Praise: Interview of Dr. Robert Spitzer

From Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out:

In 1973, Dr. Robert Spitzer led the charge to successfully have homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which is its list of mental disorders. This was a major victory and remains one the gay movement's signature achievements.

Given his stature and key role in declassifying gay people as sick, it was quite a surprise when Dr. Spitzer published a non-peer reviewed 2001 study in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior that claimed some "highly motivated" gay people could become straight through prayer and therapy. The study said that some gay people could reach their "heterosexual potential."

When he announced his work at the 2001 APA meeting in New Orleans, it created a media sensation. An Associated Press story called his findings "explosive."

In 2012, Dr. Spitzer recanted in the American Prospect magazine. In a letter obtained by Truth Wins Out and sent to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dr. Spitzer asked that his study be retracted.

TWO went to Dr. Spitzer's home in Princeton, NJ and interviewed him. He not only repudiated his study, he also apologized to the LGBT community. He told anti-gay organizations -- such as NARTH, Focus on the Family, and the American College of Pediatricians to stop promoting his invalid study. He even told Parents and Friends of 'Ex-Gays' (PFOX) to take a video they have posted of Spitzer off their website.

With Dr. Spitzer's renunciation of his study, a crowning achievement in efforts to promote sexual conversion has been reduced to a crown of thorns. Now that Spitzer has revealed the truth, perhaps anti-gay and "ex-gay" organizations can begin to abandon the harmful practice of reparative therapy.

As we continue on the path to equality, Dr Spitzer was an early important player.  Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out is among those who have been at the forefront of these recent battles for civil rights.

That so-called clinics and defenders of religion continue to use Dr. Spitzer's flawed and now renounced study is shameful and harmful to those who are drawn in to their fake therapies.  As Mr. Besen keeps saying, truth wins out and the truth from Dr. Spitzer is important information.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.