Anti-gay therapy: how homosexuality was "cured" in the past

Historically, many very harmful strategies were used to eliminate this sexual orientation.

The conception of homosexuality as a moral or Biological problem has existed in many societies throughout history. Christianity in particular has exerted a great influence in this regard in European and American countries.

During the 20th century developments in psychological therapy were used to modify the behavior and alleviate the discomfort of people with a wide variety of "disorders". These included what some experts still refer to as "egodystonic homosexuality", which was supposed to be cured by the redirection of sexual impulses.

Although "anti-gay therapy" was born into disrepute and has never left it, it is still practiced today surrounded by controversy.

What does "anti-gay therapy" consist of?

Sex conversion therapy is a pseudoscientific practice, i.e. it misleadingly claims that its approaches are based on research. Numerous studies have shown the lack of efficacy of this form of behavior modification, to the point that in theThe poor results of reeducation therapy have been so much in dispute in the scientific community that there is no longer any real debate about it.

The poor results of reorientation therapy are probably due to the fact that its objective is not only limited to modifying behaviors or behavioral habits but also impulses with a biological origin, which are difficult to modify.

Although nowadays the most common forms of "anti-gay therapy" focus on conversation and visualization, the following have also been used more controversial techniques such as aversion therapy, electroshock and even lobotomy..

Most commonly, homosexuals who agree to undergo this type of "treatment" do so for moral reasons, because they see themselves as sick or abnormal and to avoid the social rejection they receive from their environment.

The most important advocates of sexual conversion therapy are Christian fundamentalist groups that seek to make others adhere to the behaviors they consider ethical, especially members of their religious community.

• Related article, "What is a lobotomy and for what purpose was it practiced?"

History of conversion therapy.

In 1935 Sigmund Freud replied to a letter from a woman who asked him to treat her homosexual son by denying that this orientation was a disease and could be "cured." According to Freud, all children are bisexual and develop their definitive sexual orientation during adolescence depending on whether they identify with the mother or the father.

However, the popularization of behavior modification from the 1960s onwards promoted the emergence of treatments that would become known as sexual reorientation or conversion therapy. Psychiatrists and psychologists such as Edmund Bergler, Samuel Hadden, Irving Bieber, Joseph Nicolosi and Charles Socarides defended the efficacy of behavioral techniques to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals.

The scientific literature clearly discredited conversion therapy and recorded that it increased the risk of isolation, anxiety, depression and suicide.. Likewise, social activism succeeded in having homosexuality no longer considered a disorder in the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II), which appeared in 1968.

However, in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), the diagnosis "egodystonic sexual orientation", which applies to people who feel discomfort because of their sexuality, is still in force, and many forms of "anti-gay therapy" are still practiced. forms of "anti-gay therapy" that deny the evidence provided by research are still practiced, especially in religious or religiously orientedespecially in religious settings or for financial gain.

Homosexuality as a paraphilia

Reorientation therapy for homosexuality bears close similarities to those carried out in paraphilias. This term currently encompasses the focusing of sexual impulses on animals, objects or behaviors involving non-consenting persons.

Thus, paraphilic disorders include pedophilia, zoophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism or frotteurism.voyeurism or frotteurism, as well as other sexual preferences that may cause discomfort in the person who feels them or in others, as may happen with sadism.

This discomfort is one of the main criteria still used today to justify conversion therapy in cases of homosexuality. The problem is that the emotional problems do not derive directly from the fact of being attracted to persons of the same sex, but from the negative social conception that may exist in this respect.

The way in which the ICD describes "egodystonic sexual orientation" is closer to the so-called "gender identity disorders", still in force in the DSM. In both cases the diagnostic category itself has a pathologizing and moralizing effect as it separates the and moralizing effect since it separates discomfort due to sexuality or identity from other causes, promoting the adaptation of the person to specific social norms and removing responsibility from the environment.

So to speak, diagnosing egodystonic homosexuality or gender identity disorder would be similar to doing the same with victims of bullying or gender violence by emphasizing that the person is a boy or a woman.

How was homosexuality "cured"?

Conversion therapy does not follow official guidelines because it is not recognized by associations of psychologists and physicians. None of these treatments has proven to be effective and most of them are out of use.

We recommend those interested in learning more about sexual reorientation therapy to watch the television series Masters of Sexwhich portrays some of these treatments and the view of homosexuality in general in the context of the birth of sex therapy in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.

1. Aversive therapy

This type of therapy consisted of presenting a punishment together with the stimulus that was intended to be unattractive; in the case of homosexuality, erotic images with persons of the same sex were used.

The punishment, usually nausea-producing substances or electric currents, was supposed to make the homosexual images cease to be attractive. homosexual images would cease to provoke arousal.. In reality, aversion therapy only increased the feelings of guilt and fear of those who underwent it.

2. Psychotherapy

In the past, some psychoanalytic theorists have argued that homosexuality was due to unconscious conflicts was due to unconscious conflicts originating in childhood originated in childhood and that it could be "cured" by resolving these conflicts through psychotherapy.

Today, "anti-gay therapy" is mostly conducted through dialogue, at least when it is practiced openly. Some psychology professionals and religious bodies exercise a kind of counseling focused on convincing the person to repress his or her homosexual impulses.

3. Masturbatory reconditioning

This technique is commonly used in the treatment of paraphilias. It consists in masturbating using the exciting stimuli that are considered inappropriate (in the case of conversion therapy, homosexual images) but upon reaching orgasm visualize the stimuli that are intended to make them more palatable (persons of the opposite sex).

Following the principles of conditioning, heterosexual images should become palatable with repeated practice and the newly developed attraction to the opposite sex could replace homosexual urges. Masturbatory reconditioning has not been shown to be effective as a conversion therapy.

4. Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy involves transmitting low-intensity electrical currents into the brain of an anesthetized person to alter brain chemistry in cases where other forms of treatment are ineffective.

Although if practiced correctly it can be effective in treating some resistant cases of depression. resistant cases of depression**Not only does it not "cure" homosexuality, but at the time when conversion therapy was in vogue electroshock therapy most often produced side effects such as memory loss and broken bones.

5. Medical treatments

This category includes some of the most aggressive therapies that have been applied to "cure" homosexuality. For example, in the middle of the last century it was not uncommon to perform lobotomies, i.e., surgical incisions in the brain; homosexuality was related to the action of the hypothalamus, specifically.

It has also been possible to apply estrogen treatments and even chemical castration to reduce the libido of homosexuals.