The Reparative Therapy Debate

Same-sex attraction. Is it just me, or has the “norm” for opinions about this changed drastically in just the past few months? I may have been completely oblivious and out of the loop, but at the beginning of this year, it seemed like it was perfectly okay to oppose same-sex marriage. People still got mad at you for it of course, but the general consensus was that everyone could have their own opinion. Where the heck did that attitude go? I didn’t realize how much I liked it until it was gone, replaced by the attitude that if you opposed same-sex marriage, you were a homophobe, a bigot, a wacko who must belong to a cult, etc. Oh well I guess. It looks like this is how it’s going to be from now on, and those of us who still think acting on homosexual feelings is wrong are just going to have to deal with it. So before I go on and say what I think about this issue, know that I am perfectly well aware of what people will think of me if they see this.

I believe that same-sex attraction, while perhaps not necessarily a choice, isn’t something you are born with. Even the American Psychiatric Association, a very pro-same-sex attraction organization, has this statement on their website. “There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation.”

There is a thing called reparative therapy that is intended to, and does, help those who feel attracted to their same sex but don’t want to feel those feelings. Just like any other form of counseling, reparative therapy a very viable option for someone who isn’t satisfied with their life and wants to change things. However, several states have banned reparative therapy for minors, a move that President Obama approves of and encourages. WHAT THE HECK? At first glance, banning reparative therapy may look like a good thing. What if a teenager seeks out reparative therapy because they think they are gay, but don’t want to be, and can’t change? Won’t they be damaged because of it? Uh, that’s the dumbest argument on the planet. First, the same thing could be true for any other kind of counseling, for any other problem. If a person has depression, and they (of course), don’t want that in their life, should they not seek help simply because that help might not work? Of course not! They should do all they can to get rid of the thing that they don’t want, or at least gain the ability to manage it. Why not allow the same courtesy to individuals with same-gender attraction? One argument, of course, that people use against reparative therapy for SSA is that since a person is born that way, it’s cruel and horrible to try and change that, even if they want to. This, also, is a ridiculous argument. Most of the people who are against reparative therapy are very much in sympathy of transgender people, even transgender children and teenagers. And yet, people are all born either a boy or a girl. It doesn’t make sense for someone to argue against reparative therapy, and yet sympathize with transgender individuals. Since transgender people are “born that way,” (either a boy or a girl), wouldn’t it be just as cruel and horrible to try and change them to the opposite sex, even if they wanted to, as it would to try and change someone with SSA? Pick a side people, you can’t have it both ways.

I’m not saying that everyone with SSA should be put into reparative therapy. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The point is that if there is a choice for someone to attempt to change their gender, there should be a choice for someone else to attempt to change their sexual orientation.