Dr. Robert Spitzer’s message to groups pushing the ex-gay and anti-gay agenda:
Dr. Robert Spitzer (Photo credit: seattlelesbian.com)
I’m curious as to whether they have said anything or how they live with the fact that the one study that they’ve always been citing, has now been taken away from them. I would think that’s a pretty rough place to be in. The people that are pushing the ex-gay idea, are so full of hatred for homosexuality really, that I don’t think that they can respond in an ethical way.
Adapted from:
Video: Spitzer Discusses Repudiated “Ex-Gay” Study, Rebukes Anti-Gay Religious Right
Filed By John M. Becker | June 03, 2012 5:30 PM |
John Becker (Photo credit: bilerico.com)
Dr. Robert Spitzer, who recently made headlines after making an unprecedented apology to the LGBT community and victims of so-called “reparative therapy” for his infamous 2001 study that claimed some “highly motivated” homosexuals could change from gay to straight, has spoken on camera for the first time since going public about his change of heart.
Last week, Wayne Besen, my colleague at Truth Wins Out, traveled with filmmaker Lisa Darden to Spitzer’s home in Princeton, NJ for an exclusive interview. In it, Spitzer reiterates both his retraction and his apology, but more significantly, he rebuked anti-gay organizations like NARTH, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), and others who continued to trumpet his retracted study. He also called on those groups to stop distorting his research and said they were motivated by hatred of gays and lesbians.
Published on May 30, 2012 by wbesen
In 1973, Dr. Robert Spitzer led the charge to successfully have homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which is its list of mental disorders. This was a major victory and remains one the gay movement’s signature achievements.
Given his stature and key role in declassifying gay people as sick, it was quite a surprise when Dr. Spitzer published a non-peer reviewed 2001 study in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior that claimed some “highly motivated” gay people could become straight through prayer and therapy. The study said that some gay people could reach their “heterosexual potential.”
When he announced his work at the 2001 APA meeting in New Orleans, it created a media sensation. An Associated Press story called his findings “explosive.”
In 2012, Dr. Spitzer recanted in the American Prospect magazine. In a letter obtained by Truth Wins Out and sent to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dr. Spitzer asked that his study be retracted.
TWO went to Dr. Spitzer’s home in Princeton, NJ and interviewed him. He not only repudiated his study, he also apologized to the LGBT community. He told anti-gay organizations — such as NARTH, Focus on the Family, and the American College of Pediatricians to stop promoting his invalid study. He even told Parents and Friends of ‘Ex-Gays’ (PFOX) to take a video they have posted of Spitzer off their website.
With Dr. Spitzer’s renunciation of his study, a crowning achievement in efforts to promote sexual conversion has been reduced to a crown of thorns. Now that Spitzer has revealed the truth, perhaps anti-gay and “ex-gay” organizations can begin to abandon the harmful practice of reparative therapy.
- Psychiatrist apologizes for flawed research that “gays can change” and giving ammunition to anti-gay groups. (Graphic video) (saintleoinkblot.com)
- Truth Wins Out: Dr. Robert Spitzer renounces ‘ex-gay’ study claiming some gays could change (miamiherald.typepad.com)
- Psychiatrist who supported ‘cure’ for gays and lesbians now apologizes to LGBT community (miamiherald.typepad.com)
- Dr. Robert Spitzer Speaks at Length About the Hatred of Groups Pushing ‘Ex-Gay’ Myths: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
Welcome to iNKBLOT, the blogosphere intended for Saint Leo University‘s Psychology students, faculty, and friends from around the world! Psychological research and the many forms of media (e.g., Internet, local, regional and world news, and etc.) provides a wealth of opinions and experiences for psychologically minded students and professionals in the field, especially Social Psychology, to engage, discover, or inform them of the many amazing aspects of their chosen discipline. iNKBLOT‘s mission is to promote psychological oriented information to its readers in hopes of sharing resources and discussing important ideas in our ever-growing field….more information HERE.
Pingback: Former president of APA says organization (now) controlled by ‘gay rights’ movement « CITIZEN.BLOGGER.1984+ GUNNY.G BLOG.EMAIL
Pingback: UPDATE! NARTH calls on another expert to say, “Gays can change.” « iNKBLOT