wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Panelists dismiss sex 'change' therapy

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Note #7749 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Panelists dismiss sex 'change' therapy
GA03060

Panelists dismiss sex 'change' therapy

'When fear rules our decisions, the devil is in control'

By Nancy Rodman

DENVER, May 27 - A panel discussion of "reparative" or "change" therapy,
which endeavors to change a person's sexual orientation, was the topic of a
General Assembly luncheon co-hosted by three organizations working for the
full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the Presbyterian church -
More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve and the Shower of Stoles
Project.

	Panelist Kate Van Brocklin, a student at Union Theological
Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education, presented a historical
overview of the theological traditions of sexual orientation.	 People of
faith have had a variety of understandings of what it means to be created in
the image of God, she said, but our theology does not support the idea that
gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people are inferior. 

	"We are all justified by grace," she said. "We can't alter that
reality.  We were placed in right relationship with God before the
foundations of the world were laid. There is nothing we can do to make
ourselves more or less acceptable in God's eyes."

	However, she said, "our tradition has been hijacked" by people in
power who "are allowing the children of God to be crucified. We are all part
of the injustice, and it is we who are unfaithful."

	Another panelist, the Rev. Chuck McLain, told the story of his
personal journey. He said his own homophobia made him feel that he was
"deviant, aberrant, sick," with the result that he let other people define
who he was. "Homophobia distorts God's truth that sets us free," said McLain,
a More Light coordinator for Montclair Presbyterian Church, of Oakland, CA.

	A clinical psychologist, Dr. Jenny Stone, said, "When fear rules our
decisions, the devil is in control." She said many people, acting from fear,
treat homosexuals as if they are an infringement upon others and "are bad
persons from whom children, holy places, churches, the pulpit should be
protected."

	Dr. Cleve Evans, a professor of psychology at Bellevue University and
elder at Love Avenue Presbyterian Church, of Omaha, NE, said most
mental-health professionals believe change therapy is ineffective and that
claims of success made for it are based on faulty research. 

	It may change behavior, he said, but it doesn't change orientation -
and it always causes harm in the forms of depression, guilt, broken family
relationships, loneliness, low self-esteem and loss of faith. When such
treatment fails, Evans said, subjects are told that they are to blame because
they haven't tried hard enough. He said people should celebrate strong,
healthy relationships, rather than promoting change therapy.

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