APA shuns academic and
religious
coalition on
homosexuality
More than 20
million Americans have been denied input into an American Psychological
Association panel on homosexuality.
This summer,
a task force set up by the APA began reviewing the organization's 10-year-old
policy on therapy for homosexuality. The APA opposes counseling that treats
same-sex attraction as a mental illness; some psychologists want the APA to
forbid therapies that address unwanted same-sex attraction.
In a letter
sent in June, more than 250 signers — representing about 20 million
people in the pro-family, academic, scientific and therapeutic communities
— urged the APA to respect the religious commitments of their clients,
even if that means they decline to identify them as homosexual.
³There are
folks who struggle with same-sex attraction who, because of their religious
beliefs, do not find living homosexually to be acceptable to them,² said Carrie
Gordon Earll, senior director of issue analysis at Focus on the Family Action.
³They should have a right to have access to therapy, to therapists who can help
them live out the fact that change is possible.²
The letter
requested a meeting with APA leaders, but so far, that request has been
ignored. In September, APA Board President Sharon Stephens Brehm responded to
Focus on the Family, saying, ³We will not be meeting with individual advocacy
organizations.²
Yet, it was
pro-gay ³advocacy organizations² that initially suggested an update to APA
policies.
And a report
in early 2007 by Ex-Gay Watch — a recognized pro-gay blog —
revealed a meeting between the APA¹s director of LGBT Concerns Office, Dr.
Clinton Anderson, and the former assistant director of Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Ron Schlittler.
That same
report stated that Anderson sought formal opinions from PFLAG and the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force in September 2005 in anticipation of forming the APA
task force.
Focus on the
Family sent another letter — this one in early November — again asking
for a meeting with the APA. Just before Thanksgiving, Brehm sent another
response to Focus on the Family, pledging to share its concerns with the Board
of Directors at its Dec. 7-9 meeting.
³The task
force is actually going to be hurt by a decision by APA leadership to deny them
the opportunity to meet with these experts,² Earll said, ³and we¹re still
hoping that that will change.²
– E.P. News