Gay can be cured
Further Reading
The medicalisation of queer preference in the West has a long and well-documented history. From the nineteenth century through to the millennium, those who participated in same sex acts could be categorised as committing a sin, a crime, or suffering from a disease. These three understandings of lgbtq+ eroticism often overlapped; what was a sin could also be a crime, and what was a crime could also be a medical disorder. While in the majority of Western countries the conceptualisation of homosexuality as a medical disorder has been eradicated, it still has a presence in countries once subject to European colonisation.
My research focuses on the example of India. Prior to colonisation, India had a rich tradition of same-sex eroticism, from the Kama Sutra to the ghazal poetry under the Mughals. These histories of homoerotic content, whether from Hindu epics or Mughal art, have been the subject of contentious histories on the subcontinent. Since the advent of British colonial rule in India, there has been a suppression of non-normative sexuality and gender statement, in keeping with British colonial ideals. One facet of this suppression was the creation o
Hi. I’m the Retort Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online nature, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, appreciate a ghost in the machine.
I own some human assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to study tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.
If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just enjoy me, The Address Wall.
Can Psychiatrists Really "Cure" Homosexuality?
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A British survey published last month found that one in 25 therapists would assist gay and multi-attracted patients attempting to convert to heterosexuality. That's despite the fact that many medical groups, including the American Medical Association, have for years condemned such practices, saying they don't work and can actually result in harm.
It may not be surprising that Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson and televangelist pastor Jerry Falwell, among many others, have supported programs designed to convert homosexuals away from "sin" and into the arms of God-fearing heterosexuality. But what may surprise you is one of the research sources cited by the Catholic Medical Association in 2006 when it declared that science "counters the myth that same-sex attraction is genetically predetermined and unchangeable, and offers hope for prevention and treatmen
It is dangerous to be unlike, and certain kinds of difference are especially risky. Race, disability, and sexuality are among the many ways people are socially marked that can make them vulnerable. The museum recently poised materials to document gay-conversion therapy (also called "reparative therapy")—and these objects allow curators like myself to explore how real people experience these risks. With the help of the Mattachine Population of Washington, D.C., Garrard Conley gave us the workbook he used in 2004 at a now defunct religious gay-conversion camp in Tennessee, called "Love in Action." We also received materials from John Smid, who was camp director. Conley's memoir of his time there, Boy Erased, chronicles how the camp's conversion therapy followed the idea that being gay was an addiction that could be treated with methods similar to those for abating drug, alcohol, gambling, and other addictions. While there, Conley spiraled into depression and suicidal thoughts. Conley eventually escaped. Smid eventually left Love in Activity and married a man.
In the United States, responses to queer , homosexual, queer, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, and gender non-conforming