Suggests something I've wondered about for years...
Psychiatry Ponders Whether Extreme Bias Can Be an Illness
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 10, 2005; Page A01
The 48-year-old man turned down a job because he feared that a co-worker would be gay. He was upset that gay culture was becoming mainstream and blamed most of his personal, professional and emotional problems on the gay and lesbian movement.
These fixations preoccupied him every day. Articles in magazines about gays made him agitated. He confessed that his fears had left him socially isolated and unemployed for years: A recovering alcoholic, the man even avoided 12-step meetings out of fear he might encounter a gay person.
*****
Mental health practitioners say they regularly confront extreme forms of racism, homophobia and other prejudice in the course of therapy, and that some patients are disabled by these beliefs. As doctors increasingly weigh the effects of race and culture on mental illness, some are asking whether pathological bias ought to be an official psychiatric diagnosis.
*****
It would be truly ironic if this amounts to something. Recently, the Holy Terrors have been falling back on the old claim that homosexuality is the mental disorder. Next thing you know, they'll be arguing that a woman's orgasm is a sign she's a witch.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
From Nov. 2005..more on being gay, gay, gay
From Nov. 2005
All Worked Up About Conversion Therapy
by J.T. Benjamin
copr. 2005
In case you didn't know, or knew but had simply forgotten, a couple of months ago I came to the startling conclusion that I must be gay. I'd gone to the website of Focus On The Family, read the section titled, "Helping Boys Become Men, And Girls Become Women," and took a good, hard look at my own childhood. Based on their criteria, I showed all the signs of "gender confusion" as a kid and that, as a
result, I must be gay. I don't understand why I still lust for women in all their glorious looks, moves, colors, shapes, and forms, but it does explain my
longtime desire to play the Emcee role in my local theater group's production of "Cabaret."
Still, it ain't easy being gay. Certain segments of society don't want you teaching their kids, serving your country, or entertaining you on stage and screen. They don't even want to sell you a used car. Hell, some prominent religious figures and politicians have even blamed gay people for the destruction wreaked by Hurricane Katrina. Something about God's wrath for New Orleans' decadent, permissive lifestyle. How would you like THAT bit of guilt around your neck?
So I kept reading the information on the Focus On The Family's website, and it turns out they advocate a form of "conversion" or "reparative" therapy to turn people from gay to straight. I figured, what the heck. I'll give it a try. I did a little homework and here's how my initial conversation with a conversion therapist might go.
*****
So, Mr. Benjamin, if you'll just pay your retainer check we'll banish those nasty homosexual tendencies and have you watching football and drinking beer on the couch in no time.
Uh, just a minute, Doctor...Kuvacky. I hope I said that right. I still have a couple of questions. How's this work again?
It's very simple. Homosexuality is a mental health disorder. As such, it can be treated through therapy so that your homosexual tendencies can be curbed or
stifled, and you can then engage in a normal, heterosexual lifestyle.
Actually, I did some reading on that. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of disorders in 1973. It seems this woman named
Evelyn Hooker studied psychological tests of groups of homosexual and heterosexual men and she found out there was no difference between the psychological makeups of the two groups. The APA decided if gay men didn't act like they suffered from a disorder, homosexuality shouldn't be considered a disorder.
Well, Mr. Benjamin, what the APA didn't take into account was the fact that homosexuality is ITSELF the disorder they're looking for, so it's no wonder they
noticed no difference.
I see.
Anyway, it's well known that homosexual lobbying groups pressured the APA to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders. Now, if you'll just sign that check...
They did? Is that a common practice in the psychiatric community? Do schitzophrenics lobby the APA to remove multiple personality disorders from the
list? Do manic depressives lobby to remove bi-polar disorders from the list?
Mr. Benjamin, we're getting off the subject, here, namely your desire to be heterosexual.
That's right. I've got another question. How successful is this treatment overall?
There's a long list of testimonials to the treatment's effectiveness. On Dr. Dobson's website, he says there are more than eight hundred success stories.
I saw that. Any names? Reports? The website didn't provide any documentation or references.
Uh, not that I'm aware of. Still, eight hundred successful treatments is very impressive, don't you think?
Well, it depends. How many people actually tried the treatment? If the treatment has a ninety-percent success rate or even seventy-five percent, that is
impressive. But if it's less than, say, fifty percent, that's not so hot, wouldn't you say?
Uhh, Mr. Benjamin...
Actually, I took the liberty of doing some research on that question, myself. In a 1999 article in Angles, The Policy Journal of The Institute For Gay And
Lesbian Strategic Studies, Dr. Douglas C. Haldeman, PhD cites several studies which show conversion therapy success rates somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-eight percent. So taking Dr. Dobson at his word, eight hundred success stories mean at least sixteen hundred failures for the treatment. Dr. Haldeman also talks about the fact that most of the "success" stories documented in the studies were of
bisexual men, not homosexuals. Don't you think that's fudging the numbers a bit? Counting a bisexual man as a success when he was already leaning in that direction?
You seem like a "glass-is-half-empty" type of person, Mr. Benjamin. All this emphasis on failure. We'll have to work on that. There are plenty of
testimonials from many, many successful patients of the treatment.
I noticed that. I read some of them. Virtually all of these success stories are from men. And they all seem to be heavy-duty fundamentalist Christian men,
too. A lot of talk about prayer and Bible study.
Prayer's a very powerful tool, Mr. Benjamin.
But if I'm a Buddhist or a Muslim or a woman, am I shit out of luck?
You're not a woman, Mr. Benjamin, this is where the gender confusion comes in. We need to get started right away, it seems.
And what about long-term success? What're the chances that if I go through treatment and I'm cured, that I won't fall off the wagon again in the future?
You seem to have the answers to your own questions before you ask them, Mr. Benjamin, so why don't you tell me?
Dr. Haldeman reviewed several conversion therapy studies in 1994 and he found that not one could claim any substantial rate of long-term success. In fact,
one religious-based program reported that more than ninety percent of the "successfully treated" subjects had continued to have homosexual fantasies and
behavior after treatment was completed. If you were "converted" to heterosexuality, should that be happening?
Uh, Mr. Benjamin...
Can you cite one objective study which shows this therapy actually works?
Conversion therapy has a track record...
The American Psychiatric Association has denounced conversion therapy.
As we discussed earlier, the homosexual lobby has...
So has the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, The American Federation of Teachers..."
Mr. Benjamin...
The National Education Assocation...
Mr. Benjamin!
The Royal College of Nursing......
What about all those successfully treated people Dr. Dobson refers to? Are they liars?
Not at all. If they're genuinely happier for having gone through conversion treatment, more power to them. I won't begrudge anybody their happiness. But even
placebos can have beneficial effects. And I'm just wondering how many of those success stories are of people who've genuinely gone from gay to straight, and
how many just SAY they're happier as heterosexuals, just to get the pressure off. And how many more have said, "This is bullshit. I'm outta here?"
Mr. Benjamin, the ink in that pen's going to dry out if you don't...
And the peer pressure must be enormous, don't you think? Especially coming from Dr. Dobson's crowd. They say homosexuals are an abomination. The worst of the worst. Responsible for all kinds of bad things, from 9-11 to AIDS to hurricanes. If you wanted to get out from under that kind of heat, you'd say just about anything, wouldn't you, Doctor? In fact, I've got just one more question for you.
(Sigh). Go ahead.
Why do the same people who call homosexuality a mental health disorder call homosexuals evil and an abomination? If they're mentally ill, they can't be
held responsible for being sick, can they? That's like calling someone evil for contracting cancer or for having depression.
Mr. Benjamin, I think it's clear we're both wasting our time, here. You're not really interested in treatment.
I guess you're right. If I don't want to spend time and money on a treatment that has no record of working on a disorder that's not a disorder, and which has
been denounced by every reputable psychiatric and psychological association in the country, yeah. I'm not interested. Sorry to have wasted your time, Dr.
Kuvacky. Did I say that right?
Actually, the name's C-V-A-C-Q-U-E. The "V" is pronounced like a "W." And there's no "Y" on the end.
Your name's pronounced, "quack?"
Yes, Mr. Benjamin. As in a duck.
I was thinking more as in, "fraudulent charlatan hawking cockamamie hare-brained pseudo-psychological bullshit."
Mr. Benjamin, are you calling conversion therapy some kind of snake-oil?
Hey, if it cvacques like a duck...
All Worked Up About Conversion Therapy
by J.T. Benjamin
copr. 2005
In case you didn't know, or knew but had simply forgotten, a couple of months ago I came to the startling conclusion that I must be gay. I'd gone to the website of Focus On The Family, read the section titled, "Helping Boys Become Men, And Girls Become Women," and took a good, hard look at my own childhood. Based on their criteria, I showed all the signs of "gender confusion" as a kid and that, as a
result, I must be gay. I don't understand why I still lust for women in all their glorious looks, moves, colors, shapes, and forms, but it does explain my
longtime desire to play the Emcee role in my local theater group's production of "Cabaret."
Still, it ain't easy being gay. Certain segments of society don't want you teaching their kids, serving your country, or entertaining you on stage and screen. They don't even want to sell you a used car. Hell, some prominent religious figures and politicians have even blamed gay people for the destruction wreaked by Hurricane Katrina. Something about God's wrath for New Orleans' decadent, permissive lifestyle. How would you like THAT bit of guilt around your neck?
So I kept reading the information on the Focus On The Family's website, and it turns out they advocate a form of "conversion" or "reparative" therapy to turn people from gay to straight. I figured, what the heck. I'll give it a try. I did a little homework and here's how my initial conversation with a conversion therapist might go.
*****
So, Mr. Benjamin, if you'll just pay your retainer check we'll banish those nasty homosexual tendencies and have you watching football and drinking beer on the couch in no time.
Uh, just a minute, Doctor...Kuvacky. I hope I said that right. I still have a couple of questions. How's this work again?
It's very simple. Homosexuality is a mental health disorder. As such, it can be treated through therapy so that your homosexual tendencies can be curbed or
stifled, and you can then engage in a normal, heterosexual lifestyle.
Actually, I did some reading on that. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of disorders in 1973. It seems this woman named
Evelyn Hooker studied psychological tests of groups of homosexual and heterosexual men and she found out there was no difference between the psychological makeups of the two groups. The APA decided if gay men didn't act like they suffered from a disorder, homosexuality shouldn't be considered a disorder.
Well, Mr. Benjamin, what the APA didn't take into account was the fact that homosexuality is ITSELF the disorder they're looking for, so it's no wonder they
noticed no difference.
I see.
Anyway, it's well known that homosexual lobbying groups pressured the APA to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders. Now, if you'll just sign that check...
They did? Is that a common practice in the psychiatric community? Do schitzophrenics lobby the APA to remove multiple personality disorders from the
list? Do manic depressives lobby to remove bi-polar disorders from the list?
Mr. Benjamin, we're getting off the subject, here, namely your desire to be heterosexual.
That's right. I've got another question. How successful is this treatment overall?
There's a long list of testimonials to the treatment's effectiveness. On Dr. Dobson's website, he says there are more than eight hundred success stories.
I saw that. Any names? Reports? The website didn't provide any documentation or references.
Uh, not that I'm aware of. Still, eight hundred successful treatments is very impressive, don't you think?
Well, it depends. How many people actually tried the treatment? If the treatment has a ninety-percent success rate or even seventy-five percent, that is
impressive. But if it's less than, say, fifty percent, that's not so hot, wouldn't you say?
Uhh, Mr. Benjamin...
Actually, I took the liberty of doing some research on that question, myself. In a 1999 article in Angles, The Policy Journal of The Institute For Gay And
Lesbian Strategic Studies, Dr. Douglas C. Haldeman, PhD cites several studies which show conversion therapy success rates somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-eight percent. So taking Dr. Dobson at his word, eight hundred success stories mean at least sixteen hundred failures for the treatment. Dr. Haldeman also talks about the fact that most of the "success" stories documented in the studies were of
bisexual men, not homosexuals. Don't you think that's fudging the numbers a bit? Counting a bisexual man as a success when he was already leaning in that direction?
You seem like a "glass-is-half-empty" type of person, Mr. Benjamin. All this emphasis on failure. We'll have to work on that. There are plenty of
testimonials from many, many successful patients of the treatment.
I noticed that. I read some of them. Virtually all of these success stories are from men. And they all seem to be heavy-duty fundamentalist Christian men,
too. A lot of talk about prayer and Bible study.
Prayer's a very powerful tool, Mr. Benjamin.
But if I'm a Buddhist or a Muslim or a woman, am I shit out of luck?
You're not a woman, Mr. Benjamin, this is where the gender confusion comes in. We need to get started right away, it seems.
And what about long-term success? What're the chances that if I go through treatment and I'm cured, that I won't fall off the wagon again in the future?
You seem to have the answers to your own questions before you ask them, Mr. Benjamin, so why don't you tell me?
Dr. Haldeman reviewed several conversion therapy studies in 1994 and he found that not one could claim any substantial rate of long-term success. In fact,
one religious-based program reported that more than ninety percent of the "successfully treated" subjects had continued to have homosexual fantasies and
behavior after treatment was completed. If you were "converted" to heterosexuality, should that be happening?
Uh, Mr. Benjamin...
Can you cite one objective study which shows this therapy actually works?
Conversion therapy has a track record...
The American Psychiatric Association has denounced conversion therapy.
As we discussed earlier, the homosexual lobby has...
So has the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, The American Federation of Teachers..."
Mr. Benjamin...
The National Education Assocation...
Mr. Benjamin!
The Royal College of Nursing......
What about all those successfully treated people Dr. Dobson refers to? Are they liars?
Not at all. If they're genuinely happier for having gone through conversion treatment, more power to them. I won't begrudge anybody their happiness. But even
placebos can have beneficial effects. And I'm just wondering how many of those success stories are of people who've genuinely gone from gay to straight, and
how many just SAY they're happier as heterosexuals, just to get the pressure off. And how many more have said, "This is bullshit. I'm outta here?"
Mr. Benjamin, the ink in that pen's going to dry out if you don't...
And the peer pressure must be enormous, don't you think? Especially coming from Dr. Dobson's crowd. They say homosexuals are an abomination. The worst of the worst. Responsible for all kinds of bad things, from 9-11 to AIDS to hurricanes. If you wanted to get out from under that kind of heat, you'd say just about anything, wouldn't you, Doctor? In fact, I've got just one more question for you.
(Sigh). Go ahead.
Why do the same people who call homosexuality a mental health disorder call homosexuals evil and an abomination? If they're mentally ill, they can't be
held responsible for being sick, can they? That's like calling someone evil for contracting cancer or for having depression.
Mr. Benjamin, I think it's clear we're both wasting our time, here. You're not really interested in treatment.
I guess you're right. If I don't want to spend time and money on a treatment that has no record of working on a disorder that's not a disorder, and which has
been denounced by every reputable psychiatric and psychological association in the country, yeah. I'm not interested. Sorry to have wasted your time, Dr.
Kuvacky. Did I say that right?
Actually, the name's C-V-A-C-Q-U-E. The "V" is pronounced like a "W." And there's no "Y" on the end.
Your name's pronounced, "quack?"
Yes, Mr. Benjamin. As in a duck.
I was thinking more as in, "fraudulent charlatan hawking cockamamie hare-brained pseudo-psychological bullshit."
Mr. Benjamin, are you calling conversion therapy some kind of snake-oil?
Hey, if it cvacques like a duck...
Gay Cooties! Gay Cooties!
A reprint from Sept 2005
ALL WORKED UP ABOUT GAY COOTIES
By J.T. Benjamin
Copr. 2005
After all these years, the truth can finally come out.
As the father of four, I’m always on the lookout for
resources that will help me be a better parent.
That’s why I read with great interest an article
called “Helping Boys Become Men, and Girls Become
Women” at www.focusonyourchild.com
/develop/art1/A0000684.html. The article discusses
how many children can suffer from “gender confusion”
between the ages of 5 and ll years of age. I found
myself recalling my own childhood as I read the
following list of “evidences” of such gender
confusion:
1. A strong feeling that they are “different” from
other boys. (Hm. I was younger, smaller, and
scrawnier than most of my peers. Smarter, too. Being
astonishingly, painfully shy at that age, I was much
happier reading in my room than trying to fit in with
the other boys. Sure made me feel different).
2. A tendency to cry easily, be less athletic, and
dislike the roughhousing that other boys enjoy. (Hm
again. When I DID interact with other boys, we’d most
often play a friendly little game called “pinata.”
Guess who got regularly whacked with the stick. The
second most popular game we played was “punching
bag.”)
3. A persistent preference to play female roles in
make-believe play. (When I played make-believe, it
was most often alone in my room, so I played ALL the
roles.)
4. A strong preference to spend time in the company of
girls and participate in their games and other
pastimes. (Well, yeah! They didn’t try to beat me
up! Plus, they smelled nice and I got a tingly, fun
feeling in my stomach when one of them would smile at
me or hold my hand.)
5. A susceptibility to be bullied by other boys, who
may tease them unmercifully and call them “queer,”
“fag”, and “gay.” (My God. That sentence just
described my entire existence from the ages of 5 to
10).
6. A tendency to walk, talk, dress, and even “think”
effeminately. (Let’s see. I had a high-pitched
voice, I had a large vocabulary for my age group, I
was well-mannered and “a sensitive child,” and, to
quote Jason Wallace just after he caught me behind the
monkey bars and just before the first of many punches
to my undersized gut, “Gee, kid! You run like a
girl!” I confess that when I was seven years old, I
once put on the underwear of one of my classmates,
Trudy Francis. In my defense, it was an honest
mistake; she’d accidentally put on my
Fruit-of-the-looms. We were playing “I’ll show you
mine if you show me yours” and in the excitement of
the moment, we both got a little distracted.)
7. A repeatedly stated desire to be—or insistence that
he is—a girl. Not guilty. Still, six out of seven is
an ominous sign.
I can only come to one conclusion from this little
self-test. I must be a homosexual. When I was a kid,
I apparently suffered from an undiagnosed, scorching
case of gender confusion and it turned me gay as a
quiche.
Oh, sure, I’ve repressed my homosexuality well. I’ve
married a woman and fathered four kids, I drink beer,
I can’t dance worth a damn and I’ve memorized the
teams, final scores, and MVPs of every single Super
Bowl ever played. I haven’t just been in de-closet,
I’ve been in de-nial.
The only thing I don’t understand is why all this
time, I’ve only EVER been interested in having sex
with women. Men do nothing for me. Not even Brad
Pitt. Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.
The “Focus On Your Child’ website is managed by the
Focus On The Family organization. In case you didn’t
know, or knew but had simply forgotten, FOTF is one of
the most influential lobbying groups for the Christian
Right, whom I’ve dubbed the “Holy Terrors.” FOTF has
spearheaded movements to introduce Intelligent Design,
prayer, Abstinence Only education in schools, and, of
course, anything anti-gay. FOTF is a big-time
opponent of same-sex marriage, AIDS education, and
anti-gay discrimination laws, and anything looking,
sounding, smelling, or being even remotely homosexual
in nature. This group got pissed off because Ellen
Degeneris did the voice of “Dorrie” in the Disney
film, “Finding Nemo.” They seem to be afraid that any
contact whatsoever a homosexual person will spread an
epidemic of “Gay Cooties.”
Homosexuality is, in the eyes of the FOTF and of the
Holy Terrors in general, one of the worst of the worst
in terms of the degeneration of this Great Nation.
Homosexuality isn’t just a “lifestyle choice,” it’s a
mental illness. Seriously.
The article refers to homosexuality as a “disorder.”
Since it’s a disorder, it can therefore be treated and
cured. This is, sadly, not a new belief. The
American Psychiatric Association had homosexuality
listed as a disorder in their “Diagnostic And
Statistical Manual” until 1973. Back in the “good old
days,” homosexuality was “treated” with incarceration,
involuntary commitment to mental hospitals,
castration, genital mutilation, hysterectomies,
electroshock treatments, and even lobotomies.
Small wonder so many homosexual people have been “in
the closet” all these years. They’ve been afraid for
their sanity, their bodies, and their very lives.
Nowadays, in more “enlightened times,” a qualified
therapist can “treat” homosexuality with what’s called
“conversion” or “repairative” therapy. I’ll discuss
that in more detail next month. For now, I want to
say I haven’t decided whether to pursue therapy for
myself just yet.
To be honest, I have a few doubts about the legitimacy
of those “evidences” I discussed earlier as signs that
I’m gay. I find it interesting that the little test
I’ve taken exploits a lot of misconceptions about the
differences between “gay” and “straight” behavior.
“Normal” boys roughhouse and play sports.
“Effeminate” behavior (including crying) in boys is a
bad sign. So is being un-athletic, quiet, feeling
“different”, and wanting to associate with members of
the opposite sex. Cross-dressers tend to be
homosexuals, and vice versa. The urge to “be” a
member of the opposite sex is equivalent to being gay.
Having a kid who torments other kids and calls them
“faggot” and “queer,” (the elementary school version
of “gay-bashing”) isn’t nearly as alarming as having a
kid who’s on the receiving end of the punches and the
teasing, since that’s a sign that kid might turn gay
as a result. The Holy Terrors seem to be more alarmed
with children growing up gay than they are with
children growing up to be bullies.
Ultimately, I’m just a little skeptical that I caught
a case of the Gay Cooties as a result of my traumatic
childhood. I just don’t FEEL like I’m suffering from
a mental disorder.
Plus, I’m still baffled by that whole
“only-attracted-to-women” thing.
ALL WORKED UP ABOUT GAY COOTIES
By J.T. Benjamin
Copr. 2005
After all these years, the truth can finally come out.
As the father of four, I’m always on the lookout for
resources that will help me be a better parent.
That’s why I read with great interest an article
called “Helping Boys Become Men, and Girls Become
Women” at www.focusonyourchild.com
/develop/art1/A0000684.html. The article discusses
how many children can suffer from “gender confusion”
between the ages of 5 and ll years of age. I found
myself recalling my own childhood as I read the
following list of “evidences” of such gender
confusion:
1. A strong feeling that they are “different” from
other boys. (Hm. I was younger, smaller, and
scrawnier than most of my peers. Smarter, too. Being
astonishingly, painfully shy at that age, I was much
happier reading in my room than trying to fit in with
the other boys. Sure made me feel different).
2. A tendency to cry easily, be less athletic, and
dislike the roughhousing that other boys enjoy. (Hm
again. When I DID interact with other boys, we’d most
often play a friendly little game called “pinata.”
Guess who got regularly whacked with the stick. The
second most popular game we played was “punching
bag.”)
3. A persistent preference to play female roles in
make-believe play. (When I played make-believe, it
was most often alone in my room, so I played ALL the
roles.)
4. A strong preference to spend time in the company of
girls and participate in their games and other
pastimes. (Well, yeah! They didn’t try to beat me
up! Plus, they smelled nice and I got a tingly, fun
feeling in my stomach when one of them would smile at
me or hold my hand.)
5. A susceptibility to be bullied by other boys, who
may tease them unmercifully and call them “queer,”
“fag”, and “gay.” (My God. That sentence just
described my entire existence from the ages of 5 to
10).
6. A tendency to walk, talk, dress, and even “think”
effeminately. (Let’s see. I had a high-pitched
voice, I had a large vocabulary for my age group, I
was well-mannered and “a sensitive child,” and, to
quote Jason Wallace just after he caught me behind the
monkey bars and just before the first of many punches
to my undersized gut, “Gee, kid! You run like a
girl!” I confess that when I was seven years old, I
once put on the underwear of one of my classmates,
Trudy Francis. In my defense, it was an honest
mistake; she’d accidentally put on my
Fruit-of-the-looms. We were playing “I’ll show you
mine if you show me yours” and in the excitement of
the moment, we both got a little distracted.)
7. A repeatedly stated desire to be—or insistence that
he is—a girl. Not guilty. Still, six out of seven is
an ominous sign.
I can only come to one conclusion from this little
self-test. I must be a homosexual. When I was a kid,
I apparently suffered from an undiagnosed, scorching
case of gender confusion and it turned me gay as a
quiche.
Oh, sure, I’ve repressed my homosexuality well. I’ve
married a woman and fathered four kids, I drink beer,
I can’t dance worth a damn and I’ve memorized the
teams, final scores, and MVPs of every single Super
Bowl ever played. I haven’t just been in de-closet,
I’ve been in de-nial.
The only thing I don’t understand is why all this
time, I’ve only EVER been interested in having sex
with women. Men do nothing for me. Not even Brad
Pitt. Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.
The “Focus On Your Child’ website is managed by the
Focus On The Family organization. In case you didn’t
know, or knew but had simply forgotten, FOTF is one of
the most influential lobbying groups for the Christian
Right, whom I’ve dubbed the “Holy Terrors.” FOTF has
spearheaded movements to introduce Intelligent Design,
prayer, Abstinence Only education in schools, and, of
course, anything anti-gay. FOTF is a big-time
opponent of same-sex marriage, AIDS education, and
anti-gay discrimination laws, and anything looking,
sounding, smelling, or being even remotely homosexual
in nature. This group got pissed off because Ellen
Degeneris did the voice of “Dorrie” in the Disney
film, “Finding Nemo.” They seem to be afraid that any
contact whatsoever a homosexual person will spread an
epidemic of “Gay Cooties.”
Homosexuality is, in the eyes of the FOTF and of the
Holy Terrors in general, one of the worst of the worst
in terms of the degeneration of this Great Nation.
Homosexuality isn’t just a “lifestyle choice,” it’s a
mental illness. Seriously.
The article refers to homosexuality as a “disorder.”
Since it’s a disorder, it can therefore be treated and
cured. This is, sadly, not a new belief. The
American Psychiatric Association had homosexuality
listed as a disorder in their “Diagnostic And
Statistical Manual” until 1973. Back in the “good old
days,” homosexuality was “treated” with incarceration,
involuntary commitment to mental hospitals,
castration, genital mutilation, hysterectomies,
electroshock treatments, and even lobotomies.
Small wonder so many homosexual people have been “in
the closet” all these years. They’ve been afraid for
their sanity, their bodies, and their very lives.
Nowadays, in more “enlightened times,” a qualified
therapist can “treat” homosexuality with what’s called
“conversion” or “repairative” therapy. I’ll discuss
that in more detail next month. For now, I want to
say I haven’t decided whether to pursue therapy for
myself just yet.
To be honest, I have a few doubts about the legitimacy
of those “evidences” I discussed earlier as signs that
I’m gay. I find it interesting that the little test
I’ve taken exploits a lot of misconceptions about the
differences between “gay” and “straight” behavior.
“Normal” boys roughhouse and play sports.
“Effeminate” behavior (including crying) in boys is a
bad sign. So is being un-athletic, quiet, feeling
“different”, and wanting to associate with members of
the opposite sex. Cross-dressers tend to be
homosexuals, and vice versa. The urge to “be” a
member of the opposite sex is equivalent to being gay.
Having a kid who torments other kids and calls them
“faggot” and “queer,” (the elementary school version
of “gay-bashing”) isn’t nearly as alarming as having a
kid who’s on the receiving end of the punches and the
teasing, since that’s a sign that kid might turn gay
as a result. The Holy Terrors seem to be more alarmed
with children growing up gay than they are with
children growing up to be bullies.
Ultimately, I’m just a little skeptical that I caught
a case of the Gay Cooties as a result of my traumatic
childhood. I just don’t FEEL like I’m suffering from
a mental disorder.
Plus, I’m still baffled by that whole
“only-attracted-to-women” thing.
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