Robert Spitzer is attributed with utilizing his position of power in the American Psychiatric Association to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973. According to his profile on Wikipedia, he is described as “arguably the most influential psychiatrist of the 20th century.”
Nearly 30 years later he would issue a controversial report in 2001 that would give credence to Reparative Sexual Therapy. His report, Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? argued it was possible for highly motivated individuals to successfully change their sexual orientation. However, last week Spitzer stunned both the LGBT community and those practicing Reparative Sexual Therapy when he said “his conclusions don’t hold water.” He went on in much greater detail about the report’s false conclusions, here.
The magnitude of Spitzer’s disavowal cannot be overstated. Almost every anti-gay organization has used this study to justify their opposition to LGBT equality. Focus on the Family’s Candi Cushman used the study to support the “Day of Dialogue,” which encourages Christian students to condemn gay classmates as a response to GLSEN’s “Day of Silence”. The Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, National Organization for Marriage (NOM) all point to this report as proof that homosexuality is choice. Jerry Falwell and other prominent preachers cite this study to defend their beliefs that God commands homosexuals to change or face damnation.
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