The charisma and deception of reparative therapies: when medical science beds religion.
In this article, I examine the history and resurgence of interest in sexual reorientation or reparative therapies. I begin with a critique of the contemporary "ex-gay" movement, interrogating Exodus as the prototype of a politico-religious transformational ministry that works to "cure" homosexuals, and examine how Exodus utilizes ex-gay testimony to deceive harried homosexuals looking for escape from the effects of internalized and cultural homophobia. Next, I investigate how reparative therapies function as orthodox treatments that charismatically meld conservative religious perspectives with medical science to produce a pseudoscience promising to treat homosexuality effectively. In this regard, I assess the ongoing debate regarding gay-affirming versus reparative therapies by first looking at the history of medicalizing homosexuality and then surveying the debate spurred by Robert L. Spitzer's research. I conclude with a consideration of research needed to measure whether efficacious change in sexual orientation is possible.
Grace
André P
AP
Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. andre.grace@ualberta.ca
D002835:Christianity / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011057:Politics; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012071:Religion and Sex; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D014481:United States