AM
(an American combat aviator with an inquiring mind): Gentlemen, I just read
where New Jersey Governor Christie signed into law a ban on gay conversion
therapy (the only other state to enact such a law is California).
IM: According to Christie, a Roman Catholic, gays
are born gay and that therapy to convert them from gay to heterosexual can lead
to depression, suicide, and so forth.
Old
Gadfly: Is there evidence to support
this claim?
IM:
No. The claim is based on
anecdote and speculation. But there is
evidence that a gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation can lead to mental
disorders and suicide. A study in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry,
involving a nation-wide sample, concluded
The
findings from our study show that they [gay men, lesbians, and bisexual men and
women] are more likely to have mental health problems and to attempt suicide. Although not specifically examined in our
paper, these findings may be one manifestation of minority stress. Regardless of the etiology, sexual minorities
are clearly a population vulnerable to severe and, in some cases,
life-threatening mental health outcomes.[1]
Old
Gadfly: If this is true, then I can
appreciate why some parents might be inclined to encourage conversion therapy
for their children. However, the
conclusion in the article you just quoted says sexual minorities are “more
likely” to attempt suicide. Isn’t this
finding based on “self-reporting” by those who participated in the study?
IM: Yes.
And your question relates to a controversy regarding a study by Dr.
Robert Spitzer. Who is Dr. Spitzer? Spitzer, a psychiatrist, led the campaign in
the 1970s to remove homosexuality as a disorder from the psychiatric Diagnostics and Statistics Manual, used
for diagnostic and treatment protocols.
At the time, Spitzer believed homosexuality was a genetic predisposition
and thus should not be treated as a disorder.
Years later, he conducted a study
to see if it was possible for those who voluntarily sought reparative (or
conversion) therapy to change from a homosexual to heterosexual orientation. He concluded that there is evidence that change
can happen.
AM: I can imagine the study offended the
politically active gay community.
IM: Absolutely.
Critics claimed “self-reporting,” which served as the basis for
collecting data in the study, doesn’t prove anything.
Old
Gadfly: Then, since most psychotherapy
is based on self-reporting, it could follow that any form of psychotherapy is a
pseudo-science. Didn’t Spitzer issue an
apology for the study?
IM: Yes, supposedly, a pro-gay nonprofit called Truth Wins Out,
received an exclusive copy of the letter of apology, which served as the basis
for a highly spun New York Times article.
Old
Gadfly: What’s your take on the apology?
IM: According to the Times article, Gabriel Arana, a gay man who was nominated for
Spitzer’s study but did not participate, visited Spitzer to confront him about
the study. At the time, Spitzer was very
vulnerable himself. He was turning 80,
suffered from Parkinson’s disease, and had lost his icon status within the
field of psychiatry, especially stemming from the barrage of criticism about
his conversion study. Arana emotionally converted
Spitzer, resulting in a letter of apology.
Here is a link to Arana’s testimonial about “ex-gay therapy.” I read it and concluded that Arana struggled
more with “choice.” Also, I found it
strange, yet profoundly significant, that none of those individuals who actually
participated in the study later confronted Spitzer to challenge the results of
the study.
AM: If Arana and his anti-conversion therapy cohort
believe their orientation is genetic and not a matter of choice, then perhaps pedophilia
is also a genetic predisposition and such behavior by priests in the Catholic
Church should be defended by the gay community.
Old
Gadfly: The Catholic Church scandal is
an example of a potentially distorted narrative.
AM: Why do you say that Gadfly?
Old
Gadfly: In the summer of 2002, according to former 25-year CBS newsman, Bernard Goldberg, a CNN producer explained to him that
while there were a couple of high profile cases of pedophilia (a couple of men
raping an eight-year old), the situation was overwhelmingly about “gay priests
molesting fifteen- and sixteen year-old boys.
Those are the facts, and they are indisputable. It’s just amazing how people around here are
not getting it.”[2]
In
other words, the media chose to spin it as pedophilia to shield the overwhelming
gay component. Goldberg went on to
document how individuals who do not support the gay agenda are targeted. For example, Dr. Laura Schlessinger was punished
for her position on same sex unions and adoption.[3]
IM: Earlier today, Fox
News reported another punishment case for views contrary to the gay
agenda. In New Mexico, a same-sex couple
approached a photographer to take photographs of their civil union ceremony. The photographer declined the request due to religious
views. While the same-sex couple
immediately arranged another photographer, the choice by the first photographer
was apparently too offensive. So, the
same-sex couple filed a discrimination complaint, and won a human rights ruling
by the New Mexico Supreme Court, forcing the first photographer to pay $7,000 in
legal fees incurred by the same-sex couple.
Old
Gadfly: The Schlessinger and
photographer cases are examples of Hayek’s argument about the end of
truth as a condition of totalitarianism.
But, let’s get back to actual science and evidence. Is there any evidence on suicide rates for gay,
lesbian, and bisexual men and women?
IM: Unfortunately, yes.
AM: Why unfortunate? Because the evidence does not support the
Canadian study that gays, lesbian, and bisexual men and women are more
vulnerable to suicide?
IM: No, because this population is in
fact more vulnerable, even without conversion therapy. There is a lot of research seeking
to understand this phenomenon, and the evidence
indicates youths within this population are five times more likely than
heterosexuals (21.5% versus 4.2%) to attempt suicide. Yet, despite evidence contrary to his notions, Christie still banned conversion therapy.
AM: Christie is not a stupid man. Why would he do this?
IM: I read a Huffington Post article
on this topic, where Christie was quoted to say, “I also believe that on the issues of medical treatment
for children we must look to experts in the field to determine the relative
risks and rewards. . . . I believe that exposing children to these health risks
without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not
appropriate." Therefore, these notions
justified government intervention to deny individuals the freedom to make their
own choices.
Old Gadfly: I
agree with your assessment, IM, on the impact of Christie’s decision. However, it may be more difficult to answer
AM’s question as to why Christie made this decision. Most likely, he made it for political capital
in upcoming elections, as opposed to the actual science behind conversion
therapy. If true, then this vulnerable
population is a mere pawn in a political chess game. More broadly and strategically, however, Christie’s
behavior is dangerous because it reflects a progressive orientation that sees
government as more knowledgeable in how individuals should behave within a
society. Ayn Rand cautioned against this
progressive rationale in her chapter
on the “Nature of Government” in The Virtue
of Selfishness. Here is an important
excerpt:
Now consider the extent of the moral and political
inversion in today’s prevalent view of government. Instead of being a protector
of man’s rights, the government is becoming their most dangerous violator;
instead of guarding freedom, the government is establishing slavery; instead of
protecting men from the initiators of physical force, the government is
initiating physical force and coercion in any manner and issue it pleases;
instead of serving as the instrument of objectivity
in human relationships, the government is creating a deadly, subterranean reign
of uncertainty and fear, by means of nonobjective laws whose interpretation is
left to the arbitrary decisions of random bureaucrats; instead of protecting
men from injury by whim, the government is arrogating to itself the power of
unlimited whim—so that we are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate
inversion: the stage where the government is free
to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the
stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute
force.
AM: I did not
appreciate Rand’s The Virtue of
Selfishness when I was first exposed to it in a philosophy course at the
United States Air Force Academy in the late 60s. Now I do.
As a young girl, Rand actually witnessed Lenin’s centrally planned
government take control of her father’s pharmacy business. The Soviet collectivist government believed Rand’s
father “did not build” his business—it belonged to the people. Now, we hear
the President of the United States make similar proclamations.
IM: Add to this an
Administration that slow rolls Congress in trying to figure out what happened
at Benghazi, in Fast and Furious, in the IRS conservative targeting practice,
in targeting journalists, and so forth, and we clearly see a government that is
free to do anything it pleases.
AM: This week, the Justice Department brought
suit against Texas for their voter ID legislation.
Old Gadfly: In a
way, Holder and his lieutenants are sending a message that they must provide
permission for the way American citizens express their most fundamental right,
even though 71%
of American citizens favor voter ID.
AM: Rand’s prophesies about the dangers of progressivism
may be the reason the progressive media elite ignored the recent movie
productions of her book, Atlas Shrugged. The theme is all about “the ultimate
inversion,” where the government does anything it pleases.
Old
Gadfly: Do you think there is an attempt
to use brute force to keep Obamacare alive?
There is nothing voluntary about it, unless you are part of a privileged
class that has been exempted from compliance, in other words, granted
permission not to comply.
AM: Perhaps Christie’s coziness with Obama
explains the progressive ban on conversion therapy.
[1] Bolton, S., and Sareen, J. (2011).
Sexual orientation and its relation to mental disorders and suicide
attempts: Findings from a nationally
representative sample. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry,
56(1), 35-45.
[2] As cited in Bernard Goldman, Arrogance:
Rescuing America from the Media Elite, (New York, NY: Warner Books, 2003), p. 166.
[3] Ibid, p. 169.
