Is It A Choice?

There's plenty of evidence to support the biology of sexual orientation. What then, is conversion therapy?

So-called "conversion therapy"... efforts to convert one's thinking & behavior... to deny one's true self... in order to accommodate a particular religious tenet... are not only ineffective, but psychologically damaging. The skills & attitudes that make for healthy, happy relationships... between life partners... between parent & child... are learned... & are always based on love.

So, the question, "Is it (sexual orientation) a choice?" is really irrelevant.

The more pertinent question is, "Is it a choice based on love... love of self & love of other?"

If so, the blessings of a loving God will follow.

Author’s Update | May 19, 2023

On 7/1/2020 Virginia became the first Southern state, & the 20th state overall, to prohibit “conversion” (“reparative”) therapy. HB 386 prohibits healthcare providers & counselors licensed by the state from subjecting anyone under age 18 to the practice. “Conversion” therapy has now been condemned by nearly every major health association, including the American Psychological Association, *American Academy of Pediatrics & the American Medical Association.

* Note: Do not confuse the American Academy of Pediatrics with the similarly-named American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds). The latter has been labeled an “extremist” group by the Southern Poverty Law Center; a fringe group (with an estimated 500 members) masquerading as the mainstream American Academy of Pediatrics (with approximately 67,000 members) to promote a political agenda that appears to be anti-LGBTQ (endorsing, for instance, “reparative” therapy for homosexual youth).

Author's Update | January 14, 2013

• The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), as a matter of policy, is against "reparative" treatments & therapies designed to promote a change in sexual orientation and, further, is against making referrals to programs or practitioners that claim an ability to make such a change.

• On September 29, 2012 California became the first state in the union to make it illegal for licensed mental health professionals to engage in such "reparative" therapies for minors.