partnered or not. Higher risk, yes; inevitable mental health maladjustment for all members of a group of people? No.

Teachable moments.

2006-11-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

Father Jonathan Morris over at FoxNews contemplates some teachable moments from the Ted Haggard story. He said a few things I have been thinking.

Ted Haggard's apology

2006-11-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

Anong other things, Haggard said this morning via letter to his congregation, ""The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life..." I suspect he is not referring to drug addiction when he refers to that which he has been at war about during his life. He may be able now to find some assistance since he will not be able to avoid his war.

Video and transcript of the apology. More on Haggard's disclosures. The more that is revealed the more unclear things seem.

Ted Haggard dismissed from New Life Church

2006-11-04T20:11:00.000-05:00

The leadership of the New Life Church issued a statement regarding Rev. Haggard. Apparently, the revelations continued and his offenses were such that remaining on the staff was impossible. Reading between the lines, I suspect the overseers determined that the offense was not an isolated event and was of such a nature that they believe some kind of lengthy process of restoration is in order. Most Christian churches will go a long way with a minister to effect reconciliation and given his standing and service there, I suspect he will be given many opportunities to figure out where things went wrong.

There is an almost crushing grief that I, and many others, feel for him and his family.

Ted Haggard under investigation in relation to drug purchase

2006-11-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

Who knows what other revelations will occur but attention from Denver police seemed inevitable. If Haggard and/or Jones could score drugs so easily, perhaps they can turn over the benefits of their knowledge to the police. Some of Mike Jones friends might not be so happy with his disclosures.

Ted Haggard fallout: Will evangelical voters stay home?

2006-11-04T06:51:00.000-05:00

Evangelicals were already showing some signs of sitting this one out. In the couple of months, I have received several emails from conservatives advocating staying home on election day. I do not plan to do this but even a small percentage point decline in any group's participation could swing close elections. The Haggard scandal may further alienate evangelicals to take a holiday on election day.

Ted Haggard acknowledges some allegations

2006-11-03T10:27:00.000-05:00

Associate Pastor, Ross Parsley says there is something to these allegations in an interview and email to the church. A voice recognition expert believes the voice on Mike Jone's voicemail is indeed Ted Haggard. The accuser, Mike Jones, failed the first polygraph but the examiner said that fatigue and emotion may have played a role and they will try again. I am getting emails from men I have worked with in counseling who are troubled by the story. Some because it brings up their own struggles; others are saying they remember what this kind of time was like and they really feel for him and his family.

UPDATES:
1. Focus on the Family, also based in Colorado Springs, issues press release.
2. Haggard says he bought meth and received a massage from Jones.

Ted Haggard, President of NAE, accused of homosexual affair

2006-11-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

This is a difficult story. Apparently, there is something to these allegations. (NAE = National Association of Evangelicals). This morning a voice recognition expert weighs in. The accuser, Mike Jones, failed the first polygraph.

The eyes have it: Sexual orientation and perception of invisible images

2006-11-01T08:53:00.000-05:00

An interesting study out Monday suggests that sexual attractions direct primary appraisal (unconscious attention). What one pays attention to may relate to one's sexual orientation. The study, "A gender- and sexual orientation-dependent spatial attentional effect of invisible images" by Jiang, Costello, Fang, Huang & He and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science masked nude images of men and women in such a way as to make them virtually invisible. They found however, that the attention of the participants were consistent with their sexual attractions. Gay men preferred to look at nude men, straight men at nude women and women were moderately focused on nude men but with a mixed response to pictures of women. I calculated effect sizes for the differences and they are huge. Sexual orientation accounts for nearly half of the variance in attention. Along with the pheromone and serotonin challenge studies, this new work adds to the idea that sexual orientation differences are quite substantial, no matter how they came to be.

I will update this as I am able.

Straight into gay America: Respectful conversations

2006-10-31T08:50:00.002-05:00

There is an interesting conversation happening over at the "Straight into gay America" blog. Host, pastor/author Lars Clausen has invited pastor/author (Understanding Homosexuality) Dave Glesne to discuss various aspects of Rev. Glesne's book. They cover much of the same ground that we cover here on this blog, including reparative therapy, use of the term -- "gay lifestyle," and causation of same sex attractions. I plan to join in the conversation as time permits.

Catholic Bishops Issue Guidelines for Ministry to Gays

2006-10-30T12:38:00.000-05:00

New York Times is reporting that these guidelines will be voted upon in mid-November. Judging from who opposes them, they are likely to be a centrist document. I have not seen them, however. Some who have indicate that reorientation therapy is not recommended nor condemned.

The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism

2006-10-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

This is a little off-topic for my blog but I am glad to put some light on my friend, Paul Kengor's new book: The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. I have done some writing on this topic on Blogger News Network, specifically about the role of Sen. Ted Kennedy in attempting to undermine Reagan via Yuri Andropov. I also did a Q&A with Paul that I posted this evening. I think there are some tantalizing analogies between communism and Jihadism for us today. We must win the war against Jihadism and make no mistake we are at war.

Foley emails published by HRC staffer; now fired

2006-10-26T13:56:00.000-04:00

So, in part, the posting of the Foley emails was an "October surprise" related to the elections. Good for the HRC to fire the person responsible.

New Jersey Supreme Court says "I Do" to same-sex marriage

2006-10-25T15:50:00.000-04:00

Sounds like a Vermont situation. Now, it goes to the legislature. The legislature has 180 days to craft something legal.

Are gays more suicidal than straights?

2006-10-25T13:25:00.000-04:00

A reader wrote and asked if I would review another new study from the Archives of Sexual Behavior regarding suicidality and sexual orientation. The reference is:

de Graaf, R., Sandfort, T.G.M., & ten Have, M. (2006). Suicidality and sexual orientation: Differences between men and women in a general population-based sample from the Netherlands. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 253-262.

I don't have time for a full review but in looking over the study, it is noteworthy and important the authors controlled for prior psychiatric conditions and they asked participants about their feelings of discrimination.

There were significant differences between straight and gay men, after controlling for psychiatric status on death ideation, death wishes, suicidal contemplation and deliberate self-harm. Controlling for psychiatric status left only one statistical difference between straight women and lesbians: suicide contemplation.

Some points to consider:
1. Although the majority of gay men were free of suicidality, there is a risk for one or more measure of suicidality based on sexual orientation.
2. The effect sizes of the risk are small to modest. In other words, there is much overlap between gay and straight groups. The differences require much else besides sexual orientation to account for the variation.
Death ideation - .7% (trivial)
Death wish - 2%
Suicide contemplation - 4%
Deliberate self-harm - 2%
3. Discrimination moderated the first two factors but even with this variable considered, suicide contemplation and self-harm were association with sexual orientation.

These data are neutral with regard to ideology. Caution is warranted and one cannot say that homosexual orientation leads to suicidality but for reasons that are unclear, there is a small to modest risk. There are other factors that should have been controlled as well but apparently were not: child abuse, current sexual behavior, substance abuse, etc. The remainder of the variation might be accounted for by factors not assessed.

Updated review of the Danish study of environment and sexual orientation of marriage

2006-10-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

I have updated the review of the Frisch and Hviid study of environmental correlates of sexual orientation and marriage. Dr. Frisch read it today and approved this version.

This opinion article will be released tomorrow, or the next day. UPDATE: It is out. (10/25).

It wasn't abuse? The Foley saga continues...

2006-10-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

There is so much here, it is hard to know where to start...

Environmental factors relate to homosexual and heterosexual marriage: Danish study

2006-10-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

I just received the following study and have written a brief review of it.

Frisch, M., & Hviid A. (2006). Childhood family correlates of heterosexual and homosexual marriages: A national cohort study of two million Danes. Archives of Sexual Behavior. [Epub ahead of printing].

Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Center, Statens Serum Institut, 5 Artillerivej, DK-2300, Copenhagen S, Denmark, mfr@ssi.dk.

ABSTRACT: Children who experience parental divorce are less likely to marry heterosexually than those growing up in intact families; however, little is known about other childhood factors affecting marital choices. We studied childhood correlates of first marriages (heterosexual since 1970, homosexual since 1989) in a national cohort of 2 million 18-49 year-old Danes. In multivariate analyses, persons born in the capital area were significantly less likely to marry heterosexually, but more likely to marry homosexually, than their rural-born peers. Heterosexual marriage was significantly linked to having young parents, small age differences between parents, stable parental relationships, large sibships, and late birth order. For men, homosexual marriage was associated with having older mothers, divorced parents, absent fathers, and being the youngest child. For women, maternal death during adolescence and being the only or youngest child or the only girl in the family increased the likelihood of homosexual marriage. Our study provides population-based, prospective evidence that childhood family experiences are important determinants of heterosexual and homosexual marriage decisions in adulthood.

Read my review and let's discuss...

LA Times reports on NARTH, Schoenewolf controversies

2006-10-15T05:16:00.000-04:00

This morning, LA Times' Stephanie Simon reports on the controversies with NARTH. Alan Chambers is quoted and draws a distinction between how NARTH has handled things and how Exodus would.

Here is a portion: One of NARTH's scientific advisors has quit in protest, and a prominent therapist has canceled his presentation at the group's annual conference next month. Alan Chambers, who leads the nation's largest support group for "ex-gays," urged NARTH's members to "think long and hard about the mission of the organization."

UPDATE: The Miami Herald, The Olympian (WA), Monterey County Herald and the Daily Dish (among numerous other blogs) picked up this story today. Stories have also been filed by AgapePress and the USA Radio Network (10/17/06).

Open Forum on the Mark Foley Issue

2006-10-13T12:10:00.000-04:00

Unless you are just returning from Antarctica, you have heard of the Mark Foley page scandal. Here are some possible questions to discuss?

-Is the closet to blame?
-Did gay staffers and congressmen cover up his activities?
-Blogactive blogger, Mike Rogers, thinks the answer is to out all closeted gay Republicans. Is this a good thing?
-Will this scandal impact the November elections?
-Does this scandal have any relevance to pedophilia and/or homosexuality in general?

Suggest others and talk loud. I'll be reading more than writing here this weekend as I am on deadline with an article but this feel free to post links to news and opinion around the blogiverse.

"I expected people to take issue" - Schoenewolf

2006-10-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

In light of Dr. Schoenewolf's accusations that Brentin Mock, reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center twisted his words in the SPLC article, Mr. Mock wrote to tell a little more about his interview with Dr. Schoenewolf.

Mr. Mock asked Dr. Schoenewolf this question: "What exactly did you mean by the paragraph in which you say Africans were better off as slaves in America?"

Dr. Schoenewolf replied, "The point I made is what I was trying to say. I don't know that there's any other way to say it. I expected people to take issue."

Dr. Schoenewolf is welcome to come on here and dispute this. However, this exchange paints a somewhat different picture than Dr. Schoenewolf presents in his newest NARTH article.

History Lesson

2006-10-12T02:54:00.000-04:00

Apparently, this is needed...

Dr. Schoenewolf speaks out: Political correctness gone amok

2006-10-11T15:47:00.000-04:00

Responding to controversy surrounding his writings on political correctness, Gerald Schoenewolf was interviewed by an anonymous writer for an article on the NARTH website. In an article titled: Political Correctness Gone Amok: The Latest Controversy, Schoenewolf criticizes the recent report by Brentin Mock of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He blames Mock for twisting his words regarding slavery. Schoenewolf says: "No person is better off enslaved, obviously," Schoenewolf told NARTH. "What I tried to say, before my words were twisted by that reporter, is that despite the clear and obvious evil of that practice, we tend to forget that many of the enslaved people had been first been sold into bondage by their fellow countrymen; so coming to America did bring about some eventual good. No social issue has all the 'good guys' lined up on one side and 'bad guys' on the other."

Let's compare this idea with what he said in his initial article: With all due respect, there is another way, or other ways, to look at the race issue in America. It could be pointed out, for example, that Africa at the time of slavery was still primarily a jungle, as yet uncivilized or industrialized. Life there was savage, as savage as the jungle for most people, and that it was the Africans themselves who first enslaved their own people. They sold their own people to other countries, and those brought to Europe, South America, America, and other countries, were in many ways better off than they had been in Africa.

I will leave it to the reader to judge whether Dr. Schoenewolf's words were twisted. I am glad he is now saying that the good done was "eventual" but that is not what it seems to me that he said in the original article. While we are on that point, I do not see why one would imply that a moral evil is of necessity associated with an eventual benefit. This assumes that the only way the current good (African-Americans are here and not in famine and war-torn Africa) could have happened is via the moral evil (slavery). On the other hand, we could look at it this way: Current economic benefits, freedoms and safeties have occured despite slavery, not because of it. Slavery was not a necessary precursor to the current situation; Africans could have come here under some other more positive circumstances if the moral evil of slavery did not exist.

Schoenewolf did not address one of his central tenets (civil rights movements are derived from Marxism) in this new defense. To wit, here is a passage from the original article:

Subsequent to Marx, various human rights groups began using his ideology to rationalize their movements, primarily in America. First came the Civil Rights Movement, which began in the 1850s and was one of the causes of the Civil War. In this case, European-Americans (Caucasians) became the oppressors and African-Americans became the oppressed; European-Americans were demonized, and African-Americans were idealized; European-Americans who had practiced slavery or segregation were viewed as all-bad and African-Americans were seen as all-good.

African-Americans were urged by various leaders to unify and rebel against European-Americans and to demand special privileges as compensation for their suffering at the hands of the latter. Civil rights leaders, like Marx and Engels before them, believed that their way, and only their way, was the valid way to look at the issue. In the 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement went into high gear, and the leaders of the movement, just like Marx and Engels, began to punish anybody who was in any way critical of the movement or had any other point of view with respect to solving racial discrimination by labeling them "racists" and "bigots" and attempting to isolate and ostracize them.

I consulted GCC Professor of History, Gillis Harp regarding the paragraph above and he had this to say:

"Hardly any Abolitionists ever read Marx or were particularly influenced by him. You (Throckmorton) are quite correct about the evangelical roots of the Abolitionist movement. The Quakers were among the first to oppose slavery in writing. The British leader, William Wilberforce -- a Tory evangelical! -- was about as far from a Marxist as one could get. Arthur & Lewis Tappan are good examples of American evangelicals who were Abolitionist leaders."

Bottom line message I get from this new article: If you express disagreement with Dr. Schoenewolf, you must be a "so-called liberal" who is intent on stiffling dialogue. It is rare that I or anyone here in the Grove would be called a liberal. We're as much liberals as Wilberforce was a Marxist.

The article concludes with Dr. Nicolosi saying: "The bottom line," said NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, "is that NARTH's mission has nothing to do with any social issue others than same-sex attraction. Our mission is to defend our clients' rights to assert their own values and say, 'Gay is not who I really am.'"

This sentiment would represent a shift in NARTH practice which many would welcome. If this was true, then there would have been no controversy in the first place.

The Schoenewolf controversy: Afterthoughts on the apology

2006-10-10T21:28:00.000-04:00

It has now been nearly a month since the beginning of the controversy over the article by Gerald Schoenewolf (Gay rights and political correctness: A brief history). Apparently, NARTH is finished with the issue since they issued what they are calling an apology.

I have continued to research one of the central tenets of the article and that is that Marxism informed the abolitionist movement and the subsequent civil rights movement. This appears to be revisionist history. Christianity was at the heart of this movement and indeed most likely even of the early feminist movement. Wilberforce in England became invested in abolishing slavery after his conversion to Christianity. We are not talking about a difference of opinion here; this is simply bending facts to reduce complexity to a simplistic theme - the very thing Schoenewolf accuses human rights advocates of doing. There are several other significant problems that could be raised again but I will leave it at that.

There is much troubling about all of this but what continues to escape whoever authorized the apology statement is that the credibility of any movement or organization can be severely compromised by the inability to self-correct. By issuing a statement saying that some readers misconstrued the article, they ask those same readers to suspend rationality. The "apology" feels more like a slap at those who found significant errors and expect a scientific organization to be accountable for them.

A specialty organization devoted to sexual identity issues could provide a significant public service. An organization that I would join or help develop would:

-Develop research-based guidelines to inform clinical practice
-Focus on integrating all research relating to sexual orientation and sexual identity
-Avoid policy/political statements not in keeping with the organization's mission, and then only when supported by a significant program of research
-Have a much broader focus than homosexuality (e.g., sexual identity)
-Have elections by members for the officers of the organization

Other suggestions?

Nintendo Fusion Tour: Still recovering my hearing

2006-10-09T16:28:00.000-04:00

Took one of the chillens to the U of Pitt this weekend for the free Nintendo Fusion Tour concert with Hawthorne Heights, Relient K, Emery, Plain White T's, and the Sleeping. They all had their good moments, but Relient K stole the show, in my opinion. Here are some pics:

Relient K's Matt Theissen

Hawthorne Heights (above right)

Relient K (left)

NARTH regrets the Schoenewolf "comments...misconstrued"

2006-10-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

NARTH today issued the following apology today in relation to the Schoenewolf article...

NARTH Apologizes For Article

NARTH regrets the comments made by Dr. Schoenwolf about slavery which have been misconstrued by some of our readers. It should go without saying that we do not wish to minimize the suffering of those who have been mistreated because of race, sex, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.

UPDATE: An article by Brentin Mock of the Southern Poverty Law Center provides additional comment from Gerald Schoenewolf, David Blakeslee and your humble host regarding the article about which NARTH today made comment.

Jennings and Shimkus? To tell or not to tell...

2006-10-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

Two unrelated items that got me thinking.

1. Rep. John Shimkus, chair of the House Committee that oversees the Page Program has taken lots of heat over his handling of suspicious communications between Mark Foley and underage boys. The Springfield (IL) Journal-Register wrote today: "Shimkus has faced criticism from both parties for not telling the other two page board members last year when the parents of a former page complained that Foley had asked their son to send him a picture of himself. Members of both parties also have said that Shimkus and others who knew about the e-mail should have conducted a more thorough investigation."

2. Kevin Jennings and GLSEN want to be a part of a proposed White House conference on bullying. Fair enough. I disagree with GLSEN most of the time about this issue. For instance, GLSEN recently criticized a research-based bullying program being used now by the state of VA because sexual orientation was not specifically named in the curriculum. On the contrary, the Olweus program is a fine program that most often gets good results and will make most schools safer.

Seeing Kevin Jennings quoted in the context of current events made me think about how he handled a Shimkus-like issue many years ago when he was a teacher in private school. A young man, Brewster, disclosed to Mr. Jennings that he was engaged in sexual relations with an adult male. Mr. Jennings revealed this to no one at the time. A detailed summary of the Brewster stories is here.

Back to current events, Mr. Shimkus is now being widely criticized for not disclosing the Foley incident, even though, apparently the young man did not want the events disclosed.

Should Mr. Jennings have handled Brewster, the 15-16 year old boarding school charge, differently or was his Shimkus-like approach correct?

Why?

2006-10-04T08:36:00.000-04:00

This question, and the details, are what occupies those reporting on the murders of Amish children in Nickel Mines, PA.

The Washington Post reports a detailed account of the events which concluded with comments from Fred Berlin from Johns Hopkins.

Fred S. Berlin, a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist and expert on sexual disorders, said it would be a mistake to accept Roberts's statement about molesting children years ago as an explanation for what happened Monday. At most, Berlin said, the molestation, if it occurred, is just one piece of a complicated psychiatric puzzle.

"People can develop a major depression and, in the midst of that, begin to feel very guilty and troubled about perceived bad acts in a way that had not been a problem for them in the absence of depression," Berlin said. "I'm speculating here, but it's possible he became depressed and then began to be preoccupied and ruminative and guilt-ridden about these events that occurred so many years ago."

If Roberts did molest two young relatives 20 years ago, when he was 12, it would not necessarily mean he was bound to repeat the behavior as an adult, Berlin said.

Although many adult pedophiles begin their misconduct as young people, "there's good evidence that a majority of adolescent sexual offenders -- if indeed he was that -- do not go on to be adult offenders," Berlin said. "People assume otherwise, but there's some pretty compelling data suggesting that there are lots of kids who do things of a sexual nature during childhood that they ought not do, and they don't do it again."

While I have much respect for Dr. Berlin, I have a different speculation about killer Charles Roberts. While I believe mental illness is involved, I would guess that delusions are also involved here. This sounds more like a acute psychotic condition than severe depression, although they are not mutually exclusive. It is possible that he never molested anyone but became convinced he did due to persistent and disturbing sexual preoccupations.

I recall a case where a mother asked for her daughter to be excused from school because the daughter required heart surgery in a couple of days. The mother said her daughter would not likely return to school because of the situation. The mother described elaborate plans for her care involving a hospital stay and doctor's appointments. An astute teacher researched the matter and found no such appointments were made and then called me for a consult. We quickly intervened with protective services. We later learned that the mother's mental health had rapidly deteriorated and she had planned to murder her daughter and then tell the school that the surgery was not successful. Other than the illogical school request, there were no warning signs. Eventually, the mother recovered and, to my knowledge, there were no further incidents. In the case of Charles Roberts, it appears there were no warning signs at all. Tragic is such a small word in this case; where are the bigger words?

Is the closet to blame for the Foley scandal?

2006-10-03T15:04:00.000-04:00

Andrew Sullivan seems to think so. In a post about former Congressman Foley, titled the Closet, Sullivan waxes on about "what the closet does to people." He says, "the hypocrisies it fosters, the pathologies it breeds - is brutal."

He continues: "What I do know is that the closet corrupts. The lies it requires and the compartmentalization it demands can lead people to places they never truly wanted to go, and for which they have to take ultimate responsibility. From what I've read, Foley is another example of this destructive and self-destructive pattern for which the only cure is courage and honesty."

So are we to understand Foley's behavior is causally related to being a closeted gay man? As I understand Sullivan's argument, the cure for Foley's pursuit of teenage boys is honesty about his homosexuality. Not that I favor dishonesty, but I am not buying Sullivan's argument.

I say this, in part, because straights who interfere with underage youth are rarely closeted straights -- are they? Debra Lafave was not closeted and still did a very bad thing.

Sullivan also writes: "In some ways, I think it was my pride that forced me to be honest with myself and others; and a deep sense that obviously this was how God made me, and it behooved me to deal with it forthrightly. " Here he argue that self-esteem is the key - be proud of what you are and then you won't do such things. On the other hand, I would argue that it is not self-esteem that prevents "hypocrisies" and "pathologies," but self-control - no matter what your sexual attractions are like. Quoting self-esteem researcher, Roy Baumeister (from Myers, Social Psychology, 2005, p. 64), I agree that: "...self-control is worth 10 times as much as self-esteem."

UPDATE: Former Rep. Foley now says he was sexually molested between ages 13-15 and that he is gay. The plot thickens...

I am not attending the NARTH conference; Dr. Blakeslee resigns

2006-10-02T14:48:00.000-04:00

Call me crazy but I have decided not to present the Sexual Identity Therapy Guidelines at the NARTH conference in November. In addition to other reasons, I am in disbelief that the leadership of NARTH has not come out against the article by Gerald Schoenewolf regarding political correctness. I fear that this is a cloud over NARTH that can only be dispelled by decisive action and clear statements.

Furthermore, I have been informed that David Blakeslee has resigned his membership in NARTH and the NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee, in part due to the ambiguous responses from NARTH regarding the Schoenewolf controversy. David will be adding remarks in an update here soon.

NARTH blog updates response to Schoenewolf controversy

2006-09-30T01:36:00.000-04:00

Sojourneer, the anonymous blog administrator at the Narth blog has revised his/her statement about the Schoenewolf article controversy:

I am going to revise my comments on the Schoenwolf article. Many people have misinterpreted my defense of Schoenwolf, as speaking for Narth. I do not speak for Narth and any comments I have made on the blog are my personal opinions. Please read the Narth disclaimer regarding the blog. In addition, Schoenewolf can defend himself and his views are not endorsed by Narth. Regarding his comments about slavery, I regret his choice of words and think his point could have been made with a better choice of words. The comments were incendiary and have inflamed the debate. Therefore, for the sake of continued dialogue with all sides I am going to retract the first letter from Timothy Kincaid as an example of gay intimidation.

I don't know when this revision was actually posted since it took the place of one that labeled negative reactions from a variety of quarters as attempts to discredit NARTH and Dr. Schoenewolf. This statement is the first that implies that Schoenewolf's views are not endorsed by NARTH. However, since Sojourneer does not speak for NARTH, I cannot see how the statement can be accepted as an official position. Silence, thus far, is the only official response from NARTH.

Angry Professor

2006-09-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

Wow, I wonder if this is a hoax. Not that I would want to, but we could not do this at GCC :)

Dr. Spitzer on YouTube

2006-09-28T13:44:00.000-04:00

I have posted this before but am doing so because I finally uploaded it to YouTube. I wanted to see how this feature works. If you have seen Dr. Spitzer's interview, there is nothing new here.

NARTH responds to the Schoenewolf controversy

2006-09-26T21:41:00.000-04:00

Sojourneer at the NARTH blog has responded to the Schoenewolf controversy.

Gay brothers study

2006-09-26T09:20:00.003-04:00

The Chicago Sun-Times posted an article about the Alan Sanders study of gay brothers currently recruiting pairs of gay brothers for a genetic linkage study. The website for the study is www.gaybros.com. The brochure describing the study is on the site as a pdf.

I wrote Alan Sanders several months ago and asked if he was including measures of gender nonconformity as a covariable but received no reply. Environmental measures would also be helpful in the event they did not find linkages. I wonder if ex-gay brothers should apply?

As I read the comments of the researchers about what they hope to accomplish both in the article and in the brochure, it occurred to me that the researchers may be introducing bias into the sampling.

Given Bailey's last twin study, I have to wonder about this statement to prospective participants:

Earlier studies suggest that homosexual orientation runs in families; 8 to 12% of brothers of gay men are also gay, compared to 2 to 4% of men in the general population. Twin studies suggest that this pattern is largely due to heredity rather than environment, but we cannot be sure of this unless we actually locate genes that affect sexual orientation.

Palm Springs Unity Rally Spokesperson Misleads Readers

2006-09-23T18:17:00.000-04:00

Claire Jordan Grant, in an op-ed today, again misleads readers by saying Dr. Joseph Berger's article regarding gender variant kids was published/written by Love Won Out/Focus on the Family. This is an extension of her false claim on the Unity Rally website about the Schoenewolf article. Ex-gay Watch agreed that the false claim should be removed and indeed advised the Unity Rally of this. I wrote a comment in the forum on the Desert Sun website. This was followed by Jason Cianciatto of the NGLTF who contends that I attempt to distract readers. I invite readers here to go over and have a go at commenting on the matter.

The Unity Rally Website Gets It Wrong Again

2006-09-22T09:49:00.001-04:00

On the front page of the Palm Springs Unity Rally website, this statement is made:

Stand with us against prejudice in our home. Love Won Out, a Focus on the Family-sponsored group, will hold a conference on Saturday, September 23, in Indian Wells to encourage parents of gay children, or those who believe their children might be gay, to send their children to “gay conversion therapy" camps and programs. This is the same group that published an article suggesting that slavery has been historically misunderstood and that it was actually a good thing... for the slaves!

Why is this so difficult? Focus on the Family did not publish the Schoenewolf article. NARTH did. FOTF does not endorse the Schoenewolf article.

If you are visiting my blog being linked from the Unity Rally site, please contact the organizers and ask them to correct this falsehood. I am.

UPDATE: No correction was made and the error remains. The folks at ExgayWatch noted the error as well.

The Palm Springs Desert Sun reports on sexual orientation

2006-09-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

There are several features in today's Palm Springs Desert Sun related to the upcoming Love Won Out conference. They include a point - counterpoint exchange between Melissa Fryrear (FOTF) and Ginny Foat (Unity Rally), an article on the theories of sexual orientation, an editorial regarding news coverage, and information about the events of September 23.

Palm Springs Unity Rally Website Gets It Wrong

2006-09-21T01:49:00.000-04:00

The Unity Rally website refers to my entry below about Dr. Schoenewolf's article on political correctness but misrepresents me and the relationship (as I understand it) between NARTH and Focus on the Family.

The website attempts to link the article by Dr. Schoenewolf with Focus on the Family by claiming that "Love Won Out, NARTH (the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality), and Exodus are all intertwined with Focus on Family." The truth is that LWO is a ministry of FOTF but Exodus and NARTH are not a part of FOTF. They are separate organizations.

It is unfair to expect FOTF to answer for the content of NARTH's website (which is where the Schoenewolf article is located) and yet this is what is suggested by the Unity Rally website.

Another claim from the Unity Rally website: "One of their own speaks out against the article justifying and condoning slavery. Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a proponent of gay conversion therapy, openly criticizes NARTH's publication of this article on his blog."

My response: 1) I am not a NARTH member and 2) I am not a gay conversion therapist. However, I do support the right of clients to pursue a valued sexual identity which may include assistance in addressing unvalued sexual attractions in their therapy.

My post below was a very singular critique of Dr. Schoenewolf's article. It is an error, in my opinion, to associate this article on the NARTH website with FOTF. Furthermore, I fully support FOTF and LWO's efforts to articulate a conservative Christian view of sexual ethics.

Political correctness and the Schoenewolf controversy

2006-09-20T10:46:00.000-04:00

Several brief reactions to the Schoenewolf article regarding political correctness:

Dr. Schoenewolf defines PC as 1) an ideology, 2) a culture, 3) a philosophy, 4) a lifestyle and 5) an extension of Marxist thought. He then discusses civil rights, feminism and gay rights as if they all are in the same intellectual tradition. This to me seems simplistic. It also seems to make an argument that many conservatives and civil rights veterans resist: gay rights are analogous to the Civil Rights Movement. I don't imagine this was his intention.

His analogy to families who seek therapy doesn't work for me (you'll have to read the article to understand this). I understand how therapists can remove their biases from work with families but I do not see how people in general can take a dispassionate view of slavery and oppression. Therapists are not responsible for how their clients turn out; however, people in a society have at least some responsibility to speak against injustice. Certainly, my religious tradition influences me to see my responsibility this way.

This sentence in the article puzzles me: "...various human rights groups began using his [Marx's] ideology to rationalize their movements, primarily in America. First came the Civil Rights Movement, which began in the 1850s and was one of the causes of the Civil War. " I cannot understand why the Civil Rights Movement needs to be examined as a rationalization. Slavery was a moral evil. We do not need to appeal to Marx or rationalizations to speak against evil. Many people needed and need courage to speak out. If there is rationalization, it is to quiet the internal dissonance between seeing an evil and being safe in silence. However, calling oppression what it is seems to me to be a response of compassion and service to God toward other bearers of His image. Many abolitionists approached the issue out of Christian compassion. The Golden Rule is not a Marxist invention.

Here is a passage that leaves me puzzled:

This is not to say that the Civil Rights Movement was or is wrong. Of course, racial discrimination does exist and many horrible things have happened to African-Americans; the question is not whether or not it exists, but how one interprets it and how one reacts to it. Civil rights leaders insist there is only one meaning and one way to react. The Marxist view is superimposed on the race issue: Only an absolute and simplistic view of the issue is allowed--one which divides people into good guys and bad guys--either you're with us or you're against us.

There is no attempt by civil rights leaders to see both sides of the conflict, to understand the complex sources of the problem, to view people on both sides as having both good and bad in them. There is no attempt to negotiate a win-win situation that would benefit all society; instead a win-lose scenario is forced on all of society, whether they like it or not. All whites are guilty of what was done to blacks, particularly all white males, and all must pay.

With all due respect, there is another way, or other ways, to look at the race issue in America. It could be pointed out, for example, that Africa at the time of slavery was still primarily a jungle, as yet uncivilized or industrialized. Life there was savage, as savage as the jungle for most people, and that it was the Africans themselves who first enslaved their own people. They sold their own people to other countries, and those brought to Europe, South America, America, and other countries, were in many ways better off than they had been in Africa. But if one even begins to say these things one is quickly shouted down as though one were a complete madman.

To his credit, Dr. Schoenewolf indicates that discrimination exists and horrible things have been done. However, I do not understand what both sides of the conflict are. It would certainly help me understand his meaning if he had pointed out what both sides are and what a "win-win" scenario would look like in this context. As far as I can see there is only one correct side to the issue of racial discrimination - it is wrong. Adding that Africans "were in many ways better off than they had been in Africa" makes this section incomprehensible to me. As it is worded, the passage trivializes a clear moral evil in an incredibly insensitive manner.

Another idea I do not understand is here: "The irony is that the Civil Rights Movement has been vehement about pointing out the hysterical lynchings that took place in the old South, but completely blind to its own hysterical tactics." This is the most egregious example of a kind of parallelism that the author seems to want to communicate. Lynchings are not called good by Dr. Schoenewolf, but somehow they are placed in parallel to "hysterical tactics" used by the civil rights movement. However, the tactics are not spelled out and the parallel is assumed. This is offensive on many levels but I will note one. Words mean something and lynching cannot be considered a parallel to name-calling or other forms of social disapproval, no matter how hysterical they may seem. This comparison again trivilizes unspeakable inhumanity to attempt to make a lynching parallel to anything that is not a lynching.

I cannot judge inner attitudes from this piece. However, there is enough wrong with it that it really should be pulled. That would not be PC, but it would be wise.

UPDATE (9/21/06) - This post is from the NARTH blog: "The offensive article has been removed from the NARTH site. The criticisms have been duly noted."

Dr. Gerald Schoenewolf's article on political correctness

2006-09-19T18:05:00.000-04:00

Well, this issue seems to be picking up some steam. Here is an article about it. The article by Dr. Schoenewolf is here; so let's talk.

UPDATE: NARTH responds to criticism over the article on their blog:

Michael and others, regarding Gerald Schoenewolf, Ph.D.

Michael, you are trying to discredit Narth by attacking individual members. You seem to be scouring the Narth website looking for information that you can distort and use for your disinformation campaign. Your resent attack on Schoenewolf is classic. If you can imply he is a racist then his opinion does not count and he becomes invalidated. Then by associated Narth is also racist, homophobic, or religious and Narth has no voice. I think you are doing this because Narth is making a difference in people’s lives and beginning to make an impact on a larger organization like the APA.

As far the article you refer to, I posted the link below for others to read the entire paper in context. It is a rather interesting article title, Gay Rights and Political Correctness: A Brief History.

My views on his comments about race are as follows. He is not saying slavery was a good thing nor, is he saying it was no big deal. What he is saying is that good things can come out of bad situations. The good that came out of it was that African people came to America. Coming to America was a great thing because America is the greatest country in the world. When a person has been victimized by some unfortunate circumstance, one way to cope with it is to get something positive out of it. This in no way minimizes the traumatic event. Slavery was an immoral practice and a shameful event in the history of the United States. However, slavery was not just practiced by America. Schoenewolf points this out in the paper. He says that slavery was practiced by the Africans themselves. In addition, slavery was used by many other cultures and countries for many centuries.
http://www.narth.com/docs/schoenewolf2.html

Posted by: Sojourneer at September 20, 2006

American Counseling Association Dust Up Over Conversion Therapies

2006-09-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

In the July, 2006 newsletter of the American Counseling Association - Counseling Today - an article reporting the Ethic's Committee's analysis of conversion therapy was printed. A very similar piece is on the ACA website as a news release. Several counselors, myself included, have letters of response published in the September issue. I am considering asking the committee to rule on critical incident stress debriefing or Jungian analysis. The most surprising aspect of the ACA Ethics Committee work was citing Nicolosi et al as an evidence of harm. If that is true, then Shidlo and Schroeder really indicate benefit from change efforts.

Evergreen conference article

2006-09-18T13:44:00.000-04:00

Evergreen Conference wrap up. Note Alan Chamber's quotes at the end. Evergreen is the Latter Day Saint organization that is comparable to Exodus.

Australian news report on APA's presidents comments

2006-09-18T11:30:00.000-04:00

Australian paper on the APA and the President Koocher's comments regarding therapy for same-sex attraction conflicts.

Agapepress article about PFOX

2006-09-17T23:45:00.000-04:00

A reader emailed to ask why the Agapepress is reporting that I still speak for PFOX. The writer is recounting events of over a year ago to describe the PTA's response to PFOX. I was indeed involved in a 2005 event where my bullying and sexual orientation curriculum were released while at the PTA meeting with PFOX. This is old news however, and I am not currently involved with PFOX. For what it's worth, my understanding is that Richard Cohen is not on the PFOX board any longer.

Backlash on the Pope

2006-09-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

So should Catholics now burn an effigy of Muhammad?

Depression and gay men

2006-09-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

The Southern Voice is running an article about the Medius report on depression and gay men. I think this addresses some of the comments and concerns expressed in recent posts. This article expresses the common view that depression leads to risky sexual behavior. However, I wonder if this could go the other way around. We have evidence that at least for teen girls, sexual behavior leads to depression. I wonder if this the link could run both ways in this case.

Common Ground?

2006-09-12T16:30:00.000-04:00

Commenter Dr. David Blakeslee suggested 8 points of possible common ground regarding sexuality policy on a recent thread. I am posting these for continued discussion. Feel free to suggest others. The idea is to discuss issues of perceived common ground rather than policy positions that are unlikely to generate commonality (e.g., Federal Marriage Amendment versus the federal recognition of same-sex marriage). As usual, it is fine to discuss the merits of any given policy position as long as it is done civilly. For this post, however, I think it would be interesting to discuss the points of commonality.

Dr. Blakeslee suggested "a short-list of proposed common ground:
1. Ethical therapeutic practices.
2. Protecting gays and lesbians in public and private settings.
3. Forbidding discrimination in employment and housing.
4. Access to quality sex education (not advocacy education)
5. Encouraging delay in sexual expression (heterosexuals also) into early 20's.
6. Building a consensus on the scientific literature on same-sex attraction (a general title).
7. Protecting all groups (gay and straight) from sexual exploitation.
8. Encouraging the bonding of love as an expression of empathy and devotion with the behavior of sex."

I invite those from all sides to express whether you feel you can agree to these points. Feel free to be candid about points of disagreement or concern.

Washington Times Op-ed

2006-09-10T14:12:00.000-04:00

In today's Washington Times, our (with Gary Welton) op-ed "Does Birth Order Determine Sexual Orientation?" is printed.

Australian TV documentary: "Gay Conversion"

2006-09-07T00:09:00.001-04:00

I blogged about the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program regarding ex-gay programs on August 22.

The 20 minute video is now available on the ABC news website. The documentary features much more than the radio interview, although the radio interview has some material not in the video. Click here for the broadband streaming video. The link to the website above has options for Real video and Windows video for dial-up and broadband.

There is a footage of Love Won Out, Love in Action, Richard Cohen, Focus on the Family, SoulForce, and Wayne Besen. Forgive me, if I have forgotten anyone...

UPDATE: I have wondered where Wayne got the subliminal recording that is supposed to reorient sexuality. Thanks to this ABC mini-documentary, I found it. It is done by a guy named Barrie Konicov at PotentialsUnlimited. Scroll down to Gay and Unhappy? I wonder how many of Shidlo and Schroeder participants got something like this and called it reorientation therapy.

A Boy and His Princess Obsession

2006-09-06T16:32:00.000-04:00

Marguerite Kelly is an advice columnist for the Washington Post. I don't read much advice but this one caught my eye.

I take real exception to her statements about the hypothalamus.

Autism and older fathers

2006-09-05T08:16:00.000-04:00

Read this study relating autism and older fathers. Note that the reporters interview people with all sorts of views (genetic, direct paternal influence, statistical artifact). Compare the reporting on this study and the reporting on the older brother effect. Even though there are explanations other than pre-natal, most media did not report them.

Washington Times: APA's position unchanged

2006-09-03T12:00:00.000-04:00

Today's Washington Times addresses the differences in interpreting APA President Gerald Koocher's remarks at the APA convention last month. We covered that issue here at that time noting that President Koocher clarified his remarks following the APA Town Hall meeting.

The Washington Times site has been down most of the last two days. Here is the article from the Google cache.

APA denies any retreat on gay therapy

By Joyce Howard Price
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 3, 2006

Some pro-family groups say recent comments by the head of the American Psychological Association suggest the organization is softening its opposition to treating homosexuals who want to change their sexual orientation.

The APA denies any changes in its stance, and the president later clarified his statements.

The Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder and chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, a group that believes some homosexuals can become heterosexuals through "deep reparative therapy," said he is convinced "peer pressure came down on the APA president like a mountain cougar and forced him" to back away from public comments he made less than a month ago.

"The APA has no conflict with psychologists who help those distressed by unwanted homosexual attraction," said Gerald P. Koocher, president of the 155,000-member APA, at the group's annual convention in New Orleans last month.

In an e-mail message early last week, Sharon Slater, president of United Families International, a nonprofit that works to protect the family as the fundamental unit of society, called Mr. Koocher's comments "an amazing turnabout," given that for more than 30 years, the "APA has aggressively opposed treatment of unwanted same-sex attraction."

Leaders of groups engaged in treating homosexuals who want to become heterosexuals, such as the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuals and Exodus International, also described Mr. Koocher's remarks as a positive development. They indicate the APA is "recognizing a person's autonomy and right to self-determination," Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, told the Baptist Press. Mr. Chambers and other therapists who offer such treatment picketed outside the APA convention and believed their presence was a contributing factor in Mr. Koocher's comments.

But the APA executive clarified his comments shortly after the convention. "In a full, multifaceted therapeutic relationship, the therapist has every duty to respond to patient choice and to help patients achieve their goals," Mr. Koocher said. "I will always affirm the crucial importance of providing our services with careful attention to patients' wishes."

But Mr. Koocher said discussion of interventions in the "extremely complex issue" of sexual orientation "must balance patient choice with the therapist's ethical obligation to obtain informed consent for any therapy process." "When dealing with sexual orientation," he said, a therapist "must" be sure that a person wishing to change is not "motivated purely from the social pressures of a homophobic environment" because therapy "will not modify societal prejudices." Mr. Koocher further stressed that "patients must understand" that treatments intended to modify sexual orientation "lack a validated scientific foundation and may prove psychologically harmful."

There is not much new here but the Times is the only paper that I know of that has covered the post-convention spin.

Dr. Joseph Berger's statements on the NARTH website retracted

2006-08-31T19:57:00.000-04:00

Regarding a controversial article on the NARTH website by Dr. Joseph Berger about gender variance, I received this statement from Dr. Joseph Nicolosi this evening:

Narth disagrees with Dr. Berger's advice as we believe shaming, as distinct from correcting can only create greater harm. Too many of our clients experienced the often life long, harmful effects of peer shaming. We cannot encourage this.

UPDATE: As has been noted by commenters here, NARTH pulled the offensive post by Dr. Berger on their blog and left this note:

Entry pulled on "gender variant" children

We have pulled the discussion on gender variant children in Oakland. The article contained comments that were deemed offensive to many readers and failed to accurately express the overall views of the physician who expressed them.

We apologize for publishing the article without getting proper clarifications first about how children with gender identity disorders should be treated by parents, teachers, and counselors.

The article remains on the website but I suspect it will be pulled soon.

UPDATE: The article has been removed from the website. No explanation has been posted on the main website as of 9/2/06.

Comments on "mixed attraction marriage"

2006-08-31T00:42:00.000-04:00

An anonymous commenter left these thoughts on my Ex-ex-gay? post. I thought they were refreshing in their honesty and provide another perspective not often heard. I wanted to give this point of view some additional exposure so with the permission of the gentleman who made the remarks, here they are:

I'm not worried about Dr. T "endorsing" these marriages. Surely he will not be endorsing each and every one of them, encourageing ALL such couples to marry and follow the advice he comes up with.

Then, it must ultimately come down to the individuals, their evaluation of their relationship in light of hopefully honest communication and the best information they can come by. Happiness, as an individual or as a couple, is dependent on many different factors, and different factors for different folks, and, from what some writers have said, factors that may change over time.

Personally, I do not see a "mis-match" of sexual orientations as necessarily, eventually detrimental to a relationship. People have many different conceptions of sexuality, spirituality, relationships, and, yes, happiness. Does the man or woman who is primarily attracted to the same sex (yes, sexually) have a fighting chance within the context of his/her marriage and social circumstances to continue to grow as an integrated, whole person, especially including in terms of sexual orientation, personal identity and meaning, and self-esteem? Part of the answer may also lie in the past social circumstances of childhood and adolescence, in which the psyche and self-esteem of the gay individual is in formation. (My preference for terminology is revealed: I'm gay, to me we're all gay who have shared a particular internal experience -- which varies amongst individuals, no doubt -- as we were growing up, WITHIN a social environment that supported things like shame, denial, repression... in those who did not fit THE MOLD.

Admittedly, I am only 13 yrs. and two children into a "mixed orientation marriage". Ironically, since having children and going back to work full-time when I took over as Mr. Mom 7 yrs ago, it is my wife who is less interested in sex than I am. I will add that I never set out to become any less gay than I was during the six years in my twenties when I was Out, and socially and politically active. I kept my gay friends, the ones who kept me anyway, and my gayness has continued to be an open topic of discussion with my wife, my parents, good friends, etc. More recently, I've been making some new gay friends through support groups. What I did do was change my behavior, and some mental habits that tended to focus my mind on the importance of bodies, sexual attractions, and satisfying my "needs". For me (so far) spiritual needs, relationships, identity, transcend the physical and psychological. (The primary stimulus for my motivation and spiritual development has been the Baha'i Faith.) While I did not set out to change my sexual orientation, I have found that it's evolved somewhat over the years of being married, say from 95%/5% toward other men/women, to about 85%/15%. But, more importantly, if it's not about my wife, my mind doesn't linger too long, or attach too much importance to it. I wouldn't deny that this issue is an added source of stress for me and my wife and our marriage. But we share a strong commitment to faith and marriage and family, we work through issues and toward greater emotional intimacy like any couple that's trying to make things work for the best.

These are my views at the moment, but I can certainly understand how others would see things differently and appreciate the perspectives that have been shared here.

San Francisco Chronicle article about gender variance

2006-08-27T12:59:00.000-04:00

Interesting article regarding gender variance in pre-school.

Pluto now an ex-planet says the IAU

2006-08-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

Here's how it happened...

Australian news report on ex-gay therapy

2006-08-22T12:18:00.000-04:00

"It's guaranteed!"

Here's audio.

The APA and Psychology Need Reform: Full remarks of Nicholas Cummings

2006-08-17T00:35:00.000-04:00

Nick Cummings has seldom been wrong about trends in psychology and I do not believe he is incorrect now. These remarks were presented at the APA convention in New Orleans, August 12, 2006.

Dr. Cummings is a past-president of APA and an innovator of the first order. He was a pioneer in managed behavioral healthcare and continues to lead the profession in providing state-of-the-art solutions to psychological service delivery. If you care about psychology as a profession, this is a must read: The APA and Psychology Need Reform.

APA President Koocher's statement about therapy & same-sex attraction

2006-08-15T15:19:00.000-04:00

This just in from APA's Public Affairs office via email from Rhea Farberman:

APA Office of Public Affairs
(202) 336-5700
Public.Affairs@apa.org

August 15, 2006

Statement by Dr. Gerald P. Koocher Concerning Therapeutic Interventions To Deal With Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction

During the Town Hall Meeting that took place at APA’s 2006 convention, I was asked about the role of patient choice in therapeutic interventions to diminish same-sex attractions.

This is an extremely complex issue. And discussion of it must balance patient choice with the therapist’s ethical obligation to obtain informed consent for any therapy process.

The issue centers on patient choice and the role of the therapist in supporting that choice with fully informed consent—be it sexual orientation or any other behavior or emotion.

In a full multifaceted therapeutic relationship, the therapist has every duty to respond to patient choice and to help patients achieve their goals. I affirmed during the Town Hall discussion, and I will always affirm, the crucial importance of providing our services with careful attention to patients’ wishes.

BUT—and this is absolutely essential, especially when dealing with sexual orientation—the therapeutic responsibility, in strict accordance with APA guidelines, MUST also include the following considerations:

One: The therapist has an obligation to carefully explore how patients arrive at the choices they want to make. Therapists must determine whether patients understand that their motives may arise purely from the social pressures of a homophobic environment. No type or amount of individual therapy will modify societal prejudices.

Two, informed consent: Patients must understand the potential consequences of any treatment, including those intended to modify sexual orientation. Patients must understand that such treatments lack a validated scientific foundation and may prove psychologically harmful.

Finally, I would add that our patients ought to know from the very start that we as their therapists do not consider homosexuality a mental disorder. In fact, the data show that gay and lesbian people do not differ from heterosexuals in their psychological health. By that I mean that they have no greater instance of mental disorders than do heterosexuals.

Dr. Koocher is the President of the American Psychological Association.

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APA president speaks about a client's right to self-determination

2006-08-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

In a Q&A today at the American Psychological Association convention in New Orleans, APA president Gerald Koocher was asked about a client's right to seek therapy to modify same-sex attraction. He reportedly said (and I am seeking confirmation from the APA) that clients may seek psychotherapy to affirm their religious values even if that meant that the therapy involved objectives to modify same-sex attractions. He reportedly said that it would not be outside the APA's ethical guidelines to work with such a client toward the client's chosen course, even if that course meant seeking to reduce or eliminate same-sex attractions.

Update: I spoke with David Blakeslee who was in the Q&A and asked Dr. Koocher a question about APA guidance regarding clients who have religious conflicts surrounding sexuality. Dave's question went something like this: "Dr. Koocher, I appreciate you participation in constructing and presenting guidelines for ethical behavior and attended your conference in Portland 18 months ago which I found very helpful. As a social and religious conservative I have found myself in a difficult situation about which I think the APA has not provided sufficient ethical guidance. I have been sought out by clients with deeply held religious beliefs who also have unwanted same-sex attractions. For these persons their religious beliefs are even more important to their identity than their same-sex attractions. Because of APA's lack of guidance in this matter, I am forced to seek advice outside APA. What is APA doing to give explicit guidance to psychologists like myself and thereby ensure that treatment of my clients honors their deeply held religious beliefs as they struggle with their same-sex attractions and is consistent with APA values of self-determination and client autonomy?"

In addition to what I reported above, Dr. Koocher reportedly emphasized that the therapeutic relationship is constructed by both the client and the therapist along the goals of the client and that the whole person must be taken into account when considering an intervention.

Dave tells me that Dr. Nicolosi followed up with a comment that his response seemed in conflict with official policy of the APA on homosexuality and that clients sometimes come to therapy wishing to explore their potential for heterosexual attraction; to which Dr. Koocher reemphasized his position of client self-determination and then cautioned about coercion.

I have heard back from Rhea Farberman, of the APA Publication Office this morning that she will soon give a complete response to my request for confirmation. She did add this:

In brief, this is a complex issue and one about which we seek to balance patient choice with the therapist’s obligation to gain informed consent. There are also questions about the efficacy of therapies intended to change sexual orientation and potential harm of such techniques. APA’s position is based on the standing Council of Representatives resolution on the topic.

Hit the link for the APA's official statement. Anything that is said here or is said anywhere must be interpreted in light of that resolution.

My take on this is that the APA has stopped short of banning change therapies but guides psychologists to inform clients of the APA position on homosexuality, to forbid coercion, to oppose therapy that has as its premise homosexuality per se is a mental disorder and to avoid making public statements that cannot be supported.

Now where have I read guidance consistent with that...

APA responds to the Narth/Exodus protest

2006-08-11T12:22:00.000-04:00

Gay365 is reporting a statement from the APA in response to the Exodus/NARTH protest this morning. I have a call in to the APA press office to verify it since I can't find it online as yet.

Update: Pam Willenz from the APA confirmed the statement which will be released to the press today:

"For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA's concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish."

Here is the AP's story about the protest.

Protest planned at APA convention

2006-08-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

I've known about this for some time but it is now public. Exodus and others plan to protest at the APA convention in New Orleans on Friday. I had planned to go observe but logistics are keeping me in the Grove.

Wayne Besen plans to attend as well. Should be an interesting show.

New Op-Ed: The study the media ignored

2006-08-04T17:08:00.000-04:00

New op-ed, probably out next week...

Changing the tone

2006-08-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

I like dialogue and I like spirited discussion but gradually the rhetoric has heated up here on the old blog. I have gotten a few emails from people who would like to comment but feel the heat is pretty hot here. They feel they would have to be snarky and nasty just to survive. I intend to change the tone.

So, if you comment here observe the following:

Posts may be rejected if they include defamation, threats, namecalling, profanity, ad hominem attacks, disruptive comments, or anything else that I think creates a hostile environment for people to engage in civil dialogue. Disagreement is fine as long as it is done in a respectful manner.

Some comments are mixed. I may contact a commenter with the remedy if I have time. If you don't see your comment up within 24 hours, you can assume it was rejected. If that is the case, and you want to complain, send an email.

I have the comment moderation on and I know how to use it.

Ex-Ex-gay?

2006-07-29T23:32:00.000-04:00

There may be a new meaning to the term ex-ex-gay soon. In the comments section of the post just prior to this one, Michael Bussee quoted Alan Chambers, Ex. Dir. of Exodus speaking about the term ex-gay as follows: "We need to do away with the term entirely and make sure it's never used again." Mr. Chambers confirmed this quote in an email.

And then later in the comments section, Mr. Bussee says: "I am pleased to announce that Alan Chambers has asked me to join him for a joint press conference to officially RETIRE the misleading term "Ex-gay."' No word as yet if or when this might occur but from my vantage point, this would be a fine development. I have used the term "post-gay" before in discussing what change means, but I am not sure that it is an improvement. Probably some people who like the term ex-gay as a designation of identity might be bothered by this. I suspect Mr. Bussee and Mr. Chambers dislike the term ex-gay for different reasons. How ironic. My understanding is that Mr. Bussee originally favored the term ex-gay. Now 30 years later, he may be aided by the current Exodus leader in order to discourage its use.

I wonder if exgaywatch will also retire?

Michael Bussee speaks out about Exodus

2006-07-25T13:54:00.000-04:00

Recently Michael Bussee and I have been getting acquainted over emails. He recently read my article regarding the founding of Exodus and took exception to my reporting. As I indicated to Mr. Bussee, I interviewed all of the other formerly gay members of the original board and reported what they told me. Mr. Bussee concedes that he was not one of two co-founders of Exodus but that there were others. However, as noted below, he does consider Mr. Cooper a co-founder as defined by the general word, found. The emails are pretty lengthy so I will only reproduce parts of them that Mr. Bussee permitted me to post. I feel it is fair to provide him with an opportunity to air his perspective.

On Gary Cooper as Founder of Exodus
Michael Bussee: "I just looked up "found" in the American Heritage College Thesaurus, since your wrote in you original posting that Gary "could not be considered a founder in any reasonable sense of the word." The thesaurus offers these equivalents: establish, institute, ORGANIZE, SETUP, and start. A founder is "one who founds, creates or starts up." I did NOT use the word incorrectly or deceptively as you assert when I described Gary's role. He helped do ALL of these things. It says nothing of being an "official" or member of any "board." If he was, I would have said that. I suppose I could have said "organizer" or"coordinator" -- but even THAT would have been attacked by those who deceptively use the term "ex-gay" to lure in new clients."

My comment: I don't see the term ex-gay as deceptive but not as descriptive as many would like it to be. The term gay is a socially constructed term that has no meaning about sexuality other than what the culture gives it. Given that gay is a socio-political label, then to say I once was gay and am not now, say more about your former identity than your inner life. Michael expands more on this below.

On the term ex-gay
"Ex-gay" was literally "voted in" at the first conference -- and it caused dissention even then among the conference attendees. (Ask some of the other "founders" and they may remember the debate.) Some thought"ex-gay was misleading. I agree. They suggested "celibate homosexual Christians". Some suggested "recovering Gay Christians). I forget some of the other more creative labels suggested.The majority of conference attendees SETTLED on "ex-gay" to represent the FAITH that one COULD (with God's help) change over TIME. This was in keeping with the "name-it-and-claim-it" school of thought that was so prominent during the neo-Pentecostal movement of the time. It wasn't what we WERE -- it was what we WANTED to BECOME. Currently, I use the word gay as synonymous with "homosexual." For others, it conjures up an image of a particular "lifestyle" (usually one of no personal restraint or moral value). Others use the term "gay" to denote belonging to a subculture. I suggest we do AWAY with the "ex-gay" term ENTIRELY since MOST in the general public would (rightly) assume that is means "no longer attracted to the same sex" -- which even your side admits is NOT true for the vast majority who seek "help."

My comment: Who knows if the vast majority lose their SSA or not? We really are talking about degrees here. Some do and some don't. Until controlled follow-up research is published it is kind of an open question.

What Gary Cooper did for Exodus
He and I were TWO of the original co-founders. I have NEVER claimed that we were the ONLY ones. You are INCORRECT when you assert that Gary Cooper cannot be considered in any way to be a co-founder of EXODUS! Were you there? I WAS there -- and I KNOW how hard Gary worked to create EXODUS. Did you come up with the idea of getting the various ministries together in the first place? Gary, another co-worker and I DID. Did YOU spend hours and HOURS (and many late nights) setting up the conference? Gary did. Did you help compile the extensive mailing list that resulted from that first conference? Gary did. Did you help devise the workshops and printed materials for that first conference? Gary did. Did you answer the phones, mail out articles and information packets during those first years of EXODUS when Melodyland was the EXODUS headquarters? Did you print and mail the newsletter? Gary did. Did you provide hours of phone and in-person counseling at EXODUS during those early years? Gary did. Did you go on many speaking engagements promoting EXODUS programs and services? Gary did.

My comment: By this account, Mr. Cooper did much to get Exodus going. I wanted to post this because I think some of the pain comes from the perception of a denial of Cooper's investment in the early stages of ex-gay ministry. While I think it is misleading to call Mr. Cooper a co-founder in the formal, organizational sense, I apologize for creating any impression that he was not there or uninvolved. Apparently, Mr. Cooper preferred a more behind-the-scenes role which may be, according to Mr. Bussee, why few others knew his importance.

Who were the other founders?
Others served on the Board, ran their individual ministries and did their part in furthering EXODUS's mission. The "original" group (we didn't use the word "founders") of 7 - 8 persons -- including Frank Worthen, Robbi Kenney, Ed Hurst, Ron Dennis, Greg Reid, Jim Kaspar (I pray I have not forgotten someone) -- all of us (I am sad to say) played important roles in EXODUS's formation and growth.

My comment: Mr. Bussee has this to say about the movie and claims that they were the two co-founders of Exodus: "In spite of what any captions (which were added by the film-makers years AFTER Gary and I were interviewed) may seem to say, I NEVER said (and will NEVER claim) that we were the ONLY ones." After reviewing the video, he is on target. He said that they were two of the original founders of Exodus. The captions made it appear that they were THE two founders.

Ok, so there were other founders. Everybody who was there now agrees. That may about all they would agree about but that much seems clear. Recently, Alan Chambers said in an Exodus newsletter that there were 62 founders in the sense that 62 people came together at the first conference which led to the current organization. What is clear is that this was more a movement in the beginning than an organization and as such it is misleading to say that any two people founded that movement.

New comments about the sexual identity therapy guidelines

2006-07-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

Posted on the sexual identity therapy guidelines blog are new comments from Stephen Hayes (developer of acceptance and commitment therapy - ACT) and Judy Miranti (developer of competencies for counselors working with religious and spiritual issues and past president of ASERVIC).

Bearman and Bruckner: There is no fraternal birth order effect

2006-07-24T20:53:00.000-04:00

Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner authored a paper in 2001 that was later published in the American Journal of Sociology, vol. 107, 1179-1205, 2002 which offers a major challenge to the recent fraternal birth order effect suggested by Anthony Bogaert. Bogaert's research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, suggests that having biological brothers, not non-biological ones (adopted, step-brothers) is the key to this effect, thus suggesting pre-natal factors, as yet undiscovered.

Those interested in this line of research should examine Bearman and Bruckner's study which I believe to be very well done. They were also able to catch identical twin data and found low concordances for MZ, DZ and siblings. There were no significant differences between groups.

More on this paper later...

Hooker on parenting and homosexual orientation

2006-07-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

You will have to click on this image to read the first page of this three page reaction By Evelyn Hooker to an article by Evans in the 1969, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Hooker of course did the studies on homosexual men that are credited with providing basis for the 1973 removal of homosexuality from the DSM series. I am doing a review of studies on causality along with GCC prof Gary Welton and ran into this reaction from Hooker.

Note the first sentence: "It can no longer be questioned that faulty, disturbed, or pathological parental relationships in
early childhood are more commonly reported by male homosexual patients than by a comparable group of male heterosexuals."

Of course, cause and effect are issues to wrestle with but I was surprised to read Hooker's perspective here.

Pruden v. LeVay in the Salt Lake Trib: My response

2006-07-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

David Pruden, Executive Director of Evergreen International and Simon LeVay, writer and neuroscientist had parallel op-eds in the Salt Lake Tribune this month about the origins and mutability of sexual orientation (click the links to read them). I submitted the following response to the trib, which was considered but turned down today for sunday's paper. No word if it will end up in a future edition but I am going to post it anyway.

Sexual orientation: An interactionist’s view

The Tribune recently printed articles by David Pruden and Simon LeVay regarding sexual orientation. I want to present an alternative view.

I am more tentative about cause than either Mr. Pruden or Dr. LeVay. I disagree with Mr. Pruden that all researchers have abandoned the born gay view. Many researchers enamored with biological determinism continue to look for anything besides environment that could determine our sexuality. Sometimes their enthusiasm reminds me of the optimist cleaning the horse stall - "there must be a pony in here somewhere!"

On the other hand, Dr. LeVay is correct that biological factors cannot be dismissed. Corroborating research is required to learn how these factors operate but research consistently demonstrates small and subtle biological influences.

An alternative proposition incorporating biological and environmental factors is offered by Daryl Bem at Cornell University. He suggests that erotic attractions are not directly coded in genes, or wired in the brain via pre-natal hormones. Rather, biology may influence sexual orientation through the expression of childhood temperament (levels of aggression, eye-hand coordination, etc.), which are influenced by pre-natal factors. The most durable finding in years of research regarding homosexuality is that adult homosexuals recall gender atypical preferences as children (e.g., feminine boys, tomboyish girls). For instance, boys feeling different from other boys during childhood due to culturally feminine preferences may see males as the opposite sex just as puberty ushers in hormones and the accompanying unfocused sexual feelings.

While Dr. Bem's theory awaits additional investigation, there is supporting research. One study found that neither genetic similarity nor a shared womb was associated with adult homosexual orientation unless childhood gender nonconformity was factored in. Even with this research, we must be tentative due to the observation that not all gays, especially lesbians, felt different from same-sex peers as children. The best we can say at present is that different factors, biological and environmental, may be relevant for different individuals. This would make sexuality akin to many human preferences, unchosen in the immediate sense, but acquired over time via an interaction of one's nature and life's nurture. Although difficult to fit into a headline, sexual orientation is more complex than "gay genes" versus "no gay gene."

What ever "causes" sexual orientation, there is clear evidence that sexual orientation is somewhat flexible, at least for some. One recent study found that about one-third of participants reported spontaneous change in sexual orientation categories (e.g., gay to straight; bisexual to gay). Another one-third reported less dramatic change. These changes were naturalistic; no therapy was involved.

While Dr. LeVay is correct that sexual reorientation therapy does not lead to benefit for all clients, he is on shaky ground when he states: "By all accounts, the chances of "success" - if that is the right word - are far outweighed by the likelihood of experiencing lasting psychological trauma." The results of research on change depend on what former clients are polled – some believe therapy helped and some do not. There is no research that can predict what percentage of people might benefit and what percentage might experience harm. We need more research not dogmatism.

However, no matter what causes various sexual desires, or how flexible they might be, humans are endowed with the capacity to reflect on their situations and direct their actions to live in alignment with their beliefs and chosen values. Scientific research on biological and social factors that are relevant to adult personality cannot be prescriptive. That is, science can tell us much about what is, but little about what we ought to believe. Many questions of public policy, or how we should relate to God are independent of what science might ever find out about our sexual proclivities.

Sourcing Sexuality - Webcast

2006-07-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

Short notice but check out this webcast today (july 18 at 19:00pm in Britain) called Sourcing Sexuality, hosted by the Dana Centre. The program features discussion from Sven Bocklandt, geneticist, University of California, Los Angeles, Qazi Rahman, psychobiologist, University of East London and King's College London and Jeffrey Weeks, Executive Dean of Arts and Human Sciences, London South Bank University. I am writing this as I wait for it to come on and the music playing is worth the visit.

UPDATE: Good program. The video will be available soon at the same link. When the Q & A came up, mine was the first question. It was:

Michael Bailey and colleagues in 2000 only found an 11% (for men) and 14% (for women) pairwise concordance homosexuality. These twins were reared together, shared the same womb and same genes.

Doesn't this argue that chance is involved in sexual orientation outcomes? Different biological and environmental factors would be more dominant for different people. Thus, the search for the cause of sexual orientation is likely to always be frustrated by exceptions since there may be multiple pathways to sexual attractions.

I would hope that both social constructionist and biologically minded panelists could have a go at this question.

More later

UPDATE: I was going to say more about the program but it is supposed to be online within a couple of days. I think it was a valuable program for anyone interested in this issue so keep checking the website. Regarding my question, Sven Bocklandt said there are several twin studies, some with larger concordances but whatever they were, environment must play a role. The social constructionist, Jeffrey Weeks, indicated agreement with my statement.

Location trivia: Where am I?

2006-07-14T00:59:00.000-04:00

Where am I?

NARTH has a blog

2006-07-13T23:53:00.000-04:00

NARTH just opened for business in blogosphere.

Borndifferent.com

2006-07-13T18:13:00.000-04:00

A dog that moos?

The new advertising effort designed to convince Americans that gayness is determined pre-birth features a dog named Norman who moos like a cow. Don't know any dogs that moo, do you? Sounds like a good start for a Dr. Suess book though.

I will say that it is a slick website. However, the borndifferent.com designers need a better science advisor.

Here is what they say about identical twins and homosexuality:

"If one twin is born gay, there is a higher chance (52%) that the other will be gay as well."

"Since identical twins share DNA, this tells us that genetics plays a part in sexual orientation."

"That means some people are born gay."

Leaving aside the faulty logic, the website quotes a decade old study that has been widely criticized. A newer more representative study in the year 2000 found that 11% of male identical twins and 14% of female twins shared homosexual orientation.

This website also waddles out Julio and Fabio the new penguin pride icons. According to the website, these two penguins "mate exclusively with each other." Have the borndifferent folks forgotten about Silo and Roy? Silo and Roy are chinstrap penguins who used to be in love but Silo is now "ex-gay." Just last year after I wrote about Silo's conversion, spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Roberta Sklar said in the New York Times: "There's almost an obsession with questions such as, 'Is sexual orientation a birthright or a choice?' And looking at the behavior of two penguins in captivity is not a way to answer that question."

Someone call the born different folks. They must have missed the memo.

You might be from Porchmuth if...

2006-07-07T13:53:00.000-04:00

Sometimes reader and commenter Jim Burroway tells me he is also from the fair city of Portsmouth, Ohio. A great place to be from, eh Jim?

Got me all nostalgic so I thought up these tests to see if you might be from Portsmouth.

1. When people ask you where you're from, you say, "Porchmuth, Ahia."

2. You know where the Stadium is.

3. You know where the Shoelace Capital of the World is: Porchmuth, Ahia.

4. You can identify yourself as a "river rat" or a "hilltopper."

5. You know what a "double-dip" and a "pickle-dip" hamburger is (hint: grease is involved).

6. Your car or truck probably costs as much or more than your house is worth.

7. You have gone sled riding on a levee.

8. You know at least three "Kentuckyen jokes."

9. You know who Al Oliver, Larry Hisle and Don Gullett are.

10. You know where Southern hospitality begins.

Jim and anyone else from Porchmuth: Feel free to add some of yer own on. (Note: Previous sentence ends in a preposition. If you're from Porchmuth, you don't see any problem with the place that preposition is at.)

NEA Wrap Up

2006-07-07T13:36:00.000-04:00

Well, not that much of a wrap up really.

The original resolution language that drew the ire of the American Family Association was not passed. However, the substitute language was passed. It will be reported in the press two ways: one, that the language was sent back to committee at the request of the Alabama delegation and two, that the substitute language supporting civil unions and gay marriage in the states already recognizing them did pass. Both apparently are true. Only in the NEA can something pass and still be referred to committee after it passed. I am told that is what happened in this case. Here is my guess: The AL leaders needed something to offset a rebellion back in Sweet Home.

No word as yet from Wayne Besen with his accounting of the fracas on the convention floor last Saturday. Strange to me that Wayne has not commented. Here is a pic of Wayne (left) and Greg (right) discussing things.

Big Day at the NEA convention in Orlando

2006-07-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

A sampling of big doings at the NEA confab:

1. I blogged earlier this week about a change in language regarding gay marriage that was to be voted on at the convention. Resolution B-8 was submitted by the NEA's GLBT Caucus but was later the NEA Resolutions Committee. The change would put the NEA on record as supporting same-sex unions in the seven U.S. states where they are now legal. The update is that the Resolutions Committee has advanced the original resolution (B-8) and the revised resolution (B-10) as amendments to be voted on by the NEA Representative Assembly. So if both passed the NEA would be able to have its wedding cake and eat it too.

2. Wayne Besen's group, TruthWinsOut and a couple of other advocacy groups had a news conference in front of the Orlando Convention Center protesting the presence of the ex-gay educator caucus. Today's Orlando Sentinel reports on the news conference and reaction from the ex-gay educators caucus.

3. A little later, there was a verbal dispute near the ex-gay educator's caucus booth, one result of which was Wayne being escorted out of the convention center by some of Orlando's finest law enforcement. Word is that the F-word was flying. Be interested in Wayne's account of the fracas.

Cool Blast from the Past

2006-06-30T15:45:00.000-04:00

Well, at least I think it is.

I am at the Exodus conference today. While I was eating lunch a man approaches me and says, "Hi, I'm Rich, and you counselled my mom when I was in the lifestyle." Long story short, in my former private practice in Portsmouth, OH, I counselled this man's mother who sought my help for a variety of issues, one of which was how to respond to her gay son. For instance, I supported her decision to go to his gay men's chorus concerts which meant a lot to him. Eventually, he went through a religious renewal, one consequence of which was a desire to align his behavior with his beliefs. He now directs an Exodus member ministry and says he has finally found what he wants his life to be about. His mom is also doing well. Nice unexpected blast from the past.

Richard Cohen keeps on hugging

2006-06-29T10:28:00.000-04:00

I didn't see it, but I hear Richard Cohen demonstrated holding techniques with George Foreman last night (June 28) on Jimmie Kimmel Live. If anyone watched, how was it?

NEA not happy about leaks

2006-06-29T10:16:00.001-04:00

Word from the NEA is that Reg Weaver, NEA prez, is not happy about the press reports regarding the NEA support for gay marriage. Someone on site reports are that he is using foul language from the podium in expressing his ire over the matter. The NEA flip-flop is stunning given the fact that the union should experience no difficulty getting supportive language passed at their Delegate Assembly. At least one gay blogger seems to think the NEA has caved but I suspect the original language will return.

UPDATE: An eye witness on the scene in Orlando tells me that NEA president, Reg Weaver, in a public meeting, today held up a copy of the American Family Association newsletter announcing the NEA resolution language supporting gay marriage and said, "This is a crock of s--t!" Very strange. All the delegates have to do is look at their resolutions book and see that the new resolution language has changed.

NEA running from original stance on gay marriage.

2006-06-26T23:58:00.000-04:00

As reported below, the NEA seems to have created a firestorm of resistance in some quarters over the proposed resolution to support gay marriage.

The original resolution was delivered to delegates at their winter meeting, Feb 23-25 of this year. There was no fuss until a delegate alerted the American Family Association and then all of a sudden the language was changed.

The Alabama Education Association seems to read things differently than the Ohio EA . And in contrast to NEA president Reg Weaver's statement that the NEA has no position on gay marriage, the CA Education Association does.

Older brothers and gay little brothers

2006-06-26T11:58:00.000-04:00

Anthony Bogaert has a new study out today about the older brother theory. Well, technically tomorrow, since it is not out on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science website yet. This study seems to leave the "feared older brother" theory looking pretty shabby. However, the hype over the study is sure to overlook Blanchard and Bogaert's estimates that only about 15% of gay men owe their attractions to this effect.

I have been reviewing prior work in this area today. About half of the studies looking for a birth order effect have found it. The studies have either found no effect or an elevated ratio of brothers to sisters of gay men. One study examined the feminity hypothesis. Anthony Bogaert looked for a birth order effect in a general sample of homosexual men and then in very feminine men. He found it in very feminine gay men but not in a general sample, even among more feminine (but non - gender identity disordered) gay men. I would like to see a general study of cross gender behavior and sex ratio but this was not examined. In any case, cross gender behavior in childhood does explain some of the orientation in extremely feminine cases but not in all cases.

This study like most biological studies is a challenge for the media to report. Here a potentially very misleading statement from the LA Times writer: "In an analysis of 905 men and their siblings, Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert found no evidence that social interactions among family members play any role in determining whether a man is gay or straight." Of course it is correct; the authors found no evidence, but the statement leaves the impression that the authors looked for all possible "social interactions between family members" and didn't find anything. It appears they only looked a birth order.

NEA changing its approach to gay marriage resolution?

2006-06-23T00:54:00.000-04:00

The National Education Association may be backpeddling on their original language regarding gay marriage. Originally, the education union offered the following proposed resolution:

The language in this statement mailed to NEA delegates a week ago states:

B-8 Diversity

The National Education Association believes that adiverse society enriches all individuals.Similarities and differences among races, ethnicity, color,national origin, language, geographic location,religion, gender, sexual orientation, genderidentification, age, physical ability, size,occupation, and marital, parental, or economicstatus form the fabric of a society.

The Association also believes that education should foster the values of appreciation and acceptance of the various qualities that pertain to people asindividuals and as members of diverse populations.

The Association further believes in the importance of observances, programs and curricula that accurately portray and recognize the roles, contributions,cultures. and history of these diverse groups and individuals.

The Association believes that legal rights and responsibilities with regard to medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, legal immigration, domestic partnerships, and civil unions and/or marriage belong to all these diverse groups and individuals.

The Association encourages affiliates and members to become part of programs and observances that may include cultural and heritage celebrations and/orhistory months. (1995, 2006)

However, the NEA seems to have shifted the language regarding this proposal within about a week. Here is a letter from the Ohio Education Association released yesterday.

Date: June 21, 2006 From: Gary L. Allen, OEA President
Dennis M. Reardon, Executive Director

To: OEA Executive Committee, District Leaders and OEA Staff

Re: NEA RA Anti-Discrimination Amendment and the American Family Association

We need to bring to your attention a malicious e-mail campaign to distort and criticize NEA’s position against discrimination and a proposed NEA RA resolution on that same subject.

As you know, the NEA opposes discrimination in any form and has a specific position calling for the protection of our members’ rights, regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation.

There is a new Resolution up for discussion at the July 2006 NEA Representative Assembly that would underscore NEA’s opposition to discrimination in any form. On June 29, the NEA Resolutions Committee will consider language that clarifies and reaffirms this
anti-discrimination position. The revised, proposed language states:

“The Association also believes that these factors should not affect the legal rights and obligations of the partners in a legally-recognized* domestic partnership, civil union, or marriage in regard to matters involving the other partner, such as medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, and immigration.”

Nothing is official until the delegates vote in July, but this issue has already drawn an e-mail attack based on claims by the conservative group, American Family Association (AFA). The e-mail claims NEA plans "to approve and promote gay marriage.” This e-mail is being sent to NEA affiliate staff and members throughout the country.

AFA’s message distorts both NEA policy and the process of formulating NEA policy. NEA President Reg Weaver has issued a statement explaining, “NEA has no position on same-sex marriages, and leadership is not seeking to establish such a position. We are focused on Great Public Schools for Every Child.”

We couldn’t agree more. Nevertheless, you should be prepared to answer questions from members who may have received the distorted information by e-mail. We will keep you updated.

Thanks for your support in this matter.
_____________________
*As of June 2006 in the United States, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognizes same-sex marriage, while California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, and Vermont grant persons in the same-sex unions a similar legal status to those in acivil marriage by domestic partnership, civil union or reciprocal beneficiary laws.

The new proposed paragraph(s) are in bold italics. NEA insiders believe the AFA letters have provoked the NEA leadership to change the language to focus on states with existing regulations regarding gay partnerships. I cannot verify as yet which is the actual language since the delegate's resolutions book says one thing and the more recent OEA letter says something different.

Whatever one believes about gay marriage as a social/political issue, it seems offensive to require union dues to support initiatives that may be against conscience. Certainly socially liberal members would not want the NEA to go on record as being opposed to gay marriage. Seems best to me to commit to the provision of great schools for all.

UPDATE: Here is what I am hearing this morning:

The NEA sent information to State Leaders on Tuesday about this issue, as a result of questions posed by a state president and a member ofthe NEA Executive Committee. As the result, a change was recommended to Resolutions Committee Chair, Brent McKim. The Tuesday NEA memorandum stated, "The recommended language cited below was acceptableto all. If adopted, this language is proposed for movement to Resolution B10-Racism, Sexism, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identification Discrimination, and would clarify the meaning of the original proposed amendment, reaffirming the Association's long-standing opposition todiscrimination in any form. This revised language will be considered at the June 29 Resolutions Committee meeting." The proposed, revised language states: "The Association also believes that these factors should not affect the legal rights and obligations of the partners in a legally-recognized* domestic partnership, civil union, or marriage in regard to matters involving the other partner, such as medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, and immigration."

This language is referenced in the OEA letter above. I suspect the NEA recognizes that it is losing membership among conservatives and this quick change may be a response to those concerns.

2004 Interview with Dr. Robert Spitzer

2006-06-20T22:34:00.000-04:00

In early 2004, I interviewed psychiatrist Robert Spitzer for the documentary, I Do Exist. Only a portion of the footage made it in the video. During the Spring semester, GCC senior Randy Fulton transcribed the entire interview for an independent study. Thanks to Randy for that. The interview fully covers Dr. Spitzer's much discussed study. Of current interest is what Dr. Spitzer had to say about sexual orientation and depression. There is some conflict over what his study actually suggested with regard to the relationship of sexual reorientation and depression. Wayne Besen quotes Dr. Spitzer as complaining that Melissa Fryrear misinterpreted his study. As I read Ms. Fryrear's comments, it appears to me that she accurately represents what Dr. Spitzer said in 2004.

Here is what Melissa Fryrear said about the Spitzer study to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: "Some clinical studies, including one by Dr. Robert Spitzer, have linked contemplating suicide to unwanted attractions to the same sex, she said."

Wayne Besen is reporting that Dr. Spitzer said this about Melissa's comments:
"Unfortunately Focus on the Family has once again reported findings of my study out of context to support their fight against gay rights," said Dr. Robert Spitzer, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University."

and then...

"Although a third of the subjects in my study reported having had serious thoughts of suicide related to their homosexuality, not one of them blamed the gay rights movement's advocating a 'born-gay' theory of homosexuality as the cause of their suicidal thinking," said Spitzer.

I do not see Melissa saying that Dr. Spitzer's study made a direct connection between the gay rights' movement and contemplating suicide.

Now on point, I have reproduced my interview with Dr. Spitzer from 2004. It appears that some of the subjects did in fact feel depressed as the result of being told by therapists that they couldn't change.

From our 2004 interview:

Dr. Throckmorton: Were there any mental health consequences of attempting to change?

Dr. Spitzer: The majority of subjects reported moderate to severe depression before they went into therapy. And a marked change, very few were depressed after therapy. So that was an important finding, I think, that depression was, you know, there was a tremendous conflict over homosexuality, and many were very depressed that they had made previous efforts, that was another interesting thing, was many of the subjects reported that they had gone to mental health professionals and were told, just, you know, accept it, that there’s no way to change. And they were not satisfied with that, and were very depressed thinking that they could not, you know, change.

Dr. Throckmorton: Were there any other mental health consequences.

Dr. Spitzer: Um, well many had been so depressed they were suicidal. And a few had made actual attempts. So, I mean they reported a very unhappy state of mind before they changed. The other thing is that the change was not quick…another reason why I believe in credibility; you would think that, if you want to present the best way of presenting therapy, you would say that it started to work pretty soon. You wouldn’t say that it was on average two years before there was really much change, which was the case. Many said it took several years before they actually noticed change, and on average it was two years. The people were in some kind of therapy for an average of 7 years. But, often that was still being in some group experience they would keep going to a support group for several years.

It does appear that he did get feedback from subjects saying that mental health professionals discouraged change and the position that sexual orientation was immutable was associated with depression. In other words, the depression was not adequately addressed by the mental health professionals saying just accept your feelings.

To read the entire interview, go here.

American Family Radio Two Part series on PFOX

2006-06-19T11:23:00.000-04:00

Today, American Family Radio is broadcasting Part One of a two part series regarding the recent issues with PFOX and Richard Cohen's appearance on CNN. I think to be fair, tomorrow's segment will give Richard a chance to reply.

UPDATE: Part 2 of the PFOX/Cohen story came are here and here today.

UPDATE #2 - The print article derived from Jim Brown's reporting is here.

To read the posts regarding this matter, click here.

National Review on Love Won Out

2006-06-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Eve Tushnet, writing for National Review Online, reviews the June 10, Love Won Out conference near Washington DC. It's a pretty brief article but she finds most fault with the reparative therapy tone of the day. While she acknowledged that some men do fit the reparative-theory-predicted understanding of things, others don't. Interesting was the man, "Frank," who said he did fit the theory, but even with all the insight, he has not lost his same-sex attractions.

On the whole, she is unimpressed with the emphasis on causation. Reading further on her blog, she writes:

But there are all kinds of cases where family dynamics don't explain very much. And honestly--family dynamics are often a reductive and boring explanation for homosexuality. Plus, the Love Won Out speakers were super defensive on the subject of origins, hammering on and on about how homosexuality isn't genetic. Why on earth does this even matter? All kinds of things have a genetic component. Even from the ex-gay perspective, there shouldn't be anything threatening about acknowledging that homosexuality has some kind of complex relation to genetics. People wouldn't avoid treatment for anxiety disorders, or stop going to AA, or give up on controlling their tempers, just because anxiety or alcoholism or anger has a genetic component. So I really have no idea why the idea of an inborn predisposition to homosexuality wigged these people out so bad.

Yeah, I wonder that too. I suspect it is a reaction to those who say, "don't tamper with someone's feelings, they're genetic!" However, I don't think one overreaction deserves another.

Genetics and stigmatization

2006-06-15T11:53:00.000-04:00

From the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Dec., 2005), pp. 307-22 comes this interesting abstract:

Title: Geneticization of deviant behavior and consequences for stigma: the case of mental illness.
Author: Phelan JC. of the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, 722 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. jcp13@columbia.edu

Abstract: One likely consequence of the genetics revolution is an increased tendency to understand human behavior in genetic terms. How might this "geneticization" affect stigma? Attribution theory predicts a reduction in stigma via reduced blame, anger, and punishment and increased sympathy and help. According to "genetic essentialist" thinking, genes are the basis of human identity and strongly deterministic of behavior. If such ideas are commonly accepted, geneticization should exacerbate stigma by increasing perceptions of differentness, persistence, seriousness, and transmissibility, which in turn should increase social distance and reproductive restrictiveness. I test these predictions using the case of mental illness and a vignette experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey. There was little support for attribution theory predictions. Consistent with genetic essentialism, genetic attributions increased the perceived seriousness and persistence of the mental illness and the belief that siblings and children would develop the same problem. Genetic attribution did not affect reproductive restrictiveness or social distance from the ill person but did increase social distance from the person's sibling, particularly regarding intimate forms of contact involving dating, marriage, and having children.

Polling data about homosexuality supplied by Wayne Besen on his website seems to be counter to the impact on mental illness. I wonder if the fact that most people do not see homosexuality as a mental illness could contribute to the difference. Not going anywhere particularly, just thought the study was interesting. I am interested in this because I am concerned that the advances in genetics will erode perceptions of free will and have impact on how clients perceive a variety of clinical issues. The whole chemical imbalance thing makes it difficult to establish talk therapy with clients who want to "wait until the meds kick in."

Comments on the sexual identity therapy guidelines welcomed

2006-06-14T00:37:00.000-04:00

On the sexual identity therapy blog, I have entered an open forum to allow comments and questions regarding the guidelines. I hope bloggers from here will review the guidelines and post questions, comments and offer support.

Alan Colmes Radio Show: Wayne Besen vs. Richard Cohen

2006-06-06T23:27:00.000-04:00

I listened to the Alan Colmes Radio Show tonight with a debate of sorts between Richard Cohen and Wayne Besen. During the call-in segment, Chad Thompson called in and said a cheery hello. Chad, you were the most reasonable voice on the show.

I think Richard mostly got the best of Wayne. Wayne needs to learn to let people talk. He sounds like he had way too much caffiene.

Wayne's criticisms of Richard's marriage were in very poor taste.

Richard made a point to emphasize that homosexuals are emotionally wounded and can change if they heal their wounds.

Additional note: My friend David Blakeslee got on the show and reinforced the concept of people living in alignment with their beliefs and values. Chad and David were the highlights as far as I'm concerned.

www.truthwinsout.shh - TWO

2006-06-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

Strange thing about Wayne Besen's Truth Wins Out website; you can't get to it without a password. I'll bet he just forgot to send me mine.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The website is active now and Wayne's favorite therapist is on the front page. I suspect many thoughtful gay folk will be uncomfortable with TWO (the loneliest number since the number ONE). I think the most offensive aspect of it is this point from his 10 point program for ridding the world of ex-gay ministries: "TWO will verify credible information and potentially create devastating consequences for the future of the ex-gay ministries. Indeed, a limited ad campaign inquiring about such leads coupled with a hotline would likely yield results. We have uncovered major scandals with no formal mechanism for doing so. Imagine the potential for success if we address this issue with a laser-like focus."

An ex-gay hotline? I-800-Gotcha!