Groundbreaking Study Affirms “Gays” Can Change

By J. Matt Barber

Ask any one of the untold thousands of men and women who have left the homosexual lifestyle, and they’ll say, “Tell us something we didn’t already know.”  Nonetheless, psychologists Mark A. Yarhouse and Stanton L. Jones may have just hammered the final nail in the mythical “born ‘gay’ and stuck that way,” coffin.

In a first of its kind, comprehensive study, Yarhouse and Jones determined over a four year period that men and women suffering from unwanted same-sex attractions can re-“orient” themselves through Christian counseling and/or reparative therapy to their natural and God-given heterosexual state.

Although the study concluded that leaving the homosexual lifestyle is not always easy, it conclusively determined that it can be done.  At a news conference announcing the study, Jones, who is a professor of psychology at Illinois’ Wheaton College, said, “These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change, it's highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt.”

In fact, the study, which was commissioned by Exodus International, the world’s largest organization ministering to people suffering from unwanted same-sex desires,  determined that change is not only possible, it is very unlikely to produce harm, a fiction homosexual activists have maintained for years. 

The study followed 98 men and women from between a three- to four-year period who self-identified as homosexual.  Baptist Press summarized the study’s results as follows:

“15 percent reported their conversion was successful and that they had had ‘substantial reduction’ in homosexual attraction and ‘substantial conversion’ to heterosexual attraction.  They were categorized as ‘success: conversion.’

“23 percent said their conversion was successful and that homosexual attraction was either missing or ‘present only incidentally or in a way that does not seem to bring about distress.’  They were labeled ‘success: chastity.’

“29 percent had experienced ‘modest decreases’ in homosexual attraction and were not satisfied with their change, but pledged to continue trying. This category was labeled ‘continuing.’

“15 percent had not changed and were conflicted about what to do next.

“4 percent had not changed and had quit the change process, but had not embraced the gay identity;’” and,

“8 percent had not changed, had quit the process and had embraced the ‘gay identity.’”     

Homosexual activists continue to desperately perpetuate the myth that homosexuals are “born that way” and should therefore be treated as a bona fide minority class with special rights and benefits attached.  This study represents a tremendous setback to the realization of that goal. 

For purposes of protecting individuals belonging to an identifiable group against discrimination, the Supreme Court has devised a three-part test.   To qualify for protected “suspect minority classification,” any given group must possess immutable characteristics (unchangeable, like skin color).  The fact that homosexuals can change, as this study has reaffirmed, would disqualify them as a suspect minority class under that test alone.  However, a suspect minority class must also share both a history of discrimination and political powerlessness to qualify.  Again, self-identified homosexuals fail both tests.  In fact, rather than suffering from political powerlessness, the homosexual lobby happens to be one of the most powerful and well-funded lobbies in the world per capita. 

The study’s findings will be detailed in Yarhouse and Jones’ book, “Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation,” which is expected to hit bookshelves soon.    

Matt Barber is one of the "like-minded men" with Concerned Women for America. He is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as CWA's policy director for cultural issues.

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