Look What I Found..

[ChrisP]

I came across this... I'd heard about people who like to think they can "cure Gays".. but has anyone ever claimed it in Thailand..??

Ex Gay Web Site

ChrisP

Edited April 15, 2005 by ChrisP

[astral]

Ex-Gays....................??

Have you ever met anyone who has really changed their sexual tastes?

Discovered the full scope of them, Yes, but changed?

I seriously doubt the intentions of these people

[Khutan]

You can't help but wonder who is giving them the financial support.

[ProThaiExpat]

My guess is the religious right supports these people.

There are also groups that claim that they can "cure" alcoholism!!!!

What I mean is they claim that alcoholics can learn to drink like normal people!!!

There are few responsible professionals in the psychology field that would agree with either of these groups.

Since there is no detectable religious right movement in Thailand, than perhaps in some religious NGOs, I suspect Thailand, with their Buddhist philosophy, see no rhyme or reason to the issue.

[PeaceBlondie]

I formerly participated in a Yahoo discussion group about homosexuality and fundamentalism. A couple of gay posters there insisted that religious nuts who claimed that they were cured of 'that sin' almost always lapse back into gay behavior within a few years. In other words, there is no cure, and claims to the contrary are false.

Imagine creating a new therapy to cure straight people of their heterosexuality!

[jerry921]

I formerly participated in a Yahoo discussion group about homosexuality and fundamentalism.  A couple of gay posters there insisted that religious nuts who claimed that they were cured of 'that sin' almost always lapse back into gay behavior within a few years.  In other words, there is no cure, and claims to the contrary are false.

Imagine creating a new therapy to cure straight people of their heterosexuality!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Recidivism, I needed my spell checker for that one, but turns out I got it right.

I'd be interested in a comparison of the recidivism rates of these ex-gay brainwashing techniques and the programs employed by the U.S. prison system. Given the abysmal effectiveness of the U.S. prison system, and the huge amounts of money devoted to it, I suspect one could make the argument that the ex-gay movements are no less effective.

My point is that if 80% of the participants in an Ex-gay program "lapse" within 3 years, that's still a pretty amazingly effective brainwashing of 20% of the participants. From the point of view of the religious right (ane especially the people who make a living off of running the program) even one "success" is worth the entire effort.

Even if irrefutable scientific evidence that orientation was due to genetics was produced tomorrow it would still be tens if not hundreds of years before the religious community would accept it. Just look at how long the Catholic church fought against Copernicus.

Like it or not there are a lot of them out there, and their minds, beliefs and politics aren't going to be changed by any number of Pride Parades. The push for gay marriage has set back gay rights at least a decade because the movement didn't understand the way things are seen by those people who have to be persuaded. So whether it makes any sense to us or not, this ex-gay stuff will be around for a long time, just like the medical quack cures that desperate parents turn to when other avenues of hope turn into dead ends.

[PeaceBlondie]

Probably the very term 'recidivism' - not a word that rolls easily off the tongue - is limited to committing CRIMES. In mental or physical health, it would be the CURE rate, as if homosexuality were a communicable disease or cancer.

There is no evidence, no statistics. These folks aren't doing scientific studies of conversion and success rates for their brain-washing. I've heard that some of the founders of some of these 'cure' programs have lapsed themselves. But I have no evidence, either.

Edited April 17, 2005 by PeaceBlondie

[jerry921]

Probably the very term 'recidivism' - not a word that rolls easily off the tongue - is limited to committing CRIMES.  In mental or physical health, it would be the CURE rate, as if homosexuality were a communicable disease or cancer. 

There is no evidence, no statistics. These folks aren't doing scientific studies of conversion and success rates for their brain-washing.  I've heard that some of the founders of some of these 'cure' programs have lapsed themselves.  But I have no evidence, either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's their position, isn't it? That homosexuality is a deviant choice, and a sin. And after all, what's the difference between a sin and a crime in a theocracy?

In order to effectively and successfully debunk the ex-gay movement, the gay community is going to have to produce statistics, not case studies or one-off examples. And they're going to have to show that the long term "cure" rate is virtually zero. It's a really tall order to convince someone of something when they are determined to believe the opposite.

"A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still"