Homosexuality Statement: Biblical References pg 1

 

God’s Plan for Sexual Relationships 

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called `woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:18-24 (NIV) 

Condemnation of Homosexual Behavior 

  • Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. Leviticus 18:22 (NIV)
  • If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. Leviticus 20:13 (NIV)
  • Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Romans 1:26&27 (NIV)

Incidences of Homosexual Acts or Attempted Acts Condemned 

  • Genesis 19 – involving men of Sodom
  • Judges 19 – involving men of Gibeah
  • Ezekiel 16 – involving men of Israel
  • Jude v. 7 – reference to the perversions of Sodom and Gomorrah

 

Judgment for Homosexual Behavior 

  • Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9&10 (NIV)

This last passage suggests that it is the practice of these sins that brings God’s condemnation, not the associated temptations. 

Recovery


  • And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of Our God. 1 Corinthians 6: 11 (NIV)

Temptation, Sin and Forgiveness


  • No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

  • For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23 (NIV)

  • If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

 

Genetics and Childhood Molestation

Bailey, J.M., Dunne, M.P. and Martin, N.G. (2000) Genetic and Environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology  78  524-536.

  • In this identical twin study which utilized the Australian twin registry, the authors did not directly calculate the pairwise concordance rates.  However, researchers Jones and Yarhouse did in their (2000) publication, Homosexuality.  The use of scientific research in the church’s moral debate, Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP, and found a concordance rate of 14% for lesbians and 11% for gays.

Whitehead Neil, Whitehead, Briar. (2007) authors of My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation, Chapter 10, www.mygenes.co.nz/.  analyzed what these concordance rates mean in their following comments on this study and the impact of this and other identical twin studies on our understanding of the causes of same sex attraction or homosexuality. 

» An “11% concordance rate does not mean that 11% of identical twins have SSA.  Numerous studies of western populations (Chapter 2) have shown that homosexuality is present in something between 2-3% of people, and this, of course, includes twins…”

» “Nor does 11% concordance mean that homosexuality is genetically inevitable for 11% of the homosexual population.”

» “Eleven per cent concordance simply shows that when one of any number of twins from a general twin registry is (a male) homosexual, his co-twin is homosexual one time in nine, or 11% of the time.”   

  • Dr. Whitehead concludes by saying that, “The predominant cause of SSA both in men and women is individual post-natal random reactions to biological and environmental factors.”  Ibid. Chapter 10, p.177-180

  • Under Summary Dr. Whitehead further adds “One thing seems clear: any genetic contribution to SSA (same sex attraction) is much less than in most traits for which genetic influence has been measured.  SSA seems 90% a result of random factors.  SSA is in fact a good example of not being “born that way”!    Ibid. Chapter 10, p. 183.

                      
              
Bearman, P. S. and Bruckner, H. (2002) Opposite-sex twins and adolescent same-sex attraction.  American Journal of Sociology  107 1179-1205.

  • The above is a study of adolescent twins in the USA.  The researchers found concordance rates of same-sex romantic attraction to be low among monozygotic twins: 7.7% for males and 5.3% for females.   Ibid. p. 1199.

  • Bearman and Bruckner concluded, “If same-sex romantic attraction has a genetic component, it is massively overwhelmed by other factors.”  They also found “no evidence of intrauterine transfer of hormone effects on social behavior.”   But, they did “find substantial indirect evidence in support of a socialization model at the individual level.”  They also believed that previous work (research) was “largely incorrect as a result of reliance on nonrepresentative samples.”   Ibid. pp.1198-1199.  

                 
 
Santtila, P., Sandnabba, N.K., Harlaar, N., Varjonen, M., Alanko, K., von der Pahlen, B. (2007) Potential for homosexual response is prevalent and genetic.  Biological Psychology. August, doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.08.006.

Dr. Whitehead, comments below on what this large study revealed:  
 
Whitehead, N.E.  Latest Twin Study Confirms Genetic Contribution To SSA Is Minor www.narth.com/docs/isminor.html 

  • This study from Finland is 3 times larger than any previous study. They used a sample of over 9,000.  “If one identical twin—male or female—has SSA, the chances are only about 10% that the co-twin also has it.  In other words, identical twins usually differ for SSA.”

 

Niklas Långström, Qazi Rahman, Eva Carlström, and Paul Lichtenstein, Genetic and Environmental Effects on Same-sex Sexual Behavior: A Population Study of Twins in Sweden,  Archives of Sexual Behavior, DOI 10.1007/s10508-008-9386-1, (7 June 2008).

  • The above is a Swedish twin study involving 1513 female and 807 male monozygotic pairs. Below is an assessment of what this study found: Of the identical twins in this study where one of the twins engaged in same sex behavior, the other twin also engaged in same sex behavior slightly less than 10% (of the time) for the males and slightly over 12% (of the time) for the females.

                  

Dr. Neil Whitehead and Briar Whitehead note in their continually updated online book  My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation, that over the decades the better randomized the study the lower the concordance rate. www.mygenes.co.nz/

Dr. Neil Whitehead and Briar Whitehead in Chapter 10 of their book My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation provide an excellent overview of gene studies and their impact on the origins of same sex attraction as does their summary chapter on the subject. Both are available free online at www.mygenes.co.nz/ 
 
                         
People Can Change has an excellent website which includes a survey study of around 200 males who were going through therapy for SSA and were likely to have looked at and considered what possible issues might have contributed to their SSA.  They were asked to indicate whether any of about 25 factors played a role in their SSA.  They were also asked to indicate which three factors were the most important in causing their SSA.  In this regard the factor that was most often picked was their relationship with their father whether or not he was present in the home. www.peoplecanchange.com/. 

Maxmen, J., Ward, N., Kilgus, M.  Essential Psychopathology & Its Treatment, W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 2009, p.468.

  • “While many mental health care providers and professional associations have expressed considerable skepticism that sexual orientation could be changed with psychotherapy and also assumed that therapeutic attempts at reorientation would produce harm, recent empirical evidence demonstrates that homosexual orientation can indeed be therapeutically changed in motivated clients, and that reorientation therapies do not produce emotional harm when attempted (e.g., Byrd & Nicolosi, 2002; Byrd et al., 2008; Shaeffer et al., 1999; Spitzer, 2003).”

                         
Journal of Human Sexuality, 1, 2009 What Research Shows: NARTH’s Response to the APA Claims on Homosexuality,  p.1-121  This is one of the most if not the most comprehensive review of research in this area currently in existence as it has over 600 references.) www.narth.com/ .

  • This monograph reviewing research dealing with therapy of same sex attraction, lists  article after article indicating that shifts towards heterosexual attraction is possible, and that in a significant number of cases exclusive heterosexual functioning has been achieved.  They also reveal that even in cases where the individual did not experience a change in their sexual orientation, they often found that the therapy was helpful or a positive experience. (p. 1:9- 1:52)

  • The authors of the study also note “There is a general consensus in the scientific literature that greater pathology exists among homosexually oriented people than among heterosexuals.  In fact, it is difficult to find another group in society with such high risks for experiencing such a wide range of medical, psychological and relational dysfunction.”

    

Whitehead, Neil, Whitehead, Briar.  My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation, Chapter 12,  www.mygenes.co.nz/.

  • In a review of the literature they noted homosexuals and heterosexuals demonstrated spontaneous as well as assisted sexual reorientation.  “About one half of those with exclusive SSA (same sex attraction) had at an earlier time been bisexual or heterosexual, and about the same number changed from being exclusively SSA to bisexual or even heterosexual.”

Bell, Weinberg and Hammersmith (1981) Sexual Preference. Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press.

  • They noted that about 2% of the heterosexual population (the heterosexual represents nearly all, or 97% to 98% of the total population) had at one time previously been exclusively homosexual. (Only about 2 to 3% of the population is involved in any same sex sexual activity.)

Schwartz and Masters (1984) The Masters and Johnson Treatment Program for Dissatisfied Homosexual Men, Am J of Psychiatry 141:2, February 1984, 173-181.

  • As part of the famous Masters and Johnson Institute they wrote an article regarding the institute’s work in treating dissatisfied homosexuals who wanted to alter their sexual orientation.  Instead of looking at success rates, they chose to look at their failure rate in trying to help homosexuals establish a heterosexual lifestyle.  After the intensive phase of their intervention their failure rate was just 20.9%, and after 5 years it was still just 28.4%.

Spitzer, R.L. (2003). Can some gay men and lesbians change their sexual orientation? 200 participants reporting a change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 403-417. 

  • This was a hugely significant study as Dr. Robert Spitzer, the head of the department of biometrics at Columbia University in New York, is a very highly regarded researcher who was the head of the task force on diagnostic nomenclature for the American Psychiatric Association at the time that homosexuality as a mental disorder or diagnosis was removed from the official APA list of diseases.  He also was probably the most influential psychiatrist involved in seeing to it that later even the then new diagnostic category, egodystonic homosexuality, was also shortly thereafter removed from the APA’s diagnostic statistical manual or DSM.  At that time he thought that homosexuals could not change.  After his study in which he noted that people had changed their sexual orientation, he came to believe that he was wrong and that people can and do change their sexual orientation and not just their behavior.  His international reputation made his finding that some homosexuals do change their sexual orientation extremely important.

Hershberger, S.L.(2006). Guttman scalability confirms the effectiveness of reparative therapy.  In J. Drescher and K. Zucker (Eds.), Ex-gay research: Analyzing the Spitzer study and its relation to science, religion, politics and culture, (pp. 137-140) New York: Harrington Park Press. (cited in Journal of Human Sexuality, 2009, p. 1:15)

  • Hershberger (a strong supporter of gay rights) after his analysis of Dr. Robert Spitzer’s study concluded “The orderly, law-like pattern of changes in homosexual behavior, homosexual self identification and fantasy observed in Spitzer’s study is strong evidence that reparative therapy can assist individuals in changing their homosexual orientation to a heterosexual orientation.  Now it is up to those skeptical of reparative therapy to provide comparably strong evidence to support their position.  In my opinion, they have yet to do so. (Hershberger, 2006, p. 440)”

Nicolosi, J., Byrd, A.D., and Potts, R.W. (2000) Retrospective self-reports of changes in homosexual orientation: A consumer survey of conversion therapy clients. Psychological Reports, 86, 1071-1088

  • This was a large study of 882 subjects (689 men and 193 women) who struggled with homosexuality and were involved in therapy, pastoral counseling, and/or individual or ministry-based self help.  They were given a 70 item survey to complete.  In this study of 318 individuals who viewed themselves as exclusively homosexual before treatment, 56 (17.6%) after treatment viewed themselves as exclusively heterosexual.  In addition 53 (16.7%) viewed themselves as almost entirely heterosexual, and another 35 (11.1%) now viewed themselves as more heterosexual than homosexual.  In total 45.4 percent of those who had previously considered themselves exclusively homosexual reported a major shift in their sexual orientation away from homosexuality.  (Of the 882 subjects in the study, 35.1% were unsuccessful in making significant changes in their sexual orientation.)  

 

Karten, E. (2006). Sexual reorientation efforts in dissatisfied same sex attracted men: What does it really take to change? Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Fordham University, New York. (cited in Journal of Human Sexuality, 2009, p. 1:16)

  •  In this study Karten looked at a convenience sample of 117 men who had undergone some sort of intervention or activity that had as its goal changing homosexual attraction. This might have included therapy by a mental health professional, a religiously-mediated or nonreligious support group, and/or a self directed support group.  Using a modified inverse Kinsey scale he found what he considered to be meaningful changes in their mean scores in the direction of heterosexuality as they as a group went from a mean of 4.81 to a mean of 2.57. (A score of 5 equaled predominately homosexual and only incidentally heterosexual, a score of 4 equaled predominately homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual, a score of 3 meant equally homosexual and heterosexual, while a score of 2 meant predominately heterosexual and only incidentally homosexual.)

  • Also he noted that 100% of the men reported an increase in self –esteem, 99.1% reported an increase in social functioning, and 92.3% reported decreases in depression, and 58.9% a decrease in suicidal ideation and attempts.  So, far from being harmful, therapeutic attempts to change one’s sexual orientation were found to be helpful 

   
                       

James, E.C. (1978) Treatment of homosexuality: A reanalysis and synthesis of outcome studies.  Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Brigham Young University, Provo, Ut. (cited in Journal of Human Sexuality, 2009 p. 1:32)

  • In this meta-analysis E.C. James found that “when the results of all the research studies prior to 1978 were combined, approximately 35 percent of the homosexual clients had shifted to heterosexuality, 27 percent had improved, and 37 percent had neither changed nor improved.”

   

Cummings, N. (2007). Former American Psychological Association President- Describes his work with SSA clients. Retrieved April 2.2007 from http://www.narth.com./docs/cummings.html

  • Dr. Cummings served as Chief of Mental Health with the Kaiser-Permanente Health Maintenance Organization.  During a 20 year period, he felt that between his efforts and that of his staff, approximately 2,400 clients successfully reoriented their sexuality to heterosexuality.

Jones and Yarhouse (2007) Ex Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation. Downer’s Grove , Ill: Intervarsity Press

  • In what has been described as the “most methodologically rigorous research study” to

  • date, on the possibility of changing sexual orientation and potential for being harmed by the process these researchers reviewed the outcomes of 77 subjects who completed all three phases of their research.  They found that 15% reported “considerable resolution of homosexual orientation issues and substantial conversion to heterosexual attraction, another 23% reported that they no longer experienced homosexual attraction or that it was present only incidentally.  In addition there were 29% who reported a diminution of homosexual attraction, but were not satisfied and wanted to continue to try and change even more.  Some 15% experienced no significant change in their sexual orientation and were unsure if they wanted to continue to try and change.  

(1995) Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: What Offenders Tell Us. Child Abuse and Neglect. 19: 582.


  • 59% of male child sex offenders had been “victim of contact sexual abuse as a child.”

Byne, W., (1994). The Biological Evidence Challenged. Scientific American, 54.


  • "The incidence of homosexuality in the adopted brothers of homosexuals (11%) was much higher than recent estimates for the rate of homosexuality in the population (1 to 5%)."

  • "Indeed, perhaps the major finding of these heritability studies is that despite having all of their genes in common and having prenatal and postnatal environments as close to identical as possible, approximately half of the identical twins were nonetheless discordant for orientation. This finding underscores just how little is known about the origins of sexual orientation."

Byne, W., Parsons, B. (1993, March). Human Sexual Orientation: The Biologic Theories Reappraised. Archives of General Psychiatry. 50: 228-39 (228).


  • “It is imperative that clinicians and behavioral scientists begin to appreciate the complexities of sexual orientation and resist the urge to search for simplistic explanations, either psychosocial or biologic.”

  • “Critical review shows the evidence favoring a biologic theory to be lacking.”

  • "Although identical twins have the same genetic code, non-identical twins and regular siblings share the same proportion of genetic material. Therefore, the genetic theories should show a similar amount of homosexual concordance between non-identical twins and regular siblings."

  • "First, they point out the fact that the study rests on the assumption that the relevant environment is the same for identical twins and non-identical twins. Then, the effects of potential bias in the sample is called into question, as Bailey and Pillard recruited their homosexual research subjects by advertising in various homosexually-oriented publications."

  • "Third, there was no way to separate the intermingling of environmental and genetic effects, since all sets of twins in the study had been raised together and presumably subject to most, if not all, of the same environmental effects."

  • "The most interesting question, however, is that if there is something in the genetic code that makes a person homosexual, why did not all of the identical twins become homosexual, since they have the exact same genetic code?"

  • "While all behavior must have an ultimate biologic substrate, the appeal of current biologic explanations for sexual orientation may derive more from a dissatisfaction with the current status of psychosocial explanations than from a substantiating body of experimental data. Critical review shows the evidence favoring a biologic theory to be lacking. In an alternative model, temperamental and personality traits interact with the familial and social milieus and the individual's sexuality emerges."

Chapman, B., Brannock, J. (1987) Proposed model of lesbian identity development. An empirical examination. Journal of Homosexuality. 14:69-80. 

  • 63% of lesbians surveyed stated that they had chosen to be lesbians, 28% felt they had no choice, and 11% did not know why they were lesbians.

Elliott, D.M., Brier, J. (1992, February). The Sexually Abused Boy: Problems in Manhood. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality. 26 (2): 68-71.

  • Boys who were sexually molested have subsequently “a higher incidence of homosexuality.”

Friedman, Richard, Downey, Jennifer. (1993) Neurobiology and Sexual Orientation: Current Relationships, 5. J. Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences 131, 139.


  • "Some typical childhood factors related to homosexuality are: feeling of being different from other children; parent, sibling, peer relationships; perception of father as being distant, uninvolved, unapproving; perception of parental perfection required; perception of mother as being too close, too involved; premature introduction to sexuality (such as child abuse or incest); gender confusion; defensive detachment, reparative drive, same-sex ambivalence; unmet affection needs; diminished/distorted masculinity, femininity."

  • "…homosexual men are more likely to become sexually active at much younger ages than heterosexual men. The average age of homosexual males at their first sexual encounter was 12.7, versus 15.7 for heterosexual males."

  • "This evidence may suggest that abuse and early sexual experiences can contribute to homosexuality, perhaps because of familiarity with sexual acts, and in some cases because of an initial sexual experience with someone of the same gender."

Golwyn, D., Sevlie, C. (1993) Adventitious change in homosexual behavior during treatment of social phobia with phenelzine. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 54, 1:39-40.


  • “We conclude that social phobia may be a hidden contributing factor in some instances of homosexual behavior.” (p. 40)

Harry, J. (1989) Parental physical abuse and sexual orientation in males. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 18, 3:251-261.


  • “These data suggest that some history of childhood femininity is almost always a precursor of adolescent homosexual behavior.” (p. 259)

Herrell, R., et al. (1999, October). Sexual Orientation and Suicidality: a Co-Twin Control Study in Adult Men. Archives of General Psychiatry. 56 (10): 867-874.


  • This study of male twins who were Vietnam veterans found that male homosexuals were 5.1 times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors than were their heterosexual twins.

Hockenberry, S., Billingham, R. (1987) Sexual orientation and boyhood gender conformity: Development of the boyhood gender conformity scales (BGCS) Archives of Sexual Behavior. 16, 6:475-492.


  • “…the absence of masculine behaviors and traits appeared to be a more powerful predictor of later homosexual orientation than the traditionally feminine or cross-sexed traits and behaviors.” (p. 475)

Horgan, J., (1995) Gay genes, revisited: Doubts arise over research on the biology of homosexuality. Scientific American. Nov.: 28. Hubbard, Ruth, Wald, Elijah (1993). Exploring the Gene Myth 6.


  • "The myth of the all-powerful gene is based on flawed science that discounts the environmental context in which we and our genes exist."

  • "A gene does not determine a phenotype [noticeable trait] by acting alone; a gene cannot act by itself…Each gene simply specifies one of the proteins involved in the process."

Jefferson, D.J., (1993, August 12). Studying the Biology of Sexual Orientation Has Political Fallout. Wall Street Journal. 1A. 

Lisak, D., Luster, L. Educational, occupational, and relationship histories of men who were sexually and/or physically abused as children. J Trauma Stress. 1994 Oct; 7(4): 507-23.


  • Nearly one in four young men report sexual abuse as a child resulting in significant life difficulties (as compared to non-abused males).

McGuire, T., (1995) Is homosexuality genetic? A critical review and some suggestions. Journal of Homosexuality. 28, 1/2: 115-145.


  • “Even if we knew absolutely everything about genes and absolutely everything about environment, we still could not predict the final phenotype of any individual." (p. 142)

Nimmons, David. (March 1994). Sex and the Brain, Discover, 64-71.


  • "It is important to stress what I didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn't show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain. INAH 3 is less likely to be the sole gay nucleus of the brain than a part of a chain of nuclei engaged in men and women's sexual behavior…. Since I looked at adult brains, we don't know if the differences I found were there at birth, or if they appeared later."

Pollak, M. Male Homosexuality in Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times, ed. P. Aries and A. Bejin, 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc., 1991), 124-125. 

Tomeo, M.E., et al. (2001, October). Comparative data of childhood and adolescence molestation in heterosexual and homosexual persons. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 30 (5): 535-541.


  • 942 nonclinical adult participants, gay men and lesbian women reported a significantly higher rate of childhood molestation that did heterosexual men and women. Forty-six percent of the homosexual men in contrast to 7% of the heterosexual men reported homosexual molestation. Twenty-two percent of lesbian women in contrast to 1% of heterosexual women reported homosexual molestation.

Whitehead, Neil, Whitehead, Brian. (1999) My Genes Made Me Do It! A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation, 158-159.


  • "Neil Whitehead tabulated other twin studies on other topics and those traits' heritability: lying--43%, anorexia nervosa--44%, fear of the unknown--46%, psychological inpatient care--47%, extroversion--50%, depression--50%, altruism--50%, divorce--52%, racial prejudice, bigotry--70%.

  • "(Dean) Hamer's genetic sequences have been calculated to affect about 5% of the homosexual population, so even if he is correct, there must be some other explanation for what causes the vast majority of homosexuality."

  • "If a hormonal imbalance was responsible for homosexuality, then perhaps a simple dose of hormones to an adult would cure homosexuality. This is not the case, as has been demonstrated several times."

Wolf, C. Homosexuality and American Public Life, Spence Publishing Co., Dallas, 1999, p. 70-71.


  • Homosexually-assaulted males identified themselves as subsequently becoming practicing homosexuals almost 7 times as often as bisexuals and almost 6 times as often as the non-assaulted control group. 58% of adolescents reporting sexual abuse by a man prior to puberty revealed either homosexual or bisexual orientation (control group 90% heterosexual). Age of molestation was 4-14 years. “Nearly half of men who have reported a childhood experience with an older man were currently involved in homosexual activity.” A disproportionately high number of male homosexuals were incestuously molested by a homosexual parent. Conclusion was that the experience led the boy to perceive himself as homosexual based on his having been found sexually attractive by an older man.  

Social Factors

Bem, Daryl J. (1986) Exotic Becomes Erotic: A Developmental Theory of Sexual Orientation, 103 Psychol. Rev. 320.


  • Daryl Bem's "Exotic Becomes Erotic" theory states that "what is exotic to children becomes erotic to them as adolescents." For example, "boys who play with girls mostly instead of other boys, and who tend to like the way girls play, become familiar and comfortable with femininity. Male behavior and males become exotic, and thus erotic later in life."

Burtoft, L. (1994). Behind the Headlines: Setting the Record Straight – What Research Really Says About the Social Consequences of Homosexuality. Colorado Springs, CO: Focus on the Family.

 

Fisher, S., Greenberg, R. (1996) Freud Scientifically Reappraisal. NY: Wiley & Sons.


  • “Fisher analyzed the 58 studies and reported that a large majority supported the notion that homosexual sons perceive their fathers as negative, distant, unfriendly figures.” “There is not a single even moderately well controlled study that we have been able to locate in which male homosexuals refer to father positively or affectionately.” (p. 136)

Fitzgibbons, R., (1999) The origins and therapy of same-sex attraction disorder. (in Wolfe, C. Homosexuality and American Public Life. Spence) 85-97.


  • “the second most common cause of SSAD [same sex attraction disorder] among males is mistrust of women’s love… Male children in fatherless homes often feel overly responsible for their mothers. As they enter their adolescence, they may come to view female love as draining and exhausting.” (p. 89)

  • “Experience has taught me that healing is a difficult process, but through the mutual efforts of the therapist and the patient, serious emotional wounds can be healed over a period of time.” (p. 96)

Friedman, Richard, Downey, Jennifer. (1993) Neurobiology and Sexual Orientation: Current Relationships, 5. J. Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences 131, 139.


  • "Some typical childhood factors related to homosexuality are: feeling of being different from other children; parent, sibling, peer relationships; perception of father as being distant, uninvolved, unapproving; perception of parental perfection required; perception of mother as being too close, too involved; premature introduction to sexuality (such as child abuse or incest); gender confusion; defensive detachment, reparative drive, same-sex ambivalence; unmet affection needs; diminished/distorted masculinity, femininity."

  • "…homosexual men are more likely to become sexually active at much younger ages than heterosexual men. The average age of homosexual males at their first sexual encounter was 12.7, versus 15.7 for heterosexual males."

  • "This evidence may suggest that abuse and early sexual experiences can contribute to homosexuality, perhaps because of familiarity with sexual acts, and in some cases because of an initial sexual experience with someone of the same gender."

Newman, L. (1976) Treatment for the parents of feminine boys. American Journal of Psychiatry. 133, 6: 683-687.


  • “Experiences of being ostracized and ridiculed may play a more important role than has been recognized in the total abandonment of the male role at a later time.” (p. 687)

  • “Feminine boys, unlike men with postpubertal gender identity disorders seem remarkably responsive to treatment.” (p. 684)

Nicolosi, J. Byrd, A., Potts, R. (1998) Towards the Ethical and Effective Treatment of Homosexuality. Encino CA: NARTH.


  • Nicolosi surveyed 850 individuals and 200 therapists and counselors – specifically seeking out individuals who claim to have made a degree of change in sexual orientation. Before counseling or therapy, 68% of respondents perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entirely homosexual, with another 22% stating they were more homosexual than heterosexual. After treatment only 13% perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entire homosexuality, while 33% described themselves as either exclusively or almost entirely heterosexual, 99% of respondents said they now believe treatment to change homosexuality can be effective and valuable.

Phillips, G., Over, R. (1992) Adult sexual orientation in relation to memories of childhood gender conforming and gender nonconforming behaviors. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 21, 6: 543-558.


  • “The 16-item discriminate-function … yielded correct classification of 94.4% of heterosexual men and 91.8% of the homosexual men. These results indicate that heterosexual and homosexual men can be classified with equivalent accuracy on the basis of recalling having had or not having had gender conforming (masculine) experiences in childhood.” (p. 550)

Stephan, W., (1973) Parental relationships and early social experiences of activist male homosexuals and male heterosexuals. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 82, 3: 506-513.


  • “…homosexuals reported experiencing their first orgasm at a younger age than the heterosexuals.” 24% of homosexuals' first orgasms occurred during homosexual contacts versus 2% of heterosexuals. (p.511)

Zucker, K., Bradley, S. (1995) Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents. NY: Guilford.


  • "…we feel that parental tolerance of cross-gender behavior at the time of its emergence is instrumental in allowing the behavior to develop…” (p. 259)

  • “…In general we concur with those (e.g. Green 1972; Newman 1976; Stoller, 1978) who believe that the earlier treatment begins, the better.” (p. 281) “It has been our experience that a sizable number of children and their families can achieve a great deal of change. In these cases, the gender identity disorder resolves fully, and nothing in the children’s behavior or fantasy suggests that gender identity issues remain problematic… All things considered, however, we take the position that in such cases clinicians should be optimistic, not nihilistic, about the possibility of helping the children to become more secure in their gender identity.” (p. 282)  

 

Changing Sexual Orientation or Behavior

(May 9, 2001). Press Release, National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, Prominent Psychiatrist Announces New Study Results: "Some Gays can Change." Available at http://www.narth.com/docs/spitzerrelease.html (last updated May 8, 2001.)


  • "Like most psychiatrists," says Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, "I thought that homosexual behavior could be resisted, but sexual orientation could not be changed. I now believe that's untrue--some people can and do change."

Acosta, F., (1975) Etiology and treatment of homosexuality: review. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 4:9-29.


  • “…better prospects for intervention in homosexual life and in its prevention through the early identification and treatment of the potential homosexual child.” (p. 9)

Aries, P. and A. Bejin, ed., Male Homosexuality in Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times, 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc., 1991), 124-125. 

Bieber, I., et al. (1962) Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals. NY: Basic Books.


  • “The therapeutic results of our study provide reason for an optimistic outlook. Many homosexuals became exclusively heterosexual in psychoanalytic treatment. Although this change may be more easily accomplished by some than by others, in our judgment a heterosexual shift is a possibility for all homosexuals who are strongly motivated to change.” (p. 319)

Bieber, I., Bieber, T. (1979) Male homosexuality. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 24, 5:409-421.


  • “We have followed some patients for as long as 20 years who have remained exclusively heterosexual. Reversal estimates now range from 30% to an optimistic 50%.” (p.416)

Cappon, D., (1965) Toward an Understanding of Homosexuality. Englewoord Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall.


  • Of patients with bisexual problems 90% were cured (i.e., no reversions to homosexual behavior, no consciousness of homosexual desire and fantasy) in males who terminated treatment by common consent. Male homosexual patients: 80% showed marked improvement (i.e., occasional relapses, release of aggression, increasingly dominant heterosexuality)… 50% changed.” (p. 265-268)

Clippinger, J., (1974) Homosexuality can be cured. Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy. 21, 2:15-28.


  • “Of 785 patients treated, 307, or approximately 38%, were cured. Adding the percentage figures of the two other studies, we can say that at least 40% of the homosexuals were cured, and an additional 10 to 30% of the homosexuals were improved, depending on the particular study for which statistics were available.” (p. 22)

Fine, R., (1987) Psychoanalytic theory. (in Diamant L. Male and Female Homosexuality: Psychological Approaches. Washington: Hemisphere Publishing.) 81-95.


  • “…a considerable percentage of overt homosexuals became heterosexual… If patients were motivated, whatever procedure is adopted a large percentage will give up their homosexuality… The misinformation that homosexuality is untreatable by psychotherapy does incalculable harm to thousands of men and women…” (p. 85-86)

Fitzgibbons, R., (1999) The origins and therapy of same-sex attraction disorder. (in Wolfe, C. Homosexuality and American Public Life. Spence) 85-97.


  • "The second most common cause of SSAD [same sex attraction disorder] among males is mistrust of women’s love… Male children in fatherless homes often feel overly responsible for their mothers. As they enter their adolescence, they may come to view female love as draining and exhausting.” (p. 89)

  • “Experience has taught me that healing is a difficult process, but through the mutual efforts of the therapist and the patient, serious emotional wounds can be healed over a period of time.” (p. 96)

Goetze, R. (1997) Homosexuality and the Possibility of Change: A Review of 17 Published Studies. Toronto Canada: New Directions for Life.


  • 44 persons who were exclusively or predominantly homosexual experienced a full shift of sexual orientation.

Hatterer, L., (1970) Changing Homosexuality in the Male. NY: McGraw-Hill.


  • 49 patients changed (20 married, of these 10 remained married, 2 divorced, 18 achieved heterosexual adjustments); 18 partially recovered, remained single; 76 remained homosexual (28 palliated – 58 unchanged) “A large undisclosed population has melted into heterosexual society, persons who behaved homosexually in late adolescence and early adulthood, and who, on their own, resolved their conflicts and abandoned such behavior to go on to successful marriages or to bisexual patterns of adoption.” (p. 14)

James, Elizabeth (1978) Treatment of Homosexuality: A Reanalysis and Synthesis of Outcome Studies (unpublished PhD dissertation, Brigham Young University, on file with Brigham Young University Library).


  • Elizabeth James meta-analyzed over 100 outcome studies published between 1930 and 1976, and concluded that when all the research was combines, 35% of homosexual clients "recovered" and 27% improved.

Kaye, H., Beri, S., Clare, J., Eleston, M., Gershwin, B., Gershwin, P., Kogan, L., Torda, C., Wilber, C. (1967) Homosexuality in Women. Archives of General Psychiatry. 17:626-634.


  • “…optimism in the psychoanalytic treatment of homosexual women. …at least a 50% probability of significant improvement in women with this syndrome who present themselves for treatment and remain in it.” (p. 634)

Kronemeyer, R. (1980) Overcoming Homosexuality. NY: Macmillian


  • “For those homosexuals who are unhappy with their life and find effective therapy it is ‘curable’.” (p.7)

MacIntosh, H. (1994) Attitudes and experiences of psychoanalysts. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 42, 4: 1183-1207.


  • 824 male patients of 213 analysts – 197 (23.9%) changed to heterosexuality, 703 received significant therapeutic benefit; and of the 391 female patients of 153 analysts – 79 (20.2%) changed to heterosexuality, 318 received significant therapeutic benefit. (p. 1183)

MacIntosh, H. (1995) Attitudes and Experiences of Psychoanalysts in Analyzing Homosexual Patients. Journal of the American Psychiatric Association 1183.


  • 422 psychiatrists were asked if they had successfully treated homosexuals, and did they agree that a homosexual can be changed to heterosexual. Of the 285 responses, which involved 1,215 homosexuals, the survey stated that 23% changed to heterosexuality. 84% benefited significantly by reducing their attraction to other members of the same gender, with a decrease in homosexual activity.

Marmor, J. (1975) Homosexuality and Sexual Orientation Disturbances. (In Freedman, A., Kaplan, H., Sadock, B. Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry: II, Second Edition. Baltimore MD: Williams & Wilkins)


  • “This conviction of untreatability also serves an ego-defensive purpose for many homosexuals. …however, there has evolved a greater therapeutic optimism about the possibilities for change… There is little doubt that a genuine shift in preferential sex object choice can and does take place in somewhere between 20 and 50 per cent of patients with homosexual behavior who seek psychotherapy with this end in mind.” (p. 1519)

Newman, L., (1976) Treatment for the parents of feminine boys. American Journal of Psychiatry. 133, 6: 683-687.


  • “Experiences of being ostracized and ridiculed may play a more important role than has been recognized in the total abandonment of the male role at a later time.” (p. 687)
  • “Feminine boys, unlike men with postpubertal gender identity disorders seem remarkably responsive to treatment.” (p. 684)

Nicolosi, J., Byrd, A., Potts, R. (1998) Towards the Ethical and Effective Treatment of Homosexuality. Encino CA: NARTH.


  • Nicolosi surveyed 850 individuals and 200 therapists and counselors – specifically seeking out individuals who claim to have made a degree of change in sexual orientation. Before counseling or therapy, 68% of respondents perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entirely homosexual, with another 22% stating they were more homosexual than heterosexual. After treatment only 13% perceived themselves as exclusively or almost entire homosexuality, while 33% described themselves as either exclusively or almost entirely heterosexual, 99% of respondents said they now believe treatment to change homosexuality can be effective and valuable.

Pattison, E.M., Pattison, M.L. (1980, December) “Ex-Gays”: Religiously Mediated Change in Homosexuals. American Journal of Psychiatry. 137 (12): 1553-1562.


  • Authors evaluated 11 white men who claimed to have changed sexual orientation from exclusive homosexuality to exclusive heterosexuality. Corollary evidence suggests that the phenomenon of substantiated change in sexual orientation without explicit treatment and/or long-term psychotherapy may be much more common than previously thought.

Rekers, J. (1988) The formation of homosexual orientation. (In Fagan, P. Hope for Homosexuality. Washington DC: Free Congress Foundation.)


  • “With major research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, I have experimentally demonstrated an affective treatment for 'gender identity disorder of childhood', which appears to hold potential for preventing homosexual orientation in males.”

Satinover, J., (1996) Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth. Grand Rapids MI: Baker.


  • These reports contradict claims that change is impossible. It would be more accurate to say that all the existing evidence suggests strongly that homosexuality is quite changeable.

  • “Each individual’s homosexuality is the likely result of a complex mixture of genetic, intrauterine, and extrauterine biological factors combined with familial and social factors as well as repeatedly reinforced choices.” (p. 245)

  • "A study conducted by a homosexual couple found that out of 156 same-sex couples 'only seven had maintained sexual fidelity; of the hundred couples that had been together for more than five years, none had been able to maintain sexual fidelity. The authors noted that the expectation for outside sexual activity was the rule for male couples and the exception for heterosexuals.'"

Schwartz, M.F., Masters, W.H. (1984, February). The Masters and Johnson treatment program for dissatisfied homosexual men. American Journal of Psychiatry. 141 (2): 173-181.


  • “Certain individuals who want to change their homosexual preference can be helped by a short-term intensive intervention. The failure rate in helping dissatisfied homosexuals establish heterosexual lifestyles after the intensive phase of the intervention was 20.9%, and after 5 years’ follow-up it was 28.4%.

Spitzer, Robert (May 2001) Psychiatry and Homosexuality, Wall St. Journal, A26.


  • "In the sample he studied, Spitzer concluded that many (homosexuals) made substantial changes (after gender affirmative therapy) in sexual arousal and fantasy--not merely behavior. Even subjects who made less substantial change believed it to be extremely beneficial."

Throckmorton, W. (1996) Efforts to modify sexual orientation: A review of outcome literature and ethical issues. Journal of Mental Health and Counseling. 20, 4: 283-305.


  • “I submit that the case against conversion therapy requires opponents to demonstrate that no patients have benefited from such procedures or that any benefits are too costly in some objective way to be pursued even if they work. The available evidence supports the observation of many counselors – that many individuals with same-gender sexual orientation have been able to change through a variety of counseling approaches.” (p. 287)

West, D. (1977) Homosexuality Re-examined. London Duckworth


  • Behavioral techniques have the best document success (never less than 30%); psychoanalysis claims a great deal of success (the average rate seemed to be about 5%, but 50% of the bisexuals achieved exclusive heterosexuality.)

  • Zucker, K., Bradley, S. (1995) Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents. NY: Guilford. “…we feel that parental tolerance of cross-gender behavior at the time of its emergence is instrumental in allowing the behavior to develop…” (p. 259)

  • “…In general we concur with those (e.g. Green 1972; Newman 1976; Stoller, 1978) who believe that the earlier treatment begins, the better.” (p. 281) “It has been our experience that a sizable number of children and their families can achieve a great deal of change. In these cases, the gender identity disorder resolves fully, and nothing in the children’s behavior or fantasy suggests that gender identity issues remain problematic… All things considered, however, we take the position that in such cases clinicians should be optimistic, not nihilistic, about the possibility of helping the children to become more secure in their gender identity.” (p. 282)  

 

Physical Health

(1993). STD Treatment Guidelines: Proctitis, Proctocolitis, and Enteritis. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Available at: www.cdc.gov.

 

  • GBS problems such as proctitis, proctocolitis, and enteritis as “sexually transmitted gastrointestinal syndromes.”

 

(1998). Hepatitis C: Epidemiology: Transmission Modes. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Available at: www.cdc.gov/nidod/diseases/hepatitis/c/edu/1/default.htm.


  • Men who have sex with men who engage in unsafe sexual practices remain at an increased risk for contracting hepatitis C.

(1998, September 4). Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). p. 708.


  • “Outbreaks of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men are a recurring problem in many large cities in the industrialized world.”

(1999, December). Table 9. Male Adult/Adolescent AIDS Cases by Exposure Category and Race/Ethnicity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. Available at www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats/hasr1102/table9.


  • “Men who have sex with men” and “men who have sex with men and inject drugs” together accounted for 64 percent of the cumulative total of male AIDS cases.

(1999, January 29). Increases in unsafe sex and rectal gonorrhea among men who have sex with men – San Francisco, California, 1994-1997. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). p. 45.


  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1994 to 1997 the proportion of homosexuals reporting having had anal sex increased from 57.6 percent to 61.2 percent, while the percentage of those reporting “always” using condoms declined from 69.6 percent to 60 percent.

  • The proportion of men reporting having multiple sex partners and unprotected anal sex increased from 23.6 percent to 33.3 percent.

(1999, January 29). Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). p. 48.


  • Male rectal gonorrhea is increasing among homosexuals amidst an overall decline in national gonorrhea rates.

(2000, November 14). Young People at Risk: HIV/AIDS among America’s Youth. Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention (Centers for Disease Control). Available at: www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/youth.htm.


  • “At least half of all new HIV infections in the United States are among people under twenty-five, and the majority of young people are infected sexually.” By the end of 1999, 29,629 young people aged thirteen to twenty-four were diagnosed with AIDS in the United States. MSM were the single largest risk category: in 1999, for example, 50 percent of all new AIDS cases were reported among young homosexuals.

(2000, September 29). Viral Hepatitis B – Frequently Asked Questions. National Center for Infectious Diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Available at: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/faqb.


  • Men who have sex with men are at increased risk for hepatitis B.

Increases in unsafe sex and rectal gonorrhea among men who have sex with men – San Francisco, California, 1994-1997. Journal of the American Medical Association. 281 (8): 696-697.


  • Interviews of 21, 850 males: Increasing percentages of men who have sex with men reported engaging in unprotected anal intercourse. There was an Increase in rectal gonorrhea rates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report. 51 (33): 733-736.


  • 920 young black males, ages 15-22, who have sex with men, have very high rates (16%) of HIV infection.

Beral, et al., op cit.; Corey, Lawrence, and King K. Holmes. (1980, February 21). Sexual Transmission of Hepatitis A in Homosexual Men. The New England Journal of Medicine. 302: (8) 435-438.

 

Bradford, J. (2002, July 10). Lesbian and bisexual health: an overview for healthcare providers. Journal Watch Women’s Health [On-line], Available: womens-health.jwatch.org.


  • Lesbian and bisexual women have higher reported rates of risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as obesity and High rates of human papilloma virus infection.

Calabrese, L. Harris, B., Easley, K. (1987) Analysis of variables impacting on safe sexual behavior among homosexual men in the area of low incidence for AIDS. Paper presented at the Third International Conference for AIDS. Washington DC. (in Stall 1988)


  • Sample of gay men living outside of the large coastal gay communities, found that neither attendance at a safe sex lecture, reading a safe sex brochure, receiving advice from a physician about AIDS, testing for HIV antibodies, nor counseling at an alternative test site was associated with participation in safe sex.

Cannon, M.J. et al. (2001, March 1). Blood-borne and sexual transmission of human herpesvirus 8 in women with or at risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection. The New England Journal of Medicine. 344 (9): 637-743.


  • “Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), the causal agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma, is transmitted sexually among homosexual men.”

Cochran, S.D. et al. (2001 April). Cancer-related risk indicators and preventive screening behaviors among lesbians and bisexual women. American Journal of Public Health. 91 (4); 178-81.


  • Increased prevalence rates were found in lesbian/bisexual women for obesity, alcohol use, and tobacco use.

Daling, J.R. et al. (1987, October 15). Sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases, and the incidence of anal cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine. 317 (16): 973-977.


  • Anal cancers was strongly associated with a history of male homosexual activity.

Fethers, K. et al. (2000, July). Sexually Transmitted Infections and Risk Behaviors in Women Who Have Sex with Women. Sexually Transmitted Infections. p. 345.


  • Women who have sexual relations with women are at significantly higher risk for certain sexually transmitted diseases: “BV (bacterial vaginosis), hepatitis C, and HIV risk behaviors in WSW as compared with controls.”

Frieberg, P. (2001, January 12). Study: Alcohol Use More Prevalent for Lesbians. The Washington Blade. p. 21.


  • Lesbian women consume alcohol more frequently, and in larger amounts, than heterosexual women. Lesbians were at significantly greater risk than heterosexual women for both binge drinking (19.4 percent compared to 11.7 percent), and for heavy drinking (7 percent compared to 2.7 percent).

Frisch, M.F. et al. (1997, November 6). Sexually transmitted infection as a cause of anal cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine. 337 (19): 1350-1358.


  • In a study of 324 women and 93 men with invasive or in situ anal cancer, findings supported the previously recognized association between anal cancer and homosexual contact.

Garbo, J. (2000, July 18). Gay and Bisexual Men Less Likely to Disclose They Have HIV. Gay Health News. Available at www.gayhealth.com/templates/0/news?record=136.


  • Thirty-six percent of homosexuals engaging in unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex failed to disclose that they were HIV positive to casual sex partners.

  • 45 percent of homosexuals reporting having had unprotected anal intercourse during the previous six months did not know the HIV serostatus of all their sex partners. 68 percent did not know the HIV serostatus of their partners.

Hastings, G.E., Weber, R.W. (1993). Inflammatory bowel disease: Part I. Clinical features and diagnosis. American Family Physician. 47: 598-608.

 

Hogg, R.S. et al. (1997). Modeling the impact of HIV disease on mortality in gay and bisexual men. International Journal of Epidemiology. 26 (3): 657-661.


  • “Life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality were to continue, we estimate that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged 20 years will not reach their 65th birthday.”

Hoover, D., Munoz, A., Carey, V., Chmiel, J., Taylor, J., Margolick, J., Kingsley, L., Vermund, S. (1991) Estimating the 1978-1990 and future spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in subgroups of homosexual men. American Journal of Epidemiology. 134, 10:1190-1205.


  • “The overall probability of seroconversion [from HIV- to HIV+] prior to age 55 years is about 50%, with seroconversion still continuing at and after age 55. Given that this cohort consists of volunteers receiving extensive and anti-HIV-1 transmission education, the future seroconversion rates of the general homosexual population may be even higher.

Jaffe, et al., op cit.; Quinn, Thomas C., et al. (1983, September 8). The Polymicrobial Origin of Intestinal Infections in Homosexual Men. The New England Journal of Medicine. 309: (10) 576-582.

 

Judson, F.N. et al. (1980). Comparative Prevalence Rates of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Heterosexual and Homosexual Men. The American Journal of Epidemiology. 112: 836-843.

 

Laughon, B.E., Druckman, D.A., et al., (1988). Prevalence of enteric pathogens in homosexual men with and without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Gastroenterology. 94: 984-993.

 

Miles, A.J. et al. (1993, March). Effect of anorreceptive intercourse on anorectal function. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 83: (3) 144-147.

 

Morris, M., Dean, L., (1994) Effects of sexual behavior change on long-term human immunodeficiency virus prevalence among homosexual men. American Journal of Epidemiology. 140, 3: 217-232.

 

Osmond, D., Page, K., Wiley, J., Garrett, K., Sheppard, H., Moss, A., Schrager, K., Winkelstein, W., (1994) HIV infection in homosexual and bisexual men 18 to 29 years of age: The San Francisco young men’s health study. American Journal of Public Health. 84, 12: 1933-1937.


  • Household survey of unmarried men 18 through 29 years of age found that of 328 homosexual men 20.1% tested positive tested for HIV.

Pauk, J., et al. (2000, November 9). Mucosal shedding of human herpesvirus 8 in men. The New England Journal of Medicine. 343: 1369-1377.


  • Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is likely the cause of Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Its prevalence in men who have sex with men is much higher than in the general population.

Quinn, T.C. (1984). Gay bowel syndrome. The broadened spectrum of non-genital infection. Postgraduate Medicine. 76: 197-198, 201-210.

Rotello, G. (1997). Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men. NY: Dutton.


  • “Who wants to encourage their kids to engage in a life that exposes them to a 50 percent chance of HIV infection? Who even wants to be neutral about such a possibility? If the rationale behind social tolerance of homosexuality is that it allows gay kids an equal shot at the pursuit of happiness, that rationale is hopelessly undermined by an endless epidemic that negates happiness.” (p. 286)

Roundy, B. (2000, December 8). STD’s Up Among Gay Men: CDC Says Rise is Due to HIV Misperceptions. The Washington Blade. Available at: www.washblade.com/health/a.


  • "A San Francisco study of Gay and bisexual men revealed that HPV infection was almost universal among HIV-positive men, and that 60 percent of HIV-negative men carried HPV.

Schwabke, J.R. (1991, April). Syphilis in the 90s. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality. 44-49.


  • Syphilis and gonorrhea are rising in the homosexual and bisexual population.

Shehan, D.A. et al. (2003). HIV/STD Risks in Young Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Do Not Disclose Their sexual Orientation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 52: 81-86.


  • Young MSM who do not disclose their sexual orientation (non-disclosers) are thought to be at particularly high risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection because of low self-esteem, depression, or lack of peer support and prevention services that are available to MSM who are more open about their sexuality (disclosers).

Smith, T.W. (1991, May/June). Adult Sexual Behavior in 1989: Number of Partners, Frequency of Intercourse and Risk of AIDS. Family Planning Perspectives. 23: (3) 102-107 (Table 2, 104).

 

Valleroy, L.A. et al. (2000, July 12). HIV prevalence and associated risks in young men who have sex with men. Journal of the American Medical Association. 284 (2): 198-204.


  • Men who have sex with men were found to have a 100 to 700 times greater prevalence rate of HIV infection than primarily heterosexual men who applied for service in the U.S. military. Men who have sex with men were also found to have a high prevalence of hepatitis B viral markers (10.7%). High HIV rates were correlated with anal sex and having had sex with 20 or more men.

Zavodnick, J.M. (1989, January). Detection and Management of Sexual Abuse of Boys. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality. 80-90.


  • “Sixteen percent of adult men in the general population have said they were sexually abused as children.”

Zmuda, R. (2000, August 17). Rising Rates of Anal Cancer for Gay Men. Cancer News. Available at: http://www.cancerlinksusa.com/cancernews_sm/Aug2000/081700analcancer.


  • “Most instances of anal cancer are caused by a cancer-causing strain of HPV through receptive anal intercourse. HPV infects over 90 percent of HIV-positive gay men and 65 percent of HIV-negative gay men, according to a number of recent studies.”