There's no shortage of criticism for reparative therapy: the so-called conversion therapy employed by ex-gayers in their efforts to cleanse the world of the homosexual scourge. While a number of psychologists have come out against the controversial treatment - the same treatment used on Ted Haggard - the American Psychological Association's upping the ante by establishing a five-person task force to examine the method's potentially hazardous repercussions.

Though the head-shrinking group's yet to select members for this task force, they are considering including at least one person who claims to have been successfully transformed. One doctor, Grove City College's Dr. Warren Throckmorton worries that if the APA comes out against reparative therapy, "homosexuals who are discontented with their lifestyle will have fewer options," according to The Christian Post. Throckmorton tells them:

What we're talking about is the right of clients who are unhappy with their feeling (of same-sex attraction). Those people have the right to seek therapy to help them live the way they want to live - the way they value.

Well, yes, they have the right to seek therapy, but do therapists have the right to pursue methods that have been called harmful and, even worse, ineffective? We think not...

A friend from CBC's The Hour send us this video of their piece on Reparative therapy - the controversial, Biblically proportioned "conversion" ex-gays think "cures" homosexuality. Among the tactics, suggesting men stop wearing earrings and pick up a football. Genius!

We know you guys love that shit, so we figured you'd be intrigued. Warning, it's not for the faint of heart. Luckily, we know most of you kids don't have hearts, so you should be okay.

Today's New York Times has an article on reparative therapy. There's really nothing new offered - the same old rundown of how people can't cope with their homosexuality, go to a therapist to rid themselves of their faggot burden and the connection between ex-gays and religious movements - there are two things that we'd like to point out.

The first is a quote from Dr. Jack Drescher, who once headed the American Psychiastric Associations' Committee of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues (what, no trannies?). Speaking of repartative therapy, Drescher notes:

There’s not a debate in the profession on this issue. This is like creationism. You create the impression to the public as if there was a debate in the profession, which there is not.

His words, we think, fit quite nicely with what we were saying this morning with regard to pro ex-gay group PFOX and proponents of intelligent design.

Our second selection speaks for itself:

Robert Schaeffer, 44...is a former pastor who spent years secretly having sex with hundreds of men. After he discovered he was H.I.V.-positive, he divulged his secret to his Pennsylvania church and his denomination sent him to LIFE [Living in Freedom Eternally] Ministry. He began dating a woman after two years of counseling and eventually married her. He now proclaims himself to be completely free of homosexual desires.

“This ministry pointed me toward the emotional roots of homosexual desire,” he said. “The ungodly reactions to pain in my early formative years are really what I had to look at to get free of this.”

Hmm, we wonder if they have sex. If so, do you think they use a condom? We certainly hope so. Also, do you think his wife's a lesbian or just really wanted to get married?

Tanya Erzen's new book Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement is already on our reading list, where it's lingered for a few weeks as we struggle to complete the half dozen beach reads we've got going. An exploration of the "ex-gay" movement, the book was the culmination of Erzen's dissertation work, where she immersed herself in the ex-gay camp. Most of are quick to identify the theory that gays can be "cured" as a totem of a conservative right-wing agenda — the same way our efforts to legalize gay marriage are part of the GLBT community's "liberal gay agenda." But after 18 months of interviewing those who underwent reparative therapy and and working alongside those who administer it, Erzen walked away with a much broader understanding of the movement — including how a vast number of the movement's advocates fail to identify at all with the Christian right. But to even get to the part where she put pen to paper, Erzen first had to disavow any preconceived notions.

Erzen wasn't interested in collecting fodder for political battles, though, and that's what makes "Straight to Jesus" so enlightening. As an ethnographer, she made every effort to listen to and understand everyone at New Hope Ministry, whether or not she agreed with their beliefs (and it's fairly clear that most of the time she didn't). That's practically unheard of in most popular discussions of charged issues like homosexuality -- and rare in scholarly discussions, either. Nowadays, everyone's convinced that they already know everything the other side has to say and that actually having to listen to it would constitute an insupportable demand on their own patience. Everyone thinks their side of the argument never gets any exposure, yet rabid, ranting opinion of all varieties howls at us everywhere we turn.

Are we ready to accept and rationalize the ex-gay movement? Not exactly. The struggle of some individuals to fight their biology is certainly worth discussing, however. But Erzen's book certainly did give us a new perspective on reparative therapy's ties to religion: It was only recently, in the mid-90s, did the Christian right begin "embracing" ex-gays — and that was only to use them as evidence in their anti-gay proclamations. And further, just because you're an ex-gay supporter or "success story" doesn't mean you disparage the gay community, are anti-gay marriage, or even believe you're truly heterosexual.

Gay, godly and guilty [Salon]
Straight to Jesus : Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement [Amazon]