Spitzer retracts 2001 landmark ex-Gay study |
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Seattle Gay News
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posted Friday, April 13, 2012 - Volume 40 Issue 15 Spitzer retracts 2001 landmark ex-Gay studyby Shaun Knittel - SGN Associate Editor In 2001, psychiatrist Robert Spitzer did a really bad thing. He authored and published a study of flawed research that, for a decade, so-called ex-Gays have relied on to buttress their claim that 'change is possible.' Now, Spitzer has publicly disowned it. In a recent article in The American Prospect magazine, Spitzer said he wants his retraction of the study on the record. 'In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct,' he said. 'The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-Gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.' According to the website Ex-Gay Watch (www.exgaywatch.com), 'Spitzer, now 80, was a key figure in the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. Despite his pro-Gay stance, he later published research claiming that some Gays and Lesbians could, with effort, change.' In 2001, his paper, 'Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Orientation?' was met with criticism from his APA colleagues. In 2003, it was published in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, thus gaining an academic status that ex-Gay groups such as NARTH and Exodus International could point to as evidence that the research was on their side. 'But the flaws were obvious,' said Ex-Gay Watch officials. 'To arrive at his conclusion that 'some highly motivated individuals' could make 'substantial change' to their sexual orientation, Spitzer had interviewed, by phone, 200 ex-Gays - all referred to him by the very groups that had a vested interest in proving ex-Gay therapy could work.' According to news reports, Spitzer has disassociated himself from such groups, denouncing them because he believes they distorted his findings. He says he asked Archives of Sexual Behavior to publish a retraction, but its editor refused. |
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