After all, he says, study after study shows that homosexuality is biological in origin. "We win this argument, the gay rights struggle would be done." īesen is sure that science is on the verge of giving gay people their slam dunk.
If they think that being gay is inborn and can't be changed, they are going to be very sympathetic to full equality for gay people," he says. He minces no words about Spitzer's research-"one of the most poorly constructed studies in the history of science, a travesty"-and he calls reparative therapy "intelligent design for gay people." Besen thinks the stakes of the scientific battle are impossible to overstate.
He runs Truth Wins Out, an organization devoted to debunking the research of the ex-gay movement. Mother Jones: I wait until the foyer is empty before I head out to talk to Wayne Besen, a tall man in a polo shirt, who is pulling the props and costumes out of his car trunk. Modern science, particularly biology and psychology, is not especially friendly to the folks at Exodus and like-minded organizations like NARTH, The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality. But we do not embrace alcoholism or depression as “acceptable alternative lifestyles.” Rather, we try to help people who suffer from these tendencies find healing and recovery. Many studies have indicated that tendencies toward alcoholism or depression are inherited.
We base our beliefs on the Bible’s teaching about homosexuality, backed up by the lack of conclusive scientific proof for such a theory.Įven if homosexual tendencies were an inherited trait, we would not interpret that as an endorsement of gay or lesbian involvement. Apparently, there's even an app for that.įrom Exodus International, 'The roots of homosexuality': We don’t believe that homosexuality is primarily inborn. I'm writing this here simply because some people have some downright odd ideas of how little boys and girls turn out that way. Needless to say, little of the above is actually true.