Is there any advocate more disingenuous than a professional 'ex-gay'?

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03/21/2014

by Jeremy Hooper

Speaking to the American Family Association's One News Now, professional "ex-gay" Greg Quinlan says the following:

"I wasn't born gay -- nobody is," he asserts. "In fact, the American Psychiatric Association says this: 'There are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biologic ideology for homosexuality.' None" [ONN]

Greg is, in fact, telling the truth that this line does come from the APA. Here's the context:

[APA]

So yes, the APA is saying that we have not pinpointed a specific biological root for sexual orientation—that's true. But we haven't pinned down any cause or combination of causes, which is the larger point. Just because we haven't determined the concrete "reason" why people are homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual doesn't mean that our sexualities are not inborn. It certainly doesn't mean that our orientations are "changeable."

Which brings us to the really big point that Greg so disingenuously overlooks. In this very same APA document, the organization states this position:

[APA]

It is truly unbelievable to me that someone like Greg would quote from a position paper that so fully repudiates his life mission of "repairing" or "converting" LGBT people. Yet the "ex-gay" movement does this all the time. I can't tell you how many professional "ex-gays" have done exactly what Greg does here, pulling that one line from its contextual home while ignoring the broader scope (and they never link to the actual document, of course).

This movement does itself no favors. And when it comes to a cause as backwards, regressive, science-rejecting, and dangerous as theirs, they need all the help they can get.

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