American Psychological Association No Duh Moment: “Practitioners Should Avoid Telling Clients They Can Change from Gay to Straight”

The recent release of “The American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation” marks an important milestone in further debunking the right wing fundamentalist agenda to convert gays into straights. Some studies have been attempted to substantiate successes of programs aimed at reprogramming the sexual preferences of people, but the Task Force found them to be deeply flawed in their execution and analysis. From a Buddhist perspective, the whole enterprise is an absurdity, for lasting mental change is effected only through establishing mindfulness and mental clarity with subsequent spontaneous maturation, never through brute force retraining and reconditioning.

The resolution summarizes as follows:

WHEREAS, Research has shown that family rejection is a predictor of negative outcomes…and that parental acceptance and school support are protective factors…for sexual minority youth;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association affirms that same-sex sexual and romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and positive variations of human sexuality regardless of sexual orientation identity;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association reaffirms its position that homosexuality per se is not a mental disorder and opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association concludes that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation;

So it is written, so it shall be, at least with those therapists who listen to the APA. I think it is ironic that sexual preference is so hard to change and gender is relatively easy to change. In most of our minds, we think of gender as a fixed thing and sexual preference as malleable. It is clearly the opposite in reality. This is because gender is a result of gross physical characteristics that respond easily to simple hormone manipulation. The plastic surgery that some undergo is simply the finishing touch on what is largely orchestrated by the balance between estrogen and testosterone. Sexual preference, however, is not changed by hormonal balance. It is a preference that is learned early in life and is therefore deeply ingrained in the mind. Such preferences are present across billions of neurons all interconnected. This is why they resist change once established. The neural network of the brain learns these preferences just as the visual cortex learns preferences for certain colors or movement directions. These neurons also resist change. They are plastic before imprinting establishes the preferences, but once the preferences have been established, it is as if the neurons had been specially created for the preferences they represent. This is not the case, for they were not specially created for the preferences they represent. The preferences are only the result of the way the neurons are connected and exposed to input from the senses and from other areas of the brain. So it is the same with sexual preferences. What I am saying here is based on basic learning models established by cognitive psychologists. I have extrapolated from the learning theories in order to explain sexual preference, but it really is not going out on much of a limb to say what I have here. Hopefully others will come to the same conclusions in the future.

Approved by The Nude Monk