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STATEMENT DH055-1 Homosexuality:
Fact and Fiction (Part One in a Two-Part Series on Homosexuality)
by Joseph P. Gudel
Summary
If homosexuality is neither a normal nor a
healthy lifestyle - as I believe this article demonstrates - then the
most loving thing we can do is to help homosexuals realize this and
offer them our help and encouragement. But millions of people in our
society believe that homosexuality is a healthy and acceptable
alternative lifestyle. This debate over the acceptance of
homosexuality in our culture is one that has been clouded with many
misrepresentations and inaccuracies. These misrepresentations include
the assertion that ten percent of all Americans are gay (the figure is
actually closer to one or two percent), that all competent
psychiatrists and psychologists believe homosexuality is a healthy
lifestyle (the majority do not), that homosexuals are born that way
(most therapists disagree) and cannot change their sexual preference
(disproven by numerous accounts where gays have converted to
heterosexuality). It is the Christian's task to point out that while
homosexuality is a sin, we are all sinners and there is forgiveness
and deliverance for all who turn to Jesus Christ. "People should
live and let live!" "To each his own, let them live as they
wish." "Let the gays have their freedom."
"Whatever makes you happy, live with it."1 Comments like
these are commonly heard when the topic of homosexuality comes up for
discussion. The debate over homosexuality and homosexual rights has
steadily grown over the past two decades and will only continue to do
so.
In the course of this debate, however, numerous
inaccuracies, half-truths, fallacies, and overt propaganda have been
disseminated to the public as uncontested truth. It is the purpose of
this article to examine these claims and separate fact from fiction.
Before anyone can give intelligent and compassionate answers, the
questions must be clarified and brought into focus. I believe that
when this is done the impartial reader will be able to agree with the
analogy made by Dr. James D. Mallory, a psychiatrist and the director
of the Atlanta Counseling Center: "A physician would be guilty of
malpractice if he didn't warn a diabetic of his condition because he
didn't want to hurt his feelings. Simply letting the person continue
eating excessive carbohydrates without proper treatment condemns him
to a worsening physical condition. The most loving act one can do is
point out that an abnormality exists, and offer help. This needs to be
done - but not in a spirit of condemnation - with
homosexuality."2
HOMOPHOBIA?
Homophobia is defined in The Kinsey Institute
New Report on Sex as the "fear, dislike, or hatred of
homosexuals."3 The Greek word phobia denotes an "irrational
fear." The word homo literally means "same," but the
word is frequently used as a shortened form of homosexual - one who is
sexually attracted to his or her own sex. Thus, strictly speaking,
homophobia denotes an irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals.
However, the gay rights movement (and, by-and-large, the media) places
this label on anyone who opposes any of the movement's goals and
objectives; specifically, anyone opposing the full acceptance of the
homosexual lifestyle as healthy and "normal."
While indeed there are many people who hate or
irrationally fear homosexuals, to say that anyone who opposes the
homosexual lifestyle or disagrees with the gay rights political agenda
is a homophobe is simply not true. This tactic is clearly intended to
divert attention from the argument and onto the person. As we will see
below, there are many who oppose homosexuality on psychological,
sociological, medical, and moral grounds.
TEN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION?
Perhaps the most fascinating statistic cited
(constantly and confidently) in research of homosexuality is that ten
percent of the United States population is homosexual. The implication
is that this is probably just as true in most other societies as well.
I say this is fascinating because virtually nobody knows (or at least
cites) where this statistic comes from.
The Family Research Institute asks, "How
many homosexuals are there? USA Today said '25 million gay men and
lesbians' (11/13/91) [i.e., about 10% of the US population]. The
Washington Times said '10 percent of American men are homosexual and 5
percent of women are lesbian' (11/19/91). The American Psychological
Association assures us that homosexuality is 'an orientation found
consistently in about ten percent of the male population and
approximately five percent of the female population' (2/6/89)."4
Just this week, as I was preparing to put this
article together, I watched "Teen Connection," a public
broadcast program.5 Its topic was "Sexual Orientation" with
a panel consisting of a homosexual teenage boy, the boy's mother, a
young lady who is a lesbian, and an adult homosexual
"counselor." Within the course of an hour the ten percent
figure was cited three times, being adduced as evidence of just how
many people out there need our encouragement and understanding. They
had a panel of phones for those who had questions or needed counseling
themselves. I called in and asked them where the ten percent figure
came from. The lady I spoke with did not know, and neither did another
phone counselor she asked.
The truth is that this ten percent statistic
comes from a report published more than 40 years ago - the famous 1948
study led by William Kinsey.6 The only problem with this report is
that its findings were terribly flawed by the methodology used to
collect the supposedly representative sample of the U.S. population.7
Why were his findings flawed? For several
reasons, first and foremost being that approximately 25 percent of the
5,300 individuals Kinsey studied were prison inmates, "who by the
nature of their confinement, couldn't have heterosexual
intercourse." In addition, 44 percent of these inmates had had
homosexual experiences while in prison.8 This was hardly a
representative sample of the American population.
But there were other major flaws in the group
selected for the research. Kinsey admitted that "several hundred
male prostitutes" were used in his sample. This alone would make
a major difference in his findings.9
In addition there was clearly a "volunteer
bias." In attempting to select a representative group to work
with, one does not merely run an ad and accept anyone who responds.
Research has shown that those responding to a study as intimate as the
one Kinsey was doing would not be representative of the general
population. In fact, the widely renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow
pointed this out to Kinsey before his findings were published, but he
refused to listen.10
To make matters worse, the people who refer back
to this old and flawed study do not quote it accurately. Kinsey did
not say that 10 percent of the entire U.S. population was homosexual.
Rather, he affirmed that ten percent of white American males were
"more or less" exclusively homosexual for at least three
years of their lives between the ages of 16 and 65. The statistic for
females was five percent. The actual percentage of those thought to be
exclusively homosexual for their entire lives was only four percent of
men and two or three percent of women, all based on his allegedly
representative sample of the population.11
What are the real figures as far as we can tell
today? One recent study of men conducted between 1984 and 1987 by
David Forman, the senior staff scientist at the Radcliffe Infirmary
(Oxford, England), found that only 1.7 percent of the sample study had
ever had homosexual intercourse.12 An even more recent study,
conducted at the University of Chicago in 1989 and reported at the
1990 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, resulted in a figure "less than 1% exclusively
homosexual."13
Are these results significant? Well, they are
significant in at least setting the record straight as to the actual
scope or parameters of the debate. There is quite a difference between
one or two percent of the population being homosexual as opposed to
ten percent of the population. Obviously, the higher the percentage
cited as being homosexual, the more influence those in the gay rights
movement can wield.
IS HOMOSEXUALITY AN ILLNESS? IS IT
"NORMAL"?
An even more important question, though, is if
homosexuality constitutes pathological behavior. Is it an illness? Gay
rights groups continually assert that homosexuals are as
"normal" as heterosexuals, that homosexuality is not an
illness or psychological disorder. For example, Peri Jude Radecic, a
member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), asserted on
the ABC news show Nightline: "Homosexuality is not an illness, it
is not something that needs to be cured. We are normal, natural and
healthy people."14
Moreover, these groups universally contend that
all competent psychiatrists and psychologists are in agreement on
this. As proof of this, the American Psychiatric Association's (APA)
1973 declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder is always
cited.
Before examining the contention that all
competent psychiatrists and psychologists agree that homosexuality is
normal and healthy, we need to look at the APA's 1973 decision for a
moment. For 23 years homosexuality had been listed as a mental
disorder by the APA. Why was it decided, at that particular point in
time, that it was not pathological?
I do not have the space to go into a detailed
analysis of the history leading up to the APA's decision.15
Nonetheless, it is a misconception to think that this came about only
after dispassionate and scholarly discussion, and only after listening
equally to all sides of the issue. Also, it is important to note that
the APA's vote was anything but unanimous.
In the three years leading up to the 1973 APA
meeting, the previous national meetings had been repeatedly disrupted
by gay activists. At the 1970 meeting in San Francisco certain
sessions were broken up with shouts and jeers, prohibiting any
rational discussion or debate.
At the APA's 1971 meeting in Washington, threats
and intimidation accomplished what discussion could not. Ronald Bayer,
in a work sympathetic toward homosexuality and the gay rights
movement, recounts: "Using forged credentials, gay activists
gained access to the exhibit area and, coming across a display
marketing aversive conditioning [i.e., punishing an organism whenever
it makes a particular response] techniques for the treatment of
homosexuals, demanded its removal. Threats were made against the
exhibitor, who was told that unless his booth was dismantled, it would
be torn down. After frantic behind-the-scenes consultations, and in an
effort to avoid violence, the convention leadership agreed to have the
booth removed."16
These tactics continued in the same manner at
the APA's 1972 national meeting. It was against this backdrop that the
association's trustees finally made its controversial 1973 decision.
When a referendum on this was sent out to all 25,000 APA members, only
a quarter of them returned their ballots. The final tally was 58
percent favoring the removal of homosexuality from their list of
disorders.
Four years later, Dr. Charles Socarides - who
was at the meetings and was an expert in the area of homosexuality,
having treated homosexuals for more than twenty years - described the
political atmosphere leading up to the 1973 vote. He writes that
during this time, "militant homosexual groups continued to attack
any psychiatrist or psychoanalyst who dared to present his findings as
to the psychopathology [i.e., the study of mental disorders from all
aspects] of homosexuality before national or local meetings of
psychiatrists or in public forums."17 Elsewhere Socarides stated
that the decision of the APA trustees was "the medical hoax of
the century."18
Was this the end of the debate? Did the vast
majority of "competent" psychiatrists agree with the APA's
decision? In 1977 ten thousand members of the APA were polled at
random, asking them their opinion on this. In an article entitled
"Sick Again?" Time magazine summarized the results of the
poll: "Of those answering, 69% said they believed 'homosexuality
is usually a pathological adaptation, as opposed to a normal
variation,' 18% disagreed and 13% were uncertain. Similarly, sizable
majorities said that homosexuals are generally less happy than
heterosexuals (73%) and less capable of mature, loving relationships
(60%). A total of 70% said that homosexuals' problems have more to do
with their own inner conflicts than with stigmatization by society at
large."19
But what about today? Has this issue been
resolved in current medical opinion and research? Concerning this, Dr.
Stanton L. Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College, states
that there is a "mixed scorecard" among professionals on
this. He writes: "I would not regard homosexuality to be a
psychopathology in the same sense as schizophrenia or phobic
disorders. But neither can it be viewed as a normal 'lifestyle
variation' on a par with being introverted versus extroverted."20
One may debate whether or not homosexuality is a
pathological disorder, but it is clear that the APA's 1973 decision
cannot be cited as medical consensus that homosexuality is a
"normal" condition. Later in this article I will examine in
some detail the assertion that homosexuality is a healthy lifestyle.
BORN GAY?
Perhaps the most dangerous myth disseminated
today by the pro-homosexuality movement is that modern science has
proven that homosexuality is innate and immutable. That is,
homosexuals are born gay, much like being born left-handed or with
blue eyes. The inference, of course, is that if they are born that
way, then homosexuality cannot be considered immoral or unnatural; the
homosexual is just following his or her genes. However, as Congressman
William Dennemeyer put it, "if homosexuality is a perversion of
what is natural, then homosexuals must look at their own conduct in an
entirely different light and explain it in less satisfying
terms."21
It is well beyond the scope of this article to
summarize all the findings concerning the genesis of homosexuality.
However, the scientific evidences for its origins are usually
classified in terms of either biological causes (i.e.,
genetic/hormonal) or environmental factors (e.g., psychological
causes, volitional, and so forth).
(1) Biological Causes. The most recent
research suggesting that homosexuality may be caused by biological
factors came out in 1991 with the publication of some preliminary
findings of Dr. Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute
for Biological Studies in San Diego. His research consisted of
studying the brains of 41 cadavers, including 19 homosexual males.
He found that "a tiny area believed to control sexual activity
[the hypothalamus] was less than half the size in the gay men than
in the heterosexuals."22
This study was seized upon by many as
"irrefutable evidence" that homosexuals are born gay,
something the homosexual community has been proclaiming for many
years. However, "instead of resolving the debate," a
Newsweek article suggests, "the studies may well have
intensified it. Some scientists profess not to be surprised at all
by LeVay's finding of brain differences. 'Of course it [sexual
orientation] is in the brain,' says Johns Hopkins University
psychologist John Money, sometimes called the dean of American
sexologists. 'The real question is, when did it get there? Was it
prenatal, neonatal, during childhood, puberty? That we do not
know.'"23
Other problems with his findings include: (1)
all 19 of the homosexual men had died of AIDS, something that many
researchers believe could very well account for or contribute to the
differences; (2) there was no way to know the sexual history of the
"heterosexual" men; (3) there is no way to determine if
the smaller hypothalamuses were the cause or the result of
homosexuality; and (4) Dr. LeVay, a homosexual himself, admitted
that his study was not entirely a dispassionate scientific
endeavor.24
(2) Environmental Factors. There are probably
just as many, if not more, psychiatrists and psychologists who
believe that homosexuality arises from various environmental
factors. The majority of these say that homosexuality's root causes
are psychological, not biological. But these people are not cited
nearly as often by the media as the others - perhaps a
pro-homosexual bias by the media? And they are virtually never even
acknowledged by the homosexual community, because most homosexuals
want to believe that they were born that way and had no choice
(conscious or subliminal) in the matter.
In any case, some of the most noteworthy and
respected researchers and therapists in the world deny that
homosexuality is determined by biological factors. For example,
therapists helping homosexuals who are unhappy with their condition
can cite one case history after another showing that negative early
childhood experiences are the one common factor found in almost all
their patients. The vital factor here is that these people were raised
in a very unloving home environment, never knowing love or acceptance
from their mother or their father, or in some cases both. According to
these studies, the child's reaction to this rejection and lack of
nurturing is formulated at a very early age, usually before five years
old. The following references illustrate these findings.
William H. Masters (codirector of the Masters
and Johnson Institute), Virginia E. Brown, and Robert C. Kolodny
stated categorically in their 1982 work Human Sexuality: "The
genetic theory of homosexuality has been generally discarded
today."25
Robert Kronemeyer, in his work Overcoming
Homosexuality, writes: "With rare exceptions, homosexuality is
neither inherited nor the result of some glandular disturbance or the
scrambling of genes or chromosomes. Homosexuals are made, not born
'that way.' I firmly believe that homosexuality is a learned response
to early painful experiences and that it can be unlearned. For those
homosexuals who are unhappy with their life and find effective
therapy, it is 'curable.'"26
John DeCecco, professor of psychology at San
Francisco State University and the editor of the 25-volume Journal of
Homosexuality, expressed the same view in a 1989 USA Today article:
"'The idea that people are born into one type of sexual behavior
is entirely foolish,' says John DeCecco... Homosexuality, he says, is
'a behavior, not a condition,' and something that some people can and
do change, just like they sometimes change other tastes and
personality traits."27
One thing is clear: it is hardly an established
scientific fact accepted by the entire medical field that
homosexuality is solely or even primarily caused by biological
factors. This brings us to the question just raised above: Can those
who are homosexual change?
IS CHANGE IMPOSSIBLE?
The question of whether or not one should want
to change his or her sexual preference will be addressed shortly. But
before looking at the desirability of changing, we need to ascertain
whether change is even possible. I say that this is important to
investigate because a host of individuals concerned with homosexual
issues deny that this is a possibility.
Those in the gay rights movement, as well as
numerous researchers, psychotherapists, and so forth, decry any
attempt to change the homosexual's sexual orientation or preference.
Rick Notch, a homosexual man who at one time claimed to have become an
ex-gay, stated on The Geraldo Show: "The only choice we have is
to learn to accept ourselves and to find a way to live a responsible,
moral life."28 Dr. Richard Isay, a psychiatrist who heads the
APA's committee on gay issues, likewise asserted: "The core
orientation in a gay man cannot be changed."29
But even a perfunctory examination of the
available testimonies and case studies shows that this simply is not
true. First of all, do all of the other psychiatrists and
psychologists agree with the assertion that change is not possible? By
no means! In fact, most believe that change is possible. William H.
Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, hardly homophobes, write in their
work Homosexuality in Perspective: "Providing therapeutic support
for the homosexually oriented man or woman who wishes to convert or
revert to heterosexuality has been an integral part of the practice of
psychotherapy for decades."30
Likewise, in the Kinsey Institute New Report on
Sex (1990) we find the statement that "sexual orientation,
whether heterosexual or homosexual, is not readily changed by any type
of intervention" (emphasis added).31 Thus, while it is not easy,
changing one's sexual orientation is nonetheless possible - which
could not be the case if homosexuality was innate and immutable.
This was confirmed on a recent segment of ABC's
20/20, which had a story dealing with a Dr. Joseph Nicolosi. Nicolosi
is a psychologist and psychotherapist who has been helping homosexual
men convert to heterosexuality for a number of years now. 32
I already referred above to the work of Dr.
Robert Kronemeyer. If the interested reader pursues this work, he or
she will find eight case histories cited - true accounts of people who
sought relief from their lives of homosexual bondage (their own
description of their lifestyles) and were converted to heterosexuality
33
Another area where we see the fruit of changed
lives is in the numerous Christian ministries reaching out to
homosexuals desiring help. Space limitations will not allow me to go
into great detail. Those interested can find the references in the
endnotes.
Are there really changed lives? There is Darlene
Bogle, a woman who "struggled with lesbianism" for 17
years.34 She was raised in an environment where she was sexually
abused by different men and boys, the first at the age of three. Her
parents divorced when she was only five. Her new stepfather frequently
abused her, both verbally and physically. In her own words she was
raised in "a home that lacked nurturing, that was void of
positive role models and void of love."35 Today, through the
grace and mercy of God, she has been completely free for 15 years from
her former lifestyle and is currently a counselor at Paraklete
Ministries in Hayward, California.
There is Frank Worthen, a practicing homosexual
for 25 years. In 1973 he turned back to Jesus Christ, who delivered
him from that lifestyle. Since then he has remained free, without once
falling back into his old secular behavior. Today he and his wife
Anita are missionaries in the Philippines with Exodus International.36
There is Andrew Comiskey, a former homosexual
who is now the director of Desert Stream Ministries.37 There is Joanne
Highley, a lesbian from the ages of 13 to 23, who has now been freed
from that lifestyle for the past 35 years. She has been married to the
same man during those 35 years, is a mother and grandmother, and
City.38
Are there really changed lives, people who were
exclusively homosexual and became heterosexual? Yes. Have there not
been those who have fallen back into their old lifestyles? Again, the
answer is yes, which is to be expected. Just like in Alcoholics
Anonymous, the road is rarely easy and involves a tremendous
commitment by the individual seeking recovery and healing. Sometimes
individuals stumble and never get back up again. Sometimes they
stumble, get back up, and continue on in the process of recovery. And
occasionally, individuals are healed instantly and never turn back
again. But the fact remains that there are many former homosexuals,
ex-gays, who have been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.
A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE?
As noted above, those in the gay rights movement
constantly assert that they are both normal and healthy individuals.
We have already discussed the "normality" of homosexuality.
The question of whether or not it is a healthy lifestyle can be
addressed in two areas: promiscuity and actual sexual practices.
(1) Promiscuity. If one agrees with the
assertion that being promiscuous is not healthy, from either an
emotional or physical standpoint, then homosexuality as typically
practiced must be termed extremely unhealthy. Homosexualities, an
official publication of The Institute for Sex Research founded by
Alfred Kinsey, Alan Bell, and Martin Weinberg, reported that only ten
percent of male homosexuals could be termed as "relatively
monogamous" or "relatively less promiscuous."
Additional findings showed that 60 percent of male homosexuals had
more than 250 lifetime sexual partners, and 28 percent of male
homosexuals had more than 1,000 lifetime sexual partners. Another
startling fact is that 79 percent admitted that more than half of
their sexual partners were strangers.39
Just a few years after the publication of this
report, Dr. William Foege, the director of the Centers for Disease
Control, stated: "The average AIDS victim has had 60 different
sexual partners in the past twelve months."40 In contrast with
this, "the average heterosexual male has - throughout his life -
from five to nine sex partners."41
What about lesbian relationships? Are homosexual
women less promiscuous than homosexual men? While less research has
been done on lesbians, the data shows that they are much more
monogamous than homosexual men. However, their relationships are still
not very secure. Yvonne Zipter, a lesbian writing in Chicago's gay
journal Windy City Times, in an article entitled "The Disposable
Lesbian Relationship," notes that the "lasting lesbian
relationship" is a "mythic entity."42
(2) Sexual Practices. A second item that cannot
be avoided in a discussion of the health aspects of homosexuality is
the actual sexual practices of homosexuals. Are these healthy? Once
again, the vast preponderance of medical evidence is resoundingly
negative.
Many different medical sources document the
physical aberrancy of homosexual sexual practices. The following
information comes from an article entitled "Medical Perspective
of the Homosexual Issue." It was written by Dr. Bernard J.
Klamecki, a proctologist (rectal specialist) for more than 30 years.
Dr. Klamecki states in this article that when he
began his medical practice in 1960, only one percent of his patients
were homosexuals. By 1988 this number had grown to 25 percent of his
patients, the majority being referred by a local gay free clinic. The
following material comes from one who is known and respected by the
homosexual community, a medical professional who has care and
compassion for all his patients and who donates a good deal of his
time to their service. I know well the medical and surgical pathology
directly related to the sexual practices typical of active
homosexuals, particularly anal intercourse (sodomy) and oral
intercourse (fellatio)....
Sexual practices typical of homosexuals can
affect the oral cavities, lungs, penis, prostate, bladder, anus,
perianal areas outside of the rectum, rectum, colon, vagina, uterus,
pelvic area, brain, skin, blood, immune system, and other body
systems.... While none of the following practices is unique to
homosexuals, they are nonetheless typical....
Most common is anal intercourse
(sodomy)....Foreign objects are often used in order to produce a
different erotic sensation or to instigate a more violent sexual
activity (sadomasochism). Objects that I have removed from the rectum
and lower bowel include corn cobs, light bulbs, vibrators, soda
bottles, and varied wooden sticks.
"Fisting" is when a fisted hand is
inserted into the rectum, sometimes as far as the elbow, which
produces varied sexually exciting sensations, strongly linking
eroticism with pain....
Oral intercourse (fellatio) is when the tongue
is used to lick or tickle the outlet of the rectum for sexual
excitement, arousing, or foreplay. Needless to say, bacteria may
contaminate and infect the mouth. One other sexual practice is
"Water Sports," in which urinating into the mouth or rectum
is used as a sexual stimulant.
Physical damage to the rectum may occur because
of some of these practices....There is an antinatural activity being
performed when the rectum is the recipient of a penis or foreign
object. Because of this activity, cracking of the tissue (fissuring),
open sores (ulcers), boils (abscesses), and other infections can occur
in the skin of the surrounding tissues....
Persistent anal-rectal sexual activity can lead
to various pre-cancerous lesions such as Bowen's disease and Kaposi's
sarcoma. Whenever tissues are traumatized, cracked, or abraded, they
are vulnerable to bacterial infection.43 Dr. Klamecki then continues,
discussing the various bacterial diseases and viral diseases he
regularly encounters with his homosexual patients - the most prominent
being AIDS (the current figure is that 70 percent of Americans with
AIDS are male homosexuals or bisexuals). In addition, he asserts that
up to 86 percent of homosexual males use various drugs to enhance and
increase their sexual stimulation.44
Is the homosexual lifestyle a healthy one? The
information presented above just scratches the surface showing the
pathological nature of these sexual practices. Much more could be
shared (e.g., the homosexual is three times more suicidal than the
heterosexual; a recent study shows the life expectancy of homosexual
men and women without AIDS being about 33 years shorter than that of
the heterosexual; and so forth),45 but space will not permit it. I
believe that any unbiased reader would have to admit that
homosexuality is neither a healthy lifestyle nor a natural one.
In the next issue of the JOURNAL I will deal
briefly with the gay rights movement's political agenda. I will also
examine their considerably successful attempts to change the outlooks
of both Christians and Jews towards homosexuality.
THE CHRISTIAN'S TASK
Before closing I need to clarify that while I
believe that homosexuality is anatomically aberrant, psychologically
deviant, and morally bankrupt, it is also just as true that we are all
sinners. The Bible states that we have all turned our backs on God and
gone our own way. As Martin Luther once put it, we each "sin
often and daily."
Except for the grace and mercy of God, each one
of us would be left in our own little world of sin, alone and
helpless. The good news, though, is that God has reached out to us,
coming down to become one with us in our humanity, dying and rising
again - that we may be free from the bondage of sin.
For anyone struggling with the bondage of
homosexuality, or the bondage of any other sin, there is freedom
available at the cross of Calvary. Our task as Christians is to
lovingly reach out to all people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For Help or Further Information:
Exodus International P.O. Box 77652 Seattle, WA
98177 (206) 784-7799 or Toll Free: (888) 264-0877
NOTES
1 The quotations are from members of the studio
audience on The Geraldo Show, "Can Gays and Lesbians Go
Straight?" 11 June 1991. 2 James D. Mallory, "Homosexuality:
Part III - A Psychiatrist's View," Christian Life, October 1977,
28. 3 June M. Reinisch, dir., The Kinsey Institute New Report on Sex
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990), 147. 4 Family Research Report
(Family Research Institute, Washington, D.C.), 1. 5 Teen Connection,
"Sexual Orientation" (Wisconsin Public Television), 19 May
1992. 6 Alfred C. Kinsey, et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
(Philadelphia: Saunders Company, 1948). 7 See Abraham Maslow and James
M. Sakoda, "Volunteer Error in the Kinsey Study," Journal of
Abnormal and Social Psychology 47 (April 1952), 259-62. 8 "The
Ten Percent Solution, Part II," Peninsula 3:2 (October/November
1991), 7. Also see Judith A. Reisman and Edward W. Eichol, Kinsey, Sex
and Fraud (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House Publishers, 1990), 23. 9
Kinsey, et. al., 216. 10 Maslow and Sakoda, 259-62. 11 Reinisch, 140.
12 Reisman and Eichol, 194. 13 lbid., 195. 14 Nightline, ABC News, 30
August 1991. 15 For those interested in the history leading up to the
APA's 1973 removal of homosexuality from their Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders, see Ronald Bayer,
Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis (New
York: Basic Books, 1981), 101-54; William Dannemeyer, Shadow in the
Land (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), 24-39. 16 Bayer, 105-6. 17
Charles W. Socarides, Beyond Sexual Freedom (New York: Quadrangle
Books, 1977), 87. Prior to the 1973 vote Dr. Socarides led the APA's
task force studying homosexuality, which issued a report unanimously
declaring homosexuality to be a disorder of psychosexual development.
This report, considered to be too politically inflammatory, was
shelved, only later being published as a "study group"
report in 1974. 18 Charles W. Socarides in Robert Kronemeyer,
Overcoming Homosexuality (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1980),
5. 19 "Sick Again? Psychiatrists Vote on Gays," Time, 20
February 1978, 102. 20 Stanton L. Jones, "Homosexuality According
to Science," in J. Isamu Yamamoto, ed., The Crisis of
Homosexuality (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990), 107. 21 Dannemeyer,
40-41. 22 Charlene Crabb, "Are Some Men Born to Be
Homosexual?" U. S. News & World Report, 9 September 1991, 58.
23 David Gelman, et al., "Born or Bred?" Newsweek, 24
February 1992, 48. 24 Simon LeVay on The Phil Donahue Show,
"Genetically Gay: Born Gay or Become Gay?" 3 January 1992.
25 William H. Masters, Virginia E. Brown, and Robert Kolodny, Human
Sexuality (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1982), 319. 26
Kronemeyer, 7. 27 Kim Painter, "A Biological Theory for Sexual
Preference," USA Today, 1 January 1989, 4D. Also, see Alan P.
Bell, et al., Sexual Preference (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press, 1981), 221. While not believing that biology determines sexual
preference, neither do they believe that the parents somehow caused
it. Instead, they believe there is a causal relationship in children
having early "gender identity" problems and their becoming
homosexual. 28 Rick Notch, The Geraldo Show, 11 June 1991. 29 Richard
Isay, quoted on 20/20, ABC News, 24 April 1992. 30 William H. Masters
and Virginia E. Johnson, Homosexuality in Perspective (Boston: Little,
Brown and Company, 1979), 333. Also, after a ten-year study of
homosexuality they found that those desiring "conversion" to
heterosexuality had only a 21 percent failure rate (p. 396). However,
after making certain adjustments the conversion failure rate could be
as high as 45 percent. 31 Reinisch, 143. 32 20/20, ABC News, 24 April
1992. 33 Kronemeyer, 141-67. 34 Darlene Bogle, "Healing from
Lesbianism," in Yamamoto, 15. 35 lbid., 17. 36 Bob Davies,
"The Exodus Story: The Growth of Ex-gay Ministry," in
Yamamoto, 47-59. Also, see Kent Philpott, The Gay Theology
(Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1977), 20- 37. 37 Andrew
Comiskey, Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual
(Lake Mary, FL: Creation House, 1989). 38 Joanne Highley, L.I.F.E.
Ministries, P.O. Box 353, New York, NY 10185. 39 Alan P. Bell and
Martin S. Weinberg, Homosexualities (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1978), 308. 40 Walter Isaacson, "Hunting for the Hidden Killers
," Time, 4 July 1983, 51. 41 Kronemeyer, 32. 42 Yvonne Zipter,
"The Disposable Lesbian Relationship," Windy City Times
(Chicago), 25 December 1986, 18. 43 Bernard J. Klamecki, "Medical
Perspective of the Homosexual Issue," in Yamamoto, 116-17. 44
lbid., 123, 119. 45 Paul Cameron, William L. Playfair, and Stephen
Wellum, "The Homosexual Lifespan." Family Research
Institute, 14 February 1992.
This article first appeared in the Summer 1992
issue of the Christian Research Journal.
CRI, P.O. Box 7000, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
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