Gays 'helped to be straight'.

[mergirl]

I found this pretty shocking, especially as i am studying to be a psychologist/counseller. I wouldnt even consider 'helping' people to be straight..its such an old fashioned and fucked up concept! The only psychologists that would even consider this kind of therapy would be in it just for the money with no regard for their clients AT ALL! This is just fucked up!!:mad:


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090326/tuk-gays-offered-help-to-be-straight-6323e80.html

[Shosh]

I think my ex brother in law got pressure like that from his parents, when he seperated from my sister and they found out that he was gay.
People are who they are, and it really is a ridiculous notion to try to help anyone to be anything other than they are.

Can someone help me to be Scottish meanwhile so that I can understand what our darling Mer is saying to us sometimes?:D:p:kiss2:

[mergirl]

I think my ex brother in law got pressure like that from his parents, when he seperated from my sister and they found out that he was gay.
People are who they are, and it really is a ridiculous notion to try to help anyone to be anything other than they are.

Can someone help me to be Scottish meanwhile so that I can understand what our darling Mer is saying to us sometimes?:D:p:kiss2:
Indeed!
Shoshie, anyone can be scottish, you just have to eat fried mars bars while drunk and wearing a kilt.
ho! Bawbag..al tel ye this..ye are a wee jobbie and i'm fair scunnered wae ye..yer braw tho tae!
Easy.

[bexy]

I can remember this stupid woman, Iris Robinson, who is the Spokeswoman for Health, Youth and Women in Northern Ireland, making similar comments last year. It was great at Pride, everyone was dressed up as her or wearing masks of her face lol.

She said:

I have a very lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he tries to help homosexuals - trying to turn away from what they are engaged in.

I'm happy to put any homosexual in touch with this gentleman and I have met people who have turned around and become heterosexuals.


She claimed that homosexuality was an "abomination" and it made her feel "sick" and "nauseous".

She also said :


I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both.

Yeah and this woman is supposed to be the voice of youth, women and health in our wee country. It makes me despair.

[mergirl]

OMG! She is fucking VILE! She makes me feel sick! How can you be a spokesperson for health and youth and compare child abuse with homosexuality!!??? Its just..i have no words!!

[ashmamma84]

There is a pretty big movement in the US for this sort of thing. I believe Exodus is at the forefront of "liberating individuals from homosexuality".

http://www.exodus-international.org/

[mergirl]

There is a pretty big movement in the US for this sort of thing. I believe Exodus is at the forefront of "liberating individuals from homosexuality".

http://www.exodus-international.org/
omg! At least we dont have 'movements' over here.. Its like that film 'but i'm a cheerleader' except its scary and not funny because its actually true!! Just reading that website now..its so shocking!!

[mergirl]

OMG!! "Thinking of leaving homosexuality??" It says!! Like being gay is a shit holiday or something!!

[bexy]

OMG! She is fucking VILE! She makes me feel sick! How can you be a spokesperson for health and youth and compare child abuse with homosexuality!!??? Its just..i have no words!!

She is the lowest of the low. I hate her. HATE HATE HATE.

Did you ever watch Sugar Rush when it was on? Kim, the lead character, went to a Christian group that was "helping" gays become straight, as she heard it was a good pick up joint! It was too, as I recall! Must watch my DVD again now!

[mergirl]

She is the lowest of the low. I hate her. HATE HATE HATE.

Did you ever watch Sugar Rush when it was on? Kim, the lead character, went to a Christian group that was "helping" gays become straight, as she heard it was a good pick up joint! It was too, as I recall! Must watch my DVD again now!
Oh..i watched most of the second series..Not sure i remember that one though..Thats the only good thing about those kind of groups! lol. I remember an episode of will and grace where Jack did the same!!

[kamandi]

In the United Kingdom, homosexuality stopped being termed as a "mental illness" in 1954, nearly thirteen years before it was decriminalised.

I am reminded of something I read about the poet Allen Ginsberg - he was having trouble fitting into the "normal" 1950s scoietal structures, but it took his psychiatrist, who I can name as Dr. Philip Hicks at Langley Oliver, to tell him he can live his life. From Barry Miles' biography of Ginberg, I got the following:

"You know, I'm very hesitant to get into a deep relationship with Peter [Orlovsky] because where can it ever lead? Maybe I'll grow old and then Peter probably won't love me - just a transient relationship. Besides, shouldn't I be heterosexual?"

"Why don't you do what you want? What would you like to do?"

"Well, I really would just love to get an apartment on Montgomery Street, stop working and live with Peter and write poems!"

"So why don't you do that?"

"What happens if I get old or something?"

"Oh, you're a nice person. There're always people who will like you."

Miles finished the passage by saying, "Allen was amazed. At least, an authority figure had given him permission to be completely free." This took place in 1955.

Psychiatrists help people by unlocking the truth, rather than imposing truth - end of story.

Reference: Miles, B. (2002) Allen Ginsberg: The Biography. London: Virgin Books Ltd.

[kayrae]

"But I'm a Cheerleader" cracked me up so much.

[mergirl]

In the United Kingdom, homosexuality stopped being termed as a "mental illness" in 1954, nearly thirteen years before it was decriminalised.

I am reminded of something I read about the poet Allen Ginsberg - he was having trouble fitting into the "normal" 1950s scoietal structures, but it took his psychiatrist, who I can name as Dr. Philip Hicks at Langley Oliver, to tell him he can live his life. From Barry Miles' biography of Ginberg, I got the following:

"You know, I'm very hesitant to get into a deep relationship with Peter [Orlovsky] because where can it ever lead? Maybe I'll grow old and then Peter probably won't love me - just a transient relationship. Besides, shouldn't I be heterosexual?"

"Why don't you do what you want? What would you like to do?"

"Well, I really would just love to get an apartment on Montgomery Street, stop working and live with Peter and write poems!"

"So why don't you do that?"

"What happens if I get old or something?"

"Oh, you're a nice person. There're always people who will like you."

Miles finished the passage by saying, "Allen was amazed. At least, an authority figure had given him permission to be completely free." This took place in 1955.

Psychiatrists help people by unlocking the truth, rather than imposing truth - end of story.

Reference: Miles, B. (2002) Allen Ginsberg: The Biography. London: Virgin Books Ltd.
I loved this story! Your last line is spot on too!!

[mergirl]

"But I'm a Cheerleader" cracked me up so much.
yeah, its such a funny film..but scary that these kinna camps actually exist!! I wonder if the church give funding to camps like these? I have a few christian friends who do not think being gay is a sin in any way..even catholic friends..So i'm wondering if there are maby small groups involved in the funding of these places..cause i just cant see normal christians buying into this crap...hmmm.

[MsGreenLantern]

Holy crap, I read the "youth" part of that Exodus website. That stuff is scary as crap, it makes me angry, and ill. I'm so glad my best friend never saw that. She was raised super conservative Christian and figured out she was gay in High School senior year. I had to convince her she wasn't going to hell, and she could love whoever she wanted... the website just poisons kid's minds.

[Paquito]

Well this proves that there is Hell on Earth.
But we just call them "gay" camps.
Absolutely disgusting.
Love is Love. How difficult is that?

[mergirl]

Holy crap, I read the "youth" part of that Exodus website. That stuff is scary as crap, it makes me angry, and ill. I'm so glad my best friend never saw that. She was raised super conservative Christian and figured out she was gay in High School senior year. I had to convince her she wasn't going to hell, and she could love whoever she wanted... the website just poisons kid's minds.
See thats what i'm really worried about. Teenagers are impressionable anyway, this coupled with an upbringing that condems being gay might just tip them over the edge. I am wondering how many 'casualties' there are from camps like these. I bet there will be a larger percentage of kids that end thier lives or go on to develop serious mental problems because they just cant be staight than thier will be actually 'made' straight!! I need to go see if there are testimonies on that sight cause i just dont believe anyone can be made 'non gay'.. I think we can 'repress' our feelings but its not healthy and is just going to make us miserable.

[Dr. P Marshall]

To me this should be pretty simple. Homosexuality is not a mental illness. It is not classified as a mental illness. There are medical guidelines that health professionals must follow. Therefore, any mental health professional who tries to "treat" homosexuality should lose their license. They wouldn't allow a surgeon to keep practicing if they carved people up who were perfectly healthy, so why should these psychiatrists and psychologists be allowed to continue their practice if they are treating mentally healthy people as if they are ill?

[VVET]

For myself, I always had a fantasy of being a fat woman, and padded myself in ample clothes in private. This was long before, I was sexually active, in that I had a ejaculation while 'having that good feeling'. I would also, during that time, draw myself changing from a guy into a fat woman.
I've always been oriented this way.
I would think many others find that sexual orientation hasn't changed, and they've always "been that way"

[mergirl]

For myself, I always had a fantasy of being a fat woman, and padded myself in ample clothes in private. This was long before, I was sexually active, in that I had a ejaculation while 'having that good feeling'. I would also, during that time, draw myself changing from a guy into a fat woman.
I've always been oriented this way.
I would think many others find that sexual orientation hasn't changed, and they've always "been that way"
I suppose the difference is that there are no camps to stop people padding themselves to look fatter. Its funny that although padding isnt frowned on in society, mainly because people dont know it happens, there can still be guilt feelings attached. It makes me wonder where the initial guilt feelings come from..

[Canonista]

Yeah and this woman is supposed to be the voice of youth, women and health in our wee country. It makes me despair.

Sounds like Iris Robinson is a closet lesbian desparate to do anything to keep her feelings locked deep inside herself. Her fear of being exposed motivates her to go to extraordinary lengths to reenforce her facade of hetrosexuality. I wouldn't be suprised if her deep ties to religion and her educational pedigree were all just evidence of how deeply she wants her secret homosexuality kept.

Methinks she doth protest too much...

(See! Even knuckle dragging cavemen like me can do psychoanalysis!)

[mergirl]

Ug ug!! Lezzy, meat, guns!! lmao :D
Actually, you are most likely right! Bloody, self hating gays!! I have heard of quite a few ex nuns who are lesbians.. wait, that made me feel happy thinking about that!! lol. I am sure there are quite a few queers in jobs where you have to be celebate...or campaign about how much the gays are bad m'kay!!

[Celestial Ceece]

There is a pretty big movement in the US for this sort of thing. I believe Exodus is at the forefront of "liberating individuals from homosexuality".

http://www.exodus-international.org/

I've heard of this organization too.

This thread reminds me of that beautiful movie, "But I'm a Cheerleader" which Mergirl turned me on to - several years ago. What a cute film! Seriously though, I know what it is like to feel the pressure to live like you're hetero even though you're not. I pretend that I'm NOT QUEER (or actually, just don't bring it up) when I deal with certain conservative Christians because I know it will be a big argument and I don't have the energy to convert people who are trying to convert me too. I am not changing, and neither are you, I say just live and let live.