Homosexuality: Society, Science, & Psychology [Part 3]

[EDITORS’ NOTE: This article is the third installment in a three-part series. Part I appeared in the December issue. Part II appeared in the January issue. Part III follows below, and continues, without introductory comments, where the second article ended.]

Homosexuality and Psychology

If They Can’t Help It, Then Why Can They Help It?

While a person born with certain conditions, like Down Syndrome or dwarfism, has no ability to change his condition, if a person can change his sexual orientation, it would be strong evidence against the inheritability argument. If “it’s in the genes,” then you cannot change it, and yet many can and have changed their sexual orientation, proving that a person is not genetically forced to be homosexual. That truth, besides being stated in Scripture (e.g., 1 Corinthians 6:9-11), has been substantiated by experimental evidence.

In 1998, for example, psychologist Warren Throckmorton, in response to the American Counseling Association’s “resolution expressing concerns about conversion therapy,” conducted a literature review of the “effectiveness and appropriateness of therapeutic efforts to change sexual orientation.” The result of his findings was that “efforts to assist homosexually oriented individuals who wish to modify their patterns of sexual arousal have been effective.”¹

Nicolosi, Byrd, and Potts surveyed 882 homosexuals who were dissatisfied with their orientation and had “sought and experienced some degree of change.”² After receiving therapy or attempting to change, the number of those who were previously exclusively homosexual dropped 88.4%, and

45.4% of the exclusively homosexual participants retrospectively reported having made major shifts in their sexual orientation. The exclusively homosexual participants also reported large and statistically significant decreases in the frequency of their homosexual behavior with a partner from before to after treatment or change. There was evidence that the changes in sexual orientation reported by many of the participants were long lasting. The average length of time that had elapsed since the participants reported the changes in their sexual orientation was 6.7 yr [sic]…. Twenty-three percent of the participants said that it had been 10 or more years since they had experienced the changes in their orientation.³

The number of individuals who previously identified as “exclusively” or “almost entirely homosexual,” or “more homosexual than heterosexual” dropped 61% after they attempted to change through therapy or self-help.⁴ “As a group, the participants reported large and statistically significant reductions in the frequency of their homosexual thoughts and fantasies that they attributed to conversion therapy or self-help. They also reported large improvements in their psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual well-being.”⁵

Robert Spitzer was instrumental in the removal of homosexuality from the psychiatric manual of disorders. However, in 2001 he presented a historic report of a study at the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, later published in 2003. He studied 200 predominantly homosexual individuals “who reported at least some minimal change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation that lasted at least 5 years” after reparative therapy.⁶ Spitzer found that,

The majority of participants gave reports of change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past year…. For many reasons, it is concluded that the participants’ self-reports were, by-and-large, credible and that few elaborated self-deceptive narratives or lied. Thus, there is evidence that change in sexual orientation following some form of reparative therapy does occur in some gay men and lesbians.⁷

Before their therapy, the males were, on average, 91% interested in only other males (with 0% being completely heterosexual) and self-identified highly as homosexual (77%). The females were 88% interested in only other females and self-identified highly as homosexual (77%). After therapy, however, both males and females changed to being very highly heterosexual (males 23%, 8.5%; females 8%, 3%).⁸ In all 10 of the measures used to assess their homosexuality, “there was a marked reduction on all change measures.”⁹ Spitzer said, “Like most psychiatrists, I thought that homosexual behavior could be resisted—but that no one could really change their sexual orientation. I now believe that’s untrue—some people can and do change.”¹⁰

In their 2016 extensive survey of the biological, psychological, and social science literature, Mayer and McHugh found the following about sexual orientation change:

Longitudinal studies of adolescents suggest that sexual orientation may be quite fluid over the life course for some people, with one study estimating that as many as 80% of male adolescents who report same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults (although the extent to which this figure reflects actual changes in same-sex attractions and not just artifacts of the survey process has been contested by some researchers).¹¹

One would certainly expect the homosexual community to vigorously contest the findings of Mayer and McHugh, since they so clearly refute the current dogma of the media and the bulk of the scientific community. Mayer and McHugh, however, were simply reporting the summarized results of hundreds of studies. Ironically, even lesbian activist psychologist Lisa Diamond agrees that sexual orientation is not fixed. In an interview for New Scientist, titled “Sexuality Is Fluid—It’s Time to Get Past ‘Born This Way,’” she stated that she believes people are “born with a sexual orientation,” but “also with a degree of sexual flexibility…. So there are gay people who are very fixedly gay and there are gay people who are more fluid, meaning they can experience attractions that run outside of their orientation.”¹² Bottom line: the research agrees with what Scripture and common sense say, and what even hostile witnesses acknowledge—one’s sexual orientation can change.

Homosexuality: Psychologically and Physically Bad for You

In the introduction, we briefly considered reasons why God would have condemned homosexuality in Scripture. Recall that, whatever His reason, it would stem from His love for mankind: His unselfish concern for the well-being of humanity, His children. In the same way that a parent’s rules are made for the benefit of his children, who oftentimes cannot fully grasp the importance and value of those rules, God’s rules are “holy and just and good”¹³ and “for our good,”¹⁴ always.¹⁵ Keeping those laws will bring us happiness,¹⁶ wisdom, joy, and enlightenment.¹⁷ Importantly, obeying God’s laws will lengthen our lives¹⁸ and keep us alive.¹⁹

I recall a conversation I had with a college-aged atheist a few years ago, wherein he expressed his disdain for Christians for their “hateful” condemnation of homosexuals and for not “accepting them for who they are.” I clarified the biblical position on the matter: biblical Christians’ confrontation of wicked behavior is not hateful, but loving. How loving would it be not to warn a person who is unwittingly running towards a cliff that is hidden behind some shrubbery? How loving would it be not to warn a child about an oncoming car or the danger of touching fire? “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed” (Proverbs 27:5). That simple truth may be obvious to the spiritually-minded individual, but to many in the world (including the atheist to whom I was speaking), it is a new concept.

One proof of biblical inspiration is its scientific foreknowledge—its accuracy with regard to scientific and medical matters that were not discovered until centuries beyond the time they were written.²⁰ God’s prohibition of homosexual activity and subsequent statements that His laws tend to promote life are a good example. Even if homosexuality were genetically determined (which it is not), the loving individual should strongly discourage the practice due to its deleterious physical and psychological effects. Consider the following seven.

Sexual Violence

• In 2013, then Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tom Frieden announced the release of a report on interpersonal and sexual violence. He explained, “We know that violence affects everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. This report suggests that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in this country suffer a heavy toll of sexual violence and stalking committed by an intimate partner…. While intervening and providing services are important, prevention is equally critical.”²¹
• The CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey revealed that bisexual women are 1.7 times more likely than heterosexual women to report experiencing intimate partner violence and 2.6 times more likely to report experiencing intimate partner sexual violence.²²

Disease

• According to the CDC, “Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) have been rising among gay and bisexual men, with increases in syphilis being seen across the country. In 2014, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 83% of primary and secondary syphilis cases where sex [sic] of sex partner was known in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men often get other STDs, including chlamydia and gonorrhea infections. HPV (Human papillomavirus), the most common STD in the United States, is also a concern for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Some types of HPV can cause genital and anal warts and some can lead to the development of anal and oral cancers. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are 17 times more likely to get anal cancer than heterosexual men. Men who are HIV-positive are even more likely than those who do not have HIV to get anal cancer.”²³ “Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are the population most affected by HIV in the United States. In 2017, adult and adolescent gay and bisexual men made up 70% (27,000) of the 38,739 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas.”²⁴ Such statistics are particularly noteworthy when considering the fact that those who identify as “LGBT” make up only 4.5% of the population, according to a 2018 GALLUP poll.²⁵
• In 2014, Psychologist Christopher Rosik responded to the World Medical Association’s 2013 statement that “homosexuality does not represent a disease” and which condemned conversion and reparative therapy.²⁶ He cited studies that revealed an “overall 1.4 percent per-act probability of HIV transmission for anal sex and a 40.4 percent per-partner probability,” “roughly 18-times greater than that which has been estimated for vaginal intercourse.” While gay men represent “2-4 percent of the general population,” they made up “61 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses” at the time.²⁷
• According to Nicolosi, “the Los Angeles Times reported that the rate of rectal gonorrhea among gay and bisexual men in San Francisco rose 44 percent during a recent three-year period, while in Los Angeles, new syphilis cases among gay and bisexual men rose more than 1,680 percent.”²⁸ Among gay and bisexual men, syphilis “has increased more than 365% since 2001, and is still on the rise” in Los Angeles.²⁹

Substance Abuse

• According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Web site, “LGBTQ people also face disparities in the physical medical context, including increased tobacco use, HIV and AIDS, and weight-related problems.” Lesbian and bisexual women are three times as likely as heterosexuals to have a substance abuse disorder.³⁰
• After surveying hundreds of relevant articles, Mayer and McHugh found that homosexuals have “1.5 times the risk of substance abuse” as heterosexuals.³¹

Shortened Lifespan

• With the above factors in mind, it should come as no surprise that several studies over the years have verified that homosexuals tend to live shorter lives: between 8 and 30 years less than everyone else.³²
• Those who have contracted AIDS (a condition which, again, tends to be associated with homosexuality) live an even shorter life (10%).³³

Psychological Issues

• Mayer and McHugh were “alarmed to learn that the LGBT community bears a disproportionate rate of mental health problems compared to the population as a whole.”³⁴ They explain, “Compared to the general population, non-heterosexual subpopulations are at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes. Members of the non-heterosexual population are estimated to have about 1.5 times higher risk of experiencing anxiety disorders than members of the heterosexual population, as well as roughly double the risk of depression.”³⁵
• A literature study conducted by Neil Whitehead revealed that “a score of mental health conditions in almost every DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—JM] category are present in the general SSA [same-sex attraction—JM] population at rates three or more times greater than in the opposite-sex attraction (OSA) population. These conditions include bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, but more predominantly consist of mood disorders, depression, substance abuse, and suicidality. All need particular attention from therapists. People reporting SSA have a more widespread and intense psychopathological burden than probably any other group of comparable size in society, though college-age people may have more substance abuse problems.”³⁶

Suicide

• According to the CDC, “Males in the United States are more likely to take their own life at nearly four times the rate of females and represent 79% of all U.S. suicides. Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death for males in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are at even greater risk for suicide attempts, especially before the age of 25. A study of youth in grades 7-12 found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth were more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide as their heterosexual peers.”³⁷
• Harvard University psychologist Mark Hatzenbuehler’s study of suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth revealed that, of the 31,852 students in the study, “Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth were significantly more likely to attempt suicide in the previous 12 months, compared with heterosexuals (21.5% vs. 4.2%).”³⁸
• According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Web site, “Alarmingly LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer/questioning] people also have a nearly three time [sic] higher risk of suicide or suicidal behavior.”³⁹
• Mayer and McHugh highlight from their extensive survey of the psychological literature that homosexuals have “nearly 2.5 times the risk of suicide” as the heterosexual community.⁴⁰
  Note that the above suicide statistics were revealed among homosexuals at a time when homosexuality is, by and large, accepted in American society, and even where it is not accepted, it is tolerated, with those who would speak out against it being threatened with severe public backlash.

Although a 2002 study was conducted prior to the point at which American acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle passed the 50% mark, it further verified Hatzenbuehler’s high suicide statistics among homosexuals. According to Paul, et al., 21% of homosexual men had made a suicide plan in their lifetime and 12% had attempted it, most before the age of 25.⁴¹

Keep in mind that while substance abuse, psychological issues, and suicide would be expected to be higher among homosexuals in response to unacceptance or mistreatment by the society in which they live, Mayer and McHugh highlight that the evidence that “discrimination and stigma contribute to the elevated risk of poor mental health” for homosexuals is “limited,”⁴² though one would predict it to be prevalent if significant. Rosik highlighted that the “relationship is small” according to studies,⁴³ and “the incidence and type of psychological problems among gay and lesbian persons remains about the same whether they reside in tolerant and accepting environments or intolerant ones.”⁴⁴

Children of Homosexuals

Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin conducted a study in 2012 to assess the effect that having homosexual parents has on a child. After collecting data from roughly 3,000 people, the study found that children who were raised in homes with same-sex parents, as opposed to homes that were intact with a mother and father, were (as adults):

• Over two times as likely to be unmarried while cohabitating with someone;
• 2.3 (gay parents, G)-to-3.8 (lesbian parents, L) times as likely to be on public assistance;
• 2.5 (G)-to-3.5 (L) times as likely to be unemployed;
• 2.4 (L)-to-4.8 (G) times as likely to be suicidal;
• 2.4 times as likely to be in therapy;
• 1.9 (G)-to-3.1 (L) times as likely to have had an affair;
• 2.5 (L)-to-3.1 (G) times as likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease;
• 3 (G)-to-11.5 (L) times as likely to have been sexually molested;
• 3.1 (G)-to-3.9 (L) times as likely to have been raped;

Such children were also more likely as adults to be unmarried, unhappy, depressed, unhealthy, less educated, and have lower income, according to the study. They were more likely to smoke marijuana, be arrested, and have multiple sexual partners, as well as get drunk on purpose. They were also more likely not to identify as entirely heterosexual.⁴⁵

Summary

To summarize, in the words of Nicolosi and Nicolosi,

When the studies are taken as a whole, it is clear that a teenager who self-identifies as gay is at high risk for infection with HIV or another sexually transmitted disease; for psychiatric problems, including suicidal ideation; and for self-destructive behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse and prostitution…. The fact that these problems do not decrease in gay-friendly cities such as San Francisco and gay-tolerant countries such as the Netherlands supports the view that there must be factors at work that are intrinsic to the homosexual condition.⁴⁶

God’s laws are for our good. Love demands that the practice of homosexuality be confronted and condemned for the good of homosexuals and society at large. Over half of the people in the United States approve of homosexuality. Translation: over half of the people in the United States do not love the homosexual community. “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

If There’s No Gay Gene, Then What Causes Homosexual Attraction?

Some homosexuals are those who have so indulged the flesh that natural intercourse is no longer appealing to them. They need something else to arouse themselves. That form is likely what is described in Romans 1:24-28 and which is demonstrated in Genesis 18-19. Another category, however, involves those who have experienced or witnessed circumstances that have severely hurt them psychologically, who need compassion and assistance.

While there may be certain genetic traits that would make one more likely than another to engage in homosexual behavior if certain things happened to him, the fact that he must first have experienced certain circumstances in his life indicates that same sex attraction and homosexual behavior are ultimately results of “environmental” conditions—circumstances and experiences—many of which are out of the control of the individual, often having occurred when he or she was very young.

Gender Identity Disorder

The late psychologist Joseph Nicolosi of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and founder and director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in California, explained the condition known as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. According to Nicolosi, GID can begin to show itself as early as two years old—long before the child’s brain has developed enough to even remember the experiences that led to his GID.⁴⁷ Nicolosi explained that, in males, GID arises due to a child not being drawn into his own gender, or being rejected by his gender, or things happen that cause him essentially to reject his own gender. Many times, such a boy has a mother that constantly berates men, especially his father, making the boy not want to be a male. Such a boy might not, for instance, be physically coordinated enough to fit in with other boys (which has a genetic component), so he is viciously and incessantly made fun of by other boys—his “gender” rejects him. Ultimately, experiences occur that lead him to begin to feel on the outside of his gender—that he does not belong with other boys. Instead, he feels that he fits in better with females.

Meanwhile, his mother welcomes him into the female gender, where he becomes her daily “sidekick,” learning the life of a female, and she encourages feminine behavior and condemns masculine behavior. If the boy also becomes distanced from the father, or the father distances him (his father being his primary source of a masculine image), his feelings of rejection will cause him not to want to be like his father—which causes him, according to Nicolosi, to surrender his “natural masculine strivings. Then, when other boys shun the gender-confused boy (as indeed they will), they become more deeply mired in loneliness, and this loneliness and rejection only confirms their belief in their not being ‘good enough.’ This leads to the problem of idolizing other boys’ maleness.”⁴⁸ When the hormones then hit in the adolescent years, in the words of one homosexual psychologist, “individuals become erotically or romantically attracted to those who were dissimilar or unfamiliar to them in childhood.” The “exotic becomes erotic.”⁴⁹ The boy, who has not been drawn into his own gender, who fits in better with girls, begins to view boys as the mysterious, opposite gender. He idolizes them and their masculinity. When adolescent hormones arrive, the idolization of the “opposite” that they have longed to be, coupled with the added erotic feelings that accompany hormones, leads to homosexual attraction.

Nicolosi explains that lesbianism results from “the girl’s unconscious rejection of her feminine identity. Women who become lesbians have usually decided, on an unconscious level, that being female is either undesirable or unsafe.”⁵⁰ So they reject their gender in response and try to become male. One can only imagine the kinds of traumatic things such girls have experienced. To deny that they need help and even attempt (successfully in 20 states⁵¹) to make it illegal to help homosexuals with therapy, is the epitome of calloused, unloving behavior.

Other GID Contributing Factors: Poor Fathers

According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2017 there were 74 million children under the age of 18 in America, and more than one in four of them live in single parent homes. Of those children, 84% live without a father. Translation: 23% of American children live without a father.⁵² And yet, sadly, Nicolosi highlighted the evidence that fathers play a significant role in causing and preventing GID.

Nicolosi emphasized, “In fifteen years, I have spoken with hundreds of homosexual men. Perhaps there are exceptions, but I have never met a single homosexual man who said he had a close, loving, and respectful relationship with his father.”⁵³ “The majority of fathers of prehomosexual boys I have known are simply uninvolved, emotionally distant, and disconnected, especially from their sons.”⁵⁴ He cites the published works of other psychologists as further support for that observation. Psychologists Seymour Fisher and Roger Greenberg said, “The reports concerning the male homosexual’s view of his father are overwhelmingly supportive of Freud’s hypothesis. With only a few exceptions, the male homosexual declares that father has been a negative influence in his life.”⁵⁵ So while there is some inconsistency in studies about mothers, “one virtually unchanging variable is the poor relationship with fathers.”⁵⁶ Fathers are often instrumental in causing GID and homosexual attraction.⁵⁷

Other GID Contributing Factors: Sexual Abuse

Statistics reveal that sexual abuse is a significant contributing factor in causing GID. A 1994 report on sexual behavior in the United States revealed that sexual molestation of a child makes him/her three times more likely to identify as gay or lesbian.⁵⁸ Mayer and McHugh’s 2016 report verified that sexual molestation is a common previous experience of homosexuals, stating that, “Compared to heterosexuals, non-heterosexuals are about two to three times as likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse.”⁵⁹ A study that was reported in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that 46% of homosexual men and 22% of lesbian women reported homosexual molestation, compared to 7% of heterosexual men and 1% of heterosexual women reporting homosexual molestation.⁶⁰ The study conducted by Nicolosi, Byrd, and Potts revealed that 60% of the 882 homosexual participants “said they experienced homosexual contact when they were a child.”⁶¹ Sexual abuse—especially homosexual sexual abuse—clearly plays a significant role in shaping one’s sexual identity. Environment, not biology, is the primary cause of GID.

With that fact in mind, parents should be on guard and attentive to their children. According to studies by the Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center,⁶² “1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse.” Also according to one of the studies, over the course of their lifetime, 28% of United States youth, ages 14-17, had been sexually victimized. “According to a 2003 National Institute of Justice report, 3 out of 4 adolescents who have been sexually assaulted were victimized by someone they knew well.” No doubt, such statistics will continue to rise as the United States delves ever deeper into sexual anarchy—causing homosexuality to become more and more prevalent in our country.⁶³

Conclusion

In the same way that a parent gives a child rules for his own benefit—for his safety and happiness—God gave humans rules and guidelines that are for our good and happiness. No doubt, parents can be wrong in the rules that they give, since parents do not have perfect wisdom or omniscience. God the omniscient, Chief Psychologist of the Universe Who designed and created the human psyche, however, can be trusted to know the best way to live. Heterosexual behavior between one man and one woman for life is the biblically prescribed way to conduct ourselves sexually. If we wish to be safe and happy, we will abide by His instructions.

From the beginning, however, like the rebellious child who thinks he knows more than his parents, humans have rejected God’s way and put their trust in themselves instead of God and His Word. And still, our merciful God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Homosexuals can “repent.” They can cease sexual activity that is prohibited by God and begin conducting themselves in the biblically prescribed way—the way that will lead to their happiness (Proverbs 29:18). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). To our homosexual friends: we love you and plead with you to change, for your own good. Christian community: we plead with you not to “approve of those who practice” homosexuality (Romans 1:26-32), but love homosexuals enough to stand against the societal promulgation of their physically, psychologically, and spiritually toxic lifestyle.

 Endnotes

Published February 1, 2021

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