The Hidden Truth About Changing Sexual Orientation

However, the APA admits that “there is no consensus among scientists” about what causes homosexuality, and that “nurture” may play a role.

2) Opposition to SOCE is based on the belief that sexual orientation is fixed and unchangeable.

However, the APA has acknowledged that “for some, sexual orientation identity . . . is fluid or has an indefinite outcome.”

3) Scientific research has clearly shown that the sexual identities of adolescents in particular (the population targeted by most of the proposed therapy bans) are fluid, not fixed.

Two papers by Ritch Savin-Williams of Cornell University, probably the country’s leading expert on sexual minority youth, document that such fluidity is most common among those who at some point have expressed “non-heterosexual” attractions, behaviors, and identities….

6) Opposition to SOCE is premised on the belief that it has no benefits for the clients who undertake it.

However, the APA acknowledged, “Some individuals perceived that they had benefited from SOCE . . .”

7) Opposition to SOCE is based on the claim that such efforts are never effective in changing an individual’s sexual orientation.

However, Nicholas A. Cummings, a former president of the APA and former chief psychologist for Kaiser Permanente, wrote in USA Today that “of the patients I oversaw who sought to change their orientation, hundreds were successful.”

8) Opposition to SOCE is based on the claim that it is always (or at least usually) harmful to clients.

However, the APA admits that there is no “valid causal evidence” that SOCE is harmful.

9) The APA acknowledges that licensed mental health providers (LMHP) should “respect a person’s (client’s) right to self-determination,” allow the client to choose her or his own goals, and “be sensitive to the client’s . . . religion.”

However, therapy bans directly violate this core ethical principle of client self-determination.”

For more detail, read this report by Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council