I am the victim of a Hate Crime. Don’t tell me not to be so sensitive.

A six inch knife plunged five times into the back of an unarmed gay man (my best friend who died trying to protect me)is not “in the eye of the beholder”. It’s hateful behavior in the back.

And I didn’t have a “chip on my shoulder” or a “sensitive feeling.” What I had was a hole in my right lung.

The anti-gay hate that fueled this (and similar attacks) CAN be treated. And the anti-hate message should come from Christ’s church.

Most reparative therapists just jump right in because they believe homosexuality is sin. “Why of COURSE, your’re unhappy”, they seem to say. “That’s because you’re gay. Let me help you…”

For example, Nicolosi states that only 22% were motivated by “outside pressure”. Is he kidding? He says 77% were seeking healing of “emotional hurts” and not feeling “outside pressure”.

What caused these hurts? How naive can he be?

He lists “other factors” but seems oblivious to the fact that all of the other factors he measured ARE “outside pressures”. And all of these motivations are rated 60% or higher —

* personal sprituality (being taught that you will go to Hell is pressure don’t you think?)

* desire for wife and children (a cultural and family pressure, perhaps a “good” one, but an outside pressure nonetheless)

* religious teachings (see above)

* desire for non-sexual male friends (What? I have lots of male friends who aren’t gay. What is he talking about? This implies that gay men only think of other men in a sexual way. BALONEY! You don’t have to change your orientation to make friends.)

* “conscience” — does he mean a sense of right and wrong? We are not born with conscience. We LEARN it. Such a sense is developed through social pressure and interaction.

* expectation of an unhappy gay life (Such as? prejudice? loss of job? loss of family and friends? gay bashing? Tremendous bigotry and outside pressure contribute to gay unhappiness. It doesn’t occur in a vacuum.)

How can Nicolosi ignore that the fact that ALL of the factors he lists ARE outside pressures?

Have a look at the sexual identity therapy guidelines and see if you might consider supporting them.

Of course, when I make such referrals, I follow the APA guidelines about informed consent, homosexuality not being an illness, no scientific basis for sexual reorientation, that such organizations may actually do harm, etc.