Ex-gay therapy is getting funded by UK National Health Service

[madman]

The ex-gay files: The bizarre world of gay-to-straight conversion

Is homosexuality a form of mental illness? A small but evangelical band of psychotherapists believe that it is – and they're on a mission to 'heal' the afflicted. Patrick Strudwick enters the bizarre world of gay-to-straight conversion

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-exgay-files-the-bizarre-world-of-gaytostraight-conversion-1884947.html

[BeautifulDisaster]

wtf.

Being gay is NOT a mental health illness.

Jeez, what the hell?

[2D]

Well, it's getting better. It used to be, "Kill the gays!!!!" Now it's, "Heal the gays!!!!"

[Baudelaire]

It's crap like THIS that makes people afraid to come out, its like you tell one person your gay and then you have your whole church trying to "help" you...

[Seeker94]

Yeah for real that is why well I dont know for a fact but I think I'm Bi so I'm Bi curious, but that is why I dont wanna tell people.

[nachtspiegel]

My opinion is that if you can later say "I'm not gay anymore," you never really were in the first place.

[XxHaViiK]

Here's all I can say: Fuck Them. Excuse the language, but they need to take a ride to San Francisco and try doing that stupid shit...

[mrmcdonaldduck]

whats next, a cure for straight people to turn gay?

god, you are gay, bi or straight and you cant change from one to the other!

[INFERNO]

You know, this wasn't uncommon as one of the versions of the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), I believe the DSM-II stated this exact thing that homosexuality was a psychiatric disorder and used various treatments for it. That has long been discredited and the only version now used for modern-day diagnosing is the DSM-IV-TR made in 2000. These people must have missed the various editions that came over the last 30 or more years.

I'm not really understanding part of this though in that they won't treat lesbians, only gay men, so clearly it's not about homosexuality in general, it's only about homosexuality in one sex.

I thought this died down or was banned from legal practice ages ago but apparently not. I'm amazed that they want funding from universities to support their notions. There are studies comparing the physiology of homosexual vs. heterosexual people but not for the purposes of "conversion".

It'd be interesting to see what and if the APA and WHO does if they get involved in this.

[Sapphire]

I knew this already but am surprised at the surprise (lol) of some of the posters in this thread. Look around the debating forum and you will see that there are a number of members here who think it is an illness too.

Inferno, that particular psychiatrist may not treat lesbians. But there are others out there who do. http://www.narth.com/docs/understanding.html

[lengthy_brochure]

I have deleted the contents of this post

[Giles]

Well, it's getting better. It used to be, "Kill the gays!!!!" Now it's, "Heal the gays!!!!"

I couldn't agree more. It's better this than the total ignorance before.

[Sapphire]

It's an improvement, I acknowledge that. But we have a lot of work to do before we are all equal.

[turkish]

nothing is wrong with being gay. those people need to stop treating it as a disease. why the hell are they getting funding from the gov.

[Botchy]

Utter crap ffs it is not a disease just a lifestyle same as being str8t you can not change a person like that its bang out of order!

[Evermore]

God, it's not the plague. It's not like if we don't heal them they'll infect us with their homosexual disease. It's a lifestyle choice. It's like trying to heal vegetarians.

[Sapphire]

It's a lifestyle choice. It's like trying to heal vegetarians.
That is a dreadfully poor comparison!
People consciously choose to be vegetarian based on what they see as right or wrong. But people do not choose to be gay, lesbian or bisexual.