Many people who work in the field of psychology argue against the idea that a person can change their sexual orientation. But a new study published in the October edition of the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy reveals that some homosexuals who seek to change their sexual orientation may be able to do so with the help of religious mediation.
For background, read 'Gay Marriage' Heralded by American Psychological Association and also read Psychologists Suggest Homosexuals Change Churches as well as Normalization of Pedophilia Urged by Psychiatrists
UPDATE 9/4/12: Most Homosexuals Who Want to Convert Report Change
UPDATE 11/29/12: Legislators outlawing therapy to overcome same-sex attractions
UPDATE 12/28/11: Homosexuals Can Change, Says Jewish Experts
From "Study supporting gay conversion challenged" by Madison Park, CNNhealth.com Writer/Producer 10/4/11
[The study showing change is possible has] been challenged by other researchers who say that the bulk of the existing evidence indicates that sexual orientation does not change. Gay advocacy blogs have also disputed the findings.
The American Psychological Association declared in 2005 that homosexuality was not changeable. The association had also stated that there was no evidence that conversion or reparative therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation was safe or effective.
Eli Coleman, professor and director of Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School was skeptical about the [new] findings.
“We’ve been through this over and over,” he said. “You can get behavioral changes, but that’s not orientation change. You can get short-term behavioral change. It’s not sustained.”
"I don’t think we have anything really new here," said Coleman. "We have known for sometime that some people are able to shift their behavior and their perception of their sexual identity through these attempts at conversion."
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From "Peer-Reviewed Study Adds Validity to Claims of Sexual Orientation Change" by Jeff Schapiro, Christian Post Reporter 9/30/11
The study, conducted by psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University, examined changes in homosexuals who sought the help of Exodus International in trying to change their sexual orientation.
Twenty-three percent reported a successful “conversion” to heterosexual orientation, while 30 percent reported “stable behavioral chastity.” Twenty percent of the subjects, however, gave up on changing and fully embraced the gay identity.
"Our study ... does not prove that everyone can change,” Jones said in an interview with The Christian Post on Friday. “It just proves that the reality is very, very complicated, and there seems to be some capacity for some people to shift their sexual orientation in a way that has personal meaning to them."
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From "Change Is Possible for Homosexuals, Study Claims" by Andrea Marcela Madambashi, Christian Post Correspondent 9/30/11
Candace Chellew-Hodge, the founder of Whosoever, an Online Magazine for GLBT [homosexual] Christians, found firstly that the research was “suspect” as the researchers are from conservative Christian colleges. He showed his concern also for their conclusions being "overly optimistic."
Chellew-Hodge criticized the methodology saying the sample size was small and claimed that the results came from fear of the subjects. He said, “The single greatest motivator for these 98 subjects however most certainly was a fear-based one. In short, they were all living under the threat of hell.”
Jones responded to those, including the American Psychological Association (APA), who said that sexual orientation could not be changed, that no such research exists, and he wants to bring up that change is certainly possible.
“We were trying to address the basic question ‘Is change possible?’ The fact that anyone changed is what came out of this study,” he said.
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