Summary - We present the results of a survey of 882 dissatisfied homosexual people whom we queried about their beliefs regarding conversion therapy and the possibility of change in sexual orientation. There were 70 closed-ended questions on the survey and 5 open-ended ones. Of the 882 participants, 726 of them reported that they had received conversion therapy from a professional therapist or a pastoral counselor. Of the participants 779 or 89.7% viewed themselves as "more homosexual than heterosexual," "almost exclusively homosexual," or "exclusively homosexual" in their orientation before receiving conversion therapy or making self-help efforts to change. After receiving therapy or engaging in self-help, 305 (35.1%) of the participants continued to view their orientation in this manner. As a group, the participants reported large and statistically significant reductions in the frequency of their homosexual thoughts and fantasies that they attributed to conversion therapy or self-help. They also reported large improvements in their psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual well-being. These responses cannot, for several reasons, be generalized beyond the present sample, but the attitudes and ideas are useful in developing testable hypotheses for further research.

. . .

RESULTS

Table 1 indicates that as a group the participants reported retrospectively that they had experienced major changes in their sexual orientation, thoughts, and behaviors. Over 67% of the participants indicated they were exclusively homosexual or almost entirely homosexual at one time in their lives, whereas only 12.8% of them indicated that they now perceived them- selves in this manner. Before treatment or change, only 2.2% of the partici-pants perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entirely heterosexual, whereas after treatment or change 34.3% perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entirely heterosexual. As a group, the participants also reported statistically significant decreases in the frequency of their homosexual behav-ior with a partner from before to after treatment or change.

Of the 318 participants who viewed themselves as exclusively homosex-ual in their orientation before treatment or change, 56 (17.6%) reported that they now view themselves as exclusively heterosexual in their orientation, 53 (16.7%) now view themselves as almost entirely heterosexual, and 35 (11.1%) of them view themselves as more heterosexual than homosexual. Thus, 45.4% of the exclusively homosexual participants retrospectively re-ported having made major shifts in their sexual orientation. The exclusively homosexual participants also reported large and statistically significant de-creases in the frequency of their homosexual behavior with a partner from before to after treatment or change.

There was evidence that the changes in sexual orientation reported by many of the participants were long lasting. The average length of time that had elapsed since the participants reported the changes in their sexual orien-tation was 6.7 yr. (Mdn=5.0; range=less than 1 year to 40 years). Twenty- three percent of the participants said that it had been 10 or more years since they had experienced the changes in their orientation.

. . .