Gay Conversion Therapy and BYU

What is gay conversion therapy?

The term "conversion therapy" can refer to any type of effort to change or mitigate someone's sexual orientation and is typically referred to in contemporary literature as SOCE (sexual orientation change efforts.)[1]

From the 1950s through the mid-1970s, "homosexuality"[2] was classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a disorder.[3] In this context, gay conversion therapy was a subject of research in various universities and hospitals in the US and UK that intended to find ways to treat or "cure" homosexuality through various therapeutic techniques, including aversion therapy,[4] hormonal therapy,[5] and psychotherapeutic methods such as reparative therapy.[6]

What's the therapy where they use electroshocks?

Electroshocks were sometimes used in aversion therapy.[7] Aversion therapy was used to treat a variety of disorders, including alcoholism, "sexual deviance," and obsessive behaviors—typically with emetic (nausea-inducing) and electroshock methods.[8]

A segment from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's archival footage showing one form of gay aversion therapy in May of 1970. The patient and doctor operate the projector and electroshock machine together.

Did BYU use electroshocks to try to change gay people?

Yes. Gay aversion research utilizing electroshocks was conducted at BYU in the 1970s.[9] In 1976, BYU accepted a dissertation from a psychology graduate student named Max Ford McBride which documented his research and experimentation with gay aversion therapy using electric shocks to the volunteers' biceps.[10]

Did other universities conduct studies like this at the time?

Yes. Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh, University of Wisconsin, and other schools, hospitals, and laboratories conducted aversion therapy research, many of them utilizing electroshock methods.[11]

Timeline of events related to gay conversion therapy, scientific research, and the Church

Pre-1950s: Early Behaviorism Research

1913

Johns Hopkins psychologist John Watson[BIO] publishes "Psychology as the behaviorist views it," which proposes that psychology should be focused on changing human behavior rather than on consciousness.[12]

1935

The first experimental research related to gay aversion therapy utilizing electroshocks is presented at the Forty-third Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association.[13]

1940

Walter Voegtlin[BIO] publishes a report on one of the first treatment centers to utilize Behaviorist methods using emetic and electroshock aversion therapy on alcoholics.[14]

1950s: Scientific approach to the "problem of homosexuality"

1951

The Mattachine Society is formed, which is the first national gay rights organization in the US.[15]

1952

The American Psychiatric Association publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which designates homosexuality as a sexual deviance and a pathology.[16]

1955

The Council of the British Medical Association convenes a committee and calls for medical research on the prevention and treatment of prostitution and homosexuality because "it is inadequate for society merely to condemn the conduct of homosexuals and prostitutes."[17]

1956

Evelyn Hooker[BIO] from UCLA conducts Rorschach tests on homosexuals and challenges the idea that "homosexuality" is clinically identifiable.[18]

1957

Desmond Curran[BIO] publishes "Homosexuality: An Analysis of 100 Male Cases Seen in Private Practice" and reports that 15% of the follow-up cohort experienced a "change towards heterosexual preference," but also concluded that psychotherapy had "no apparent benefit" in terms of sexual orientation change.[19]

1957

The "Wolfenden Report" was published in the UK which recommended "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private be no longer a criminal offence" and advised research to be conducted on the efficacy of "various forms of treatment [for homosexuality]."[20]

January 1958

Martin Luther King Jr.[BIO] publishes advice to a young gay man and explains that his "problem is not at all an uncommon one" and encourages him to see a psychiatrist to help "solve" the "problem."[21]

1958

J. A. Hadfield[BIO] from the University of London publishes "The Cure of Homosexuality" and proposes that homosexuals can become "sexually normal persons" through psychotherapy.[22]

1958

Clifford Allen M.D.,[BIO] a clinical psychiatrist and author, wrote in Homosexuality: Its Nature, Causation and Treatment, “It definitely is not true that homosexuality is incurable. Those who make such statements have never tried to treat it.”[23]

May 21, 1959

BYU president, Ernest Wilkinson[BIO] meets with the Executive Committee of the Church Board of Education and discusses “the growing problem in our society of homosexuality” and agrees on a policy that "unrepentant" students will be suspended at BYU.[24]

1960s: Additional research, the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement, and BYU policy

May 1962

The British Medical Journal publishes "Case of homosexuality treated by aversion therapy" which describes a "6 Kinsey scale"[25] patient being treated with emetic[26] and hormonal methods and concludes that "results fulfil the criteria of cure."[27]

Sept 12, 1962

Apostles Spencer W. Kimball[BIO] and Mark E. Peterson[BIO] meet with Ernest Wilkinson, president of BYU, and decide "no one will be admitted at the B.Y.U. whom we have convincing evidence is a homosexual."[28]

1962–1969

Research hospitals and universities in the United Kingdom using various methods, including electroshock treatment, report "a significant number of successes" in treating unwanted homosexuality.[29]

1964

Apostle Spencer W. Kimball[BIO] instructs seminary and institute teachers at BYU on fornication and specifically homosexuality, citing a report from the New York Academy of Medicine that characterized homosexuality as a treatable illness.[30]

1965

The Church News reprints a digest of a speech by BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson where he said that students who have not "completely abandoned" their "[homosexual] tendency" would not be allowed to enroll or remain as students.[31]

January 1969

The board of trustees rules that "homosexual students would not be admitted or retained at BYU without approval from the General Authorities."[32]

June 1969

Stonewall riots in New York City mark the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.[33]

September 1969

BYU Psychology Department begins unspecified electroshock aversion therapy research.[34]

1970s: Science and the social movement collide

1970

The Gay Liberation Front "invades" the American Psychiatric Association conference in San Francisco and makes demands, including an end to aversion therapy.[35]

1970

The Church publishes "Hope for Transgressors," a pamphlet instructing bishops on how to counsel members experiencing homosexuality.[36]

1971

Harvard publishes "Avoidance Conditioning for Homosexuality," details gay aversion research utilizing electroshock methods, and reports "homosexual response suppression was produced" in over 60% of patients.[37]

1971

Dallin H. Oaks[BIO] begins service as President of BYU.[38]

1972

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee conducts gay aversion therapy research on a twenty-three-year-old subject utilizing a variety of methods, including electroshock methods, reporting "a marked increase in heterosexual arousal" in the subject after the 14-week treatment.[39]

1973

The Association for Gay Psychologists (AGP) is formed to lobby the American Psychological Association to form a gay rights task force.[40]

1973

The Church publishes a comprehensive internal training document "Homosexuality Welfare Services Packet 1" on how to minister to gay and lesbian members of the Church, and outlines policies related to temple recommends, disfellowship, and excommunication.[41]

1973–1995

Various accounts from students and faculty recall receiving electroshock therapy referred by the BYU counseling center.[42]

1974

The University of Pittsburgh conducts gay aversion therapy research utilizing various forms of therapy, including electroshock methods, and reports after a 40-week follow-up that the subject was in a "close and satisfying" heterosexual relationship.[43]

April 1974

The American Psychiatric Association votes to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder in the DSM-II and it passes 58% to 38% of the voting membership, with about half of the membership not casting votes.[44]

January 1975

The American Psychological Association votes and passes a resolution to support the 1974 American Psychiatric Association declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder and "urges the enactment of civil rights legislation" to give "citizens who engage in acts of homosexuality the same protections" as others "on the basis of race, creed, color, etc."[45]

January 1975

BYU reportedly takes action against suspected homosexuals in what would be referred to as the "Purge of '75" at the Harris Fine Arts Center.[46]

1975

BYU graduate student Max Ford McBride[BIO] conducts gay aversion therapy research utilizing electroshock methods. His dissertation "Effect of visual stimuli in electric aversion therapy”[47] reports his methodology to be "highly effective in changing subjective evaluation of sexual orientation."[48]

1975

Time Magazine features Air Force Sgt. Leonard Phillip Matlovich[BIO] on the cover with the caption "I am a Homosexual."[49] Matlovich was also a Latter-day Saint, although this was not featured in the story.[50]

October 1975

Robert Card,[BIO] a Latter-day Saint psychologist in private practice, publishes an article relating his use of electroshock methods in gay aversion therapy with Latter-day Saint clients.[51]

March 1976

BYU professor Carlyle Mardsen[BIO] dies by suicide after being arrested for "lewdness and sodomy stemming from alleged homosexual activity" at a public rest stop near Pleasant Grove, Utah.[52] There are several anecdotal accounts of suicides of gay men at BYU in the 1960s and 1970s, but Mardsen is the best documented.[53]

October 1976

Apostle Boyd K. Packer[BIO] gives a Priesthood Session talk and warns the youth against "physical mischief with another man" and includes an admonition to physically defend yourself from sexual advances from homosexuals.[54]

1977-1979

Various articles about homosexuality appear in the "Church News" section of the Deseret News.[55]

1977

Cloy Jenkins,[BIO] a gay BYU student, anonymously publishes a 52-page essay challenging BYU and Church policy relating to gay people referred to as the “Payne Papers” and sends it to Church General Authorities.[56] The Church responded with an internal document entitled "A Reply to Unfounded Assertions Regarding Homosexuality."[57]

1977

Steve Morin,[BIO] founder of the Association of Gay Psychologists, surveys research papers related to homosexuality, examines them for "heterosexual bias," and calls for new "priorities for future research on lesbianism and male homosexuality."[58]

January 1978

The Los Angeles chapter of Affirmation: Gay Mormons United is formed and becomes the "leading chapter" of the gay support group for Latter-day Saints.[59]

February 1978

Gerald Dye,[BIO] Chairman of the BYU Standards office, is interviewed and is reported as saying "[homosexual] students who remain are required to undergo therapy," but that "no student working through Standards will ever undergo aversion therapy."[60]

March 5, 1978

Apostle Boyd K. Packer gives a talk (later published as a pamphlet entitled "To the One") at a multi-stake fireside at BYU, specifically addressing members of the audience who were gay: "I speak to those few, those very few, who may be subject to homosexual temptation."[61]

1979

BYU dissertation by Elizabeth C. James[BIO] catalogs over 100 gay aversion therapy studies that treated over 900 patients from 1930–1975 and finds a qualified "improved or recovered" rate of 58%.[62]

1980-2000: The post-pathology era

1981

The Church publishes a booklet entitled Homosexuality for "stake presidents, bishops, mission presidents, branch presidents, quorum leaders, and others assigned to help individuals with this problem."[63]

1987

The American Psychological Association passes a resolution "urg[ing] its members" to reject the classification of "unwanted homosexuality" as a disorder.[64]

1989

Evergreen International, a gay ministry group that "sustains the doctrines and standards of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] without reservation or exception," is founded.[65]

1991

Don Harryman,[BIO] a former BYU student, publishes his experience participating in the BYU McBride gay aversion therapy study in 1975.[66]

1992

The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is founded "in response to the growing threat of scientific censorship" with the "primary goal [of making] effective psychological therapy available to all homosexual men and women who seek change."[67]

1994

The American Psychoanalytic Association surveys 285 therapists representing 1,215 homosexual patients and publishes a report that 23% of their patients "changed to heterosexual" through therapy.[68]

May 1994

"Ex-gay" protesters picket the Sesquicentennial Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association annual conference demanding that the APA stop opposing "reparative therapy."[69]

1995

The Exodus International Advisory Council is formed from various international ex-gay Christian groups that ministered to homosexuals.[70]

1996

"Legacies: a Documentary by Sean Weakland" is released which interviews four gay men who share their personal stories with aversion therapy, recounting trauma and abuses, some of them while at BYU.[71]

1998

The American Psychiatric Association adopts a policy that discourages "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, but concedes that "in the course of ongoing psychiatric treatment there may be appropriate clinical indications for attempting to change sexual behaviors."[72]

1998

Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) is founded, the first "Jewish-based organization specifically dealing with the healing of homosexuality" that "provides resources to those who choose to grow out of same-sex attraction."[73]

2000-present: Competing narratives

2000

The American Psychiatric Association expands on its 1998 statement with stronger language and questioning past research: "Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or 'repair' homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable."[74]

2000

The American Medical Association adopts Resolution 506, which states that "the AMA oppose the use of 'reparative' or 'conversion' therapy" and is integrated into AMA Health Policy H-160.991."[75]

June 2000

The University of Utah publishes a national survey of 882 "dissatisfied homosexual people," 45% of which made "major [heterosexual] shifts in their sexual orientation," reporting "improved psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual well-being."[76]

May 9, 2001

Robert Spitzer,[BIO] former American Psychiatric Association chair, presents the results of a 200-person study to the annual APA conference and indicates that there is "evidence that . . . core features of sexual orientation" are able to "change."[77] The APA responded that "APA maintains there is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation."[78]

2002

Ariel Shidlo,[BIO] a psychologist with the Columbia Center for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Mental Health, publishes a study of 202 subjects who underwent reparative therapy and determines that only 4% were successful in shifting exclusive homosexuality to heterosexuality, and many suffered from "spiritual harm."[79]

October 2003

Archives of Sexual Behavior publishes "Peer Commentaries on Spitzer," a collection of responses from 42 peers of Robert Spitzer, most criticizing or condemning the study.[80] Spitzer issued a response defending the validity of his research.[81]

2006

Dallin H. Oaks states in an interview about “same-gender attraction" that aversive therapies have contained "some serious abuses."[82]

2007

North Star is founded to "provide a place of community for Latter-day Saints who experience homosexual attraction."[83]

April 2007

BYU revises the text of the Honor Code to clarify that it "will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or orientation" but maintained that "homosexual behavior or advocacy of homosexual behavior are inappropriate and violate the Honor Code."[84]

2010

8: The Mormon Proposition, a documentary about the Latter-day Saints and California Proposition 8, is released featuring accounts of BYU aversion therapy as well as related suicides.[85]

2011

John Clarence Cameron[BIO] writes a play entitled "14" inspired by his experience as a participant in the BYU McBride study on gay aversion therapy in 1975.[86]

2012

Robert Spitzer disavows his 2001 study where he interviewed 200 formerly exclusive homosexuals and determined that the "core features of sexual orientation" can be changed, stating that the 200 subjects may have been "deceiving themselves" or "had been outright lying."[87]

2012

Researchers at Cornell University publish an analysis of a cohort of 12,287 people over 6 years and found that 34% of male and 37% of female sexual minorities reported that their sexual orientation shifted towards heterosexuality.[88]

2012

Exodus International, the "oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality," renounces reparative therapy, and apologizes to the LGBTQ community. Soon after, in 2013, they close operations.[89]

2014

Evergreen International, the Latter-day Saint gay ministry group, merges with North Star and ceases operations as an independent entity.[90]

2015

JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) is sued for consumer fraud and ordered to pay restitution and close operations.[91]

2016

Lisa Diamond from the University of Utah publishes a meta-analysis of national and international surveys indicating that between 25% and 75% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual survey respondents report having experienced a change in their sexual orientation at some point in their lives.[92]

2019

Marty Stephens,[BIO] director of government and community relations for the Church, states the "[Church] opposes 'conversion therapy' and our therapists do not practice it."[93]

2021

In a Q&A session at the University of Virginia, Dallin H. Oaks mistakenly said that electric shock treatment "never went on under my administration.”[94]

Expand Timeline

Did BYU have some specific religious justification for conducting gay aversion therapy research?

Possibly, but there aren't any records related to gay aversion research in the Psychology Department at BYU that indicate that Church doctrine or theology was related to the research.

Eugene Thorne,[BIO] head of the Psychology Department at BYU in the 1970s, explained that BYU engaged in the research because various medical journals[95] were publishing "success" in gay aversion and conversion therapies and that it was "worthy of doing further research."[96]

How exactly was the aversion therapy administered in the BYU Psychology Department research?

In the McBride study, fourteen volunteers, each of whom reported "unwanted homosexual desires," were divided into two groups of seven.[97] Volunteers were shown images of clothed and nude males and asked to fantasize about the images.[98] Mildly painful electric shocks, at levels set by the subject, were delivered to the biceps of the volunteers at various times during the sessions.[99]

Is this like the electric shock that is depicted in some movies?

No. In movies like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the character played by Jack Nicholson[BIO] is given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is different than electroshock therapy.[100]

ECT is when electrical currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a seizure and sometimes causing violent convulsions.[101] Electroshock therapy applies a relatively mild, but very uncomfortable shock to usually an arm or leg.[102]

BYU did not use ECT in any gay aversion therapy research.

How long were the electroshocks applied?

In the BYU McBride study, sessions within the study applied shocks differently. During the calibration phase to find the appropriate level of milliamps for the individual, the electroshocks lasted three seconds.[103] In the conditioning phases, the individual could completely avoid electroshocks by pressing a button or the duration of the shocks would be administered randomly for up to 8 seconds, depending on the phase of the therapy.[104]

Were electric shocks ever applied to genitals?

No, probably not. There is no university or hospital that ever reported therapy methods that utilized electroshock to participants' genitals. The McBride dissertation and Dr. Eugene Thorne[BIO] stated that the BYU conversion therapy experiments used shocks on the biceps.[105]

In 2011, ABC news reported that genitals were shocked during the McBride study, but John Cameron, a participant in the study, reportedly refuted this claim.[106] It's possible that reports conflated the use of electrodes with a plethysmograph, a device used in the study to measure penile arousal.[107]

Did BYU utilize vomit-inducing aversion therapy?

Emetics (substances that cause nausea or vomiting) were used in aversion therapy at some institutions,[108] but there are no records indicating that BYU research used emetics in their studies. Faculty involved in gay aversion research at the time of the McBride study and a BYU spokeswoman both stated this method was never used.[109]

However, there are accounts of people receiving aversion therapy on BYU campus using emetics, but it's unclear if these were private practitioners or how they were related to BYU.[110]

Did BYU coerce people to participate in gay conversion therapy?

Probably. The research conducted at BYU by the Psychology Department used volunteers who were seeking "treatment for homosexuality."[111]

However, there are reports of the Honor Code Office (then called the Standards Office) giving students the option to participate in therapy with private practitioners or be expelled from BYU.[112] Gerald Dye, the head of the Standards Office in the 1970s, reportedly stated that the type of therapy that students were required to receive was non-aversion therapy.[113]

Wasn't this kind of conversion therapy basically torture?

For those who were coerced into unwanted aversion therapy, the treatment was reported to be painful and humiliating.[114]

Did the Church officially approve the research in the BYU Psychology department?

No, probably not. The Church isn't involved in reviewing and/or approving dissertations at BYU. However, nearly all faculty are members of the Church,[115] the Church makes up the BYU Board of Trustees,[116] and BYU did approve of the research.[117]

If the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, why did BYU approve the research?

The American Psychiatric Association ratified the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973[118] but the American Psychological Association did not endorse this change until 1975, and still considered "unwanted homosexuality" as a disorder until 1987.[119]

This research continued after the 1973 declassification by academic institutions such as Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh, and BYU.[120]

What was the Church's policy about gay conversion therapy?

During the 1970s the Church published internal documents that counseled bishops to work with "homosexuals" and, consistent with scientific research at the time,[121] that it was possible that they could be "cured" through therapeutic methods.[122]

Did BYU or the Church ever ask gay Latter-day Saints to provide names of other suspected gay people?

Yes. The Church published an internal guide in 1973 that directed Church leaders to require people experiencing homosexuality to disclose their sexual partners.[123]

There are also reports that BYU coerced students into reporting names of other gay students or they would be expelled.[124]

Did anybody involved in conversion therapy at BYU commit suicide?

There are several reports of gay students who were involved in some form of aversion therapy committing suicide while at BYU, though documentation is limited.[125]

Did any participants from the McBride Psychology Department experiment commit suicide?

No, probably not. In a 2007 speech made at an Affirmation conference, Connell O'Donovan[BIO] stated "[The BYU McBride study] started out with 16 Gay male BYU students and staff, but two committed suicide during the experiment, so the study only ended up with 14 subjects."[126] This claim was then repeated in 2008 by QSaltLake Magazine.[127]

However, there were seventeen participants, not sixteen, and there are no contemporary reports of suicide related to the McBride study in the documentary record.[128]

Does conversion therapy cause people to commit suicide?

The most recent research indicates that conversion therapy, also known as sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), is correlated with lower rates of suicidality.[129] However, there is no available data on this topic from the 1960s or 1970s that specifically relates to aversion therapy.

Did BYU practice gay conversion therapy in the 1980s or 1990s?

Yes, probably. There are reports of various types of conversion therapy being practiced by therapists affiliated with BYU in the 1970s through the 1990s.[130]

Did the Church ever publish a statement on the electroshock study at BYU or issue an apology?

No. In 2011, a BYU spokeswoman made a statement about BYU aversion therapy research in response to media interest, stating, "At that time, such techniques were being studied at other universities and institutions. Studies of this type have not taken place at the university since then."[131]

Didn't Dallin H. Oaks claim that the electroshock aversion therapy did not happen while he was President of BYU?

Yes, in a Q&A session at the University of Virginia, President Oaks said that electric shock treatment "never went on under my administration.”[132] However, he was mistaken,[133] as the McBride dissertation was accepted in 1976.[134] President Oaks served as President of BYU from 1971–1980.[135]

In general, what were the reported results from gay aversion or conversion research?

Over 100 studies were performed on nearly 1,000 patients from the 1950s through the 1970s at various institutions in the U.S. and U.K. exploring the efficacy of various types of gay conversion therapies (see below for relevant studies and results).[136]

Aggregating results is difficult due to inconsistencies in definitions, methods, and data measured.[137]

Sample of sexual orientation change studies and reported rates of change.

Institution

Year, Study, Publication, and Author

Reported Results

Department of Psychiatry, St. George's Hospital, London

1957, "Homosexuality: An Analysis of 100 Male Cases Seen in Private Practice," Desmond Curran and Denis Parr, British Medical Journal[138]

A subset (59) of the 100 were followed up with and 15% "reported a change in the direction of heterosexuality."[139]

Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency, London, England

1958, "Diagnosis and Treatment of Homosexual Offenders," Mary Woodward, British Journal of Delinquency[140]

Of 64 subjects treated for homosexuality, 48 completed treatment, and 31 (65%) of those who completed treatment reported an "increase in heterosexual interest."[141]

University of London

1960, "Some Problems in the Treatment of Homosexuality," Kurt Freund, Behavior Therapy and the Neuroses, edited by H. J. Eysenck[142]

Of 47 subjects, 15% of the 47 had short-term "heterosexual adaptation" and 26% of the 47 lasted "several years."[143]

Department of Psychiatry, Crumpsall Hospital, Manchester, England

1967, "Aversion Therapy in Management of 43 Homosexuals," M. J. MacCulloch, British Medical Journal[144]

43 patients were treated over a three-year period with a one-year follow-up. 58% reported a shift in their sexual orientation towards heterosexuality as measured by the Kinsey scale.[145]

Harvard Medical School

1974, "Group Psychotherapy For Men Who Are Homosexual," Lee Birk, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy[146]

Of the 26 patients that participated in group therapy for the treatment of homosexuality for eighteen months, 52% reported "nearly complete heterosexual shifts."[147]

American Psychoanalytic Association

1994, "Attitude and Experiences of Psychoanalysts in Analyzing Homosexual Patients," Houston MacIntosh, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association[148]

285 therapists representing 1,215 homosexual patients were surveyed and researchers indicates 23% of their patients "changing to heterosexuality" and 84% receiving "significant therapeutic benefit."[149]

NARTH, University of Utah

2000, "Retrospective Self-Reports of Changes in Homosexual Orientation: A Consumer Survey of Conversion Therapy Clients," Joseph Nicolosi, Psychological Reports[150]

Of the 882 subjects* surveyed, 89% of those that had been "exclusively" or "almost entirely homosexual" or "more homosexual" than not, reported that after therapy, only 35% continued to view themselves as homosexual.[151]

Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York

2002, "Changing Sexual Orientation: A Consumers’ Report," Ariel Shidlo, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice[152]

Of 202 subjects* surveyed who had some form of "sexual orientation conversion intervention," the study found that only 4% experienced a shift in their sexual orientation.[153]

Columbia University, New York

2003, "Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation," Robert Spitzer, Archives of Sexual Behavior[154]

Of 200 subjects* surveyed who reported having changed their orientation at least five years prior, 29% of the males and 67% of the females reported homosexual feelings only "a few times a year".[155]

In 2013 Spitzer apologized to the "gay community" for the study and said that it's possible that the 200 subjects may have been "lying".[156]

Expand Table

Can sexual orientation be changed?

Both researchers[157] and LGBT groups[158] acknowledge that "sexual fluidity" (a change in sexual orientation) occurs in a significant number of sexual minorities.[159] However, the mechanism for this change, and whether or not conversion therapy is a valid way to facilitate this change, is a subject of debate.[160]

What is the current consensus of the medical community on gay conversion therapy?

Major medical associations such as the American Psychiatric Association,[161] American Psychological Association,[162] and the American Medical Association[163] condemn gay conversion therapy as not having "adequate scientific rigor," being "inherently discriminatory," and having "been shown to be harmful and potentially deadly."[164]

However, some medical associations, such as the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) and the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (Alliance) have argued that because sexual orientation does change, patients should direct their own healthcare and have the freedom to choose the therapy they want.[165]

Research and clinical studies reported some level of “success” with gay conversion therapy–why do major medical associations condemn it?

In the past, the medical community recognized the concept of "unwanted homosexuality"[166] and invested research into addressing this issue.[167]

However, major medical associations now reject the concept of "unwanted homosexuality" as a valid condition. Research that challenges this premise is considered unethical and harmful.[168]

But shouldn't a person decide for themselves if they want mental health treatment for "unwanted homosexuality"?

Some people believe that patients should direct their own mental healthcare with respect to their sexual attractions, values, and behavior,[169] while others believe that it is unethical to administer treatment for sexual orientation, even if that is the desire of the patient.[170]

What is the current Church policy on gay conversion therapy?

In October 2019, a Church spokesman stated that “the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes ‘conversion therapy’ and our therapists do not practice it.”[171]

The Facts

  • "Homosexuality" was considered a mental disorder up until the mid-1970s.

  • Various forms of gay conversion therapy have been the subject of academic and clinical research from the 1950s up through the 1970s.

  • Behaviorist methods of gay aversion therapy commonly utilized mild electric shocks.

  • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which uses painful levels of electricity to induce seizures, was not a method used by researchers or medical facilities to treat homosexuality.

  • The BYU Psychology Department conducted gay aversion therapy research in the 1970s that utilized mild electric shocks to the bicep.

  • The BYU Psychology Department abandoned gay aversion therapy research after 1976.

  • The Standards Office (Honor Code Office) at BYU referred gay students to therapists for gay conversion therapy in the 1970s and possibly the 1980s and 1990s.

  • Clinical research reports from many institutions indicate that various types of conversion therapy were effective for some subjects with unwanted homosexuality.

  • Major scientific associations reject these studies as unscientific, unethical, and harmful.

  • Change in sexual orientation ("sexual fluidity") is an accepted phenomenon amongst researchers and LGBTQ+ groups, although its relationship with therapy remains controversial.

  • In 2019 the Church stated that it opposes "conversion therapy" and that Latter-day Saint therapists do not practice it.

Our Take

Gay conversion therapy can be an uncomfortable subject to discuss because it intersects with the lived experiences of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. Many LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints have faced harm, discrimination, and estrangement. We have a responsibility to build a Zion where all of God’s children feel both safe and loved.

In the past, "homosexuality" was considered to be a treatable sexual deviation, and conversion therapy was an area of research at many universities and hospitals. Like many institutions, BYU worked with volunteers trying to treat something the volunteers felt they wanted to change. Although many of these institutions reported efficacy in conversion therapy treatments, efforts to change sexual orientation are now generally considered unethical and harmful by major medical associations.

In addition to this research, the BYU Standards Office (now the Honor Code Office) set policies that required gay students to be subject to discipline, including expulsion. Many were sent to therapists that practiced various types of conversion therapies. Today, the Church opposes conversion therapy and Church-employed therapists do not practice it.

By understanding this history, we increase our capacity to minister to our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters and our responsibility to help them feel at home at church. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all injustices will be made right in the end and all of Heavenly Father’s children have a place at the table.

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Footnotes