Title The straight line : how the fringe science of ex-gay therapy reoriented sexuality / Tom Waidzunas

Published Minneapolis : University off Minnesota Press, [2015]

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Description 1 online resource (321 pages .) Contents Cover -- Contents -- Introduction: The Shifting Straight Line -- 1 The Reorientation Regime: Therapeutic Techniques in an Anti-Homosexual Era, 1948-1972 -- 2 The Evolution of Dr. Robert Spitzer: The Rise of Gay-Affirmative Therapies, 1970-2003 -- 3 Ex-Ex-Gays Match Testimony with Testimony, 2004-2007 -- 4 Reorientation's Last Stand: Showdown at the American Psychological Association -- 5 A National Movement against "Homos": How Reorientation Concepts Traveled to Uganda, 2009-2014 -- Conclusion: Sexuality Is a Matter of Perspective -- Acknowledgments -- Methodological Appendix -- Notes -- Index Summary "To be taken seriously, therapies that claim to "cure" homosexuality wrap themselves in lab coats. Even though the fit is bad, and such therapies and their theorists now inhabit the scientific fringe, the science of sexuality has made some adjustments, too, Tom Waidzunas tells us in this provocative work. Intervening in the politics of sexuality and science, The Straight Line argues that scientific definitions of sexual orientation do not merely reflect the results of investigations into human nature, but rather emerge through a process of social negotiation between opposing groups. The demedicalization of homosexuality and the discrediting of reparative therapies, ex-gay ministries, and reorientation research have, Waidzunas contends, required scientists to enforce key boundaries around scientific expertise and research methods. Drawing on extensive participant observation at conferences for ex-gays, reorientation therapists, mainstream psychologists, and survivors of ex-gay therapy, as well as interviews with experts and activists, The Straight Line traces reorientation debates in the United States from the 1950s to the present, following homosexuality therapies from the mainstream to the margins. As the ex-gay movement has become increasingly transnational in recent years, Waidzunas turns to Uganda, where ideas about the scientific nature of homosexuality influenced the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014. While most studies treat the ex-gay movement as a religious phenomenon, this book looks at how the movement, in its attempts to establish legitimacy, has engaged with scientific institutions, shaping virulent anti-gay public policy."-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-307) and index Notes Print version record Subject Conversion therapy -- United States -- History Ex-gay movement -- United States -- History Homosexuality -- United States -- History Gay people -- United States -- History Homosexuality -- psychology History, 20th Century History, 21st Century Homosexuality -- history Sexual and Gender Disorders -- therapy Sexual Behavior -- psychology SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Gay Studies. HISTORY -- Social History. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Human Rights. Ex-gay movement Gay people Homosexuality Conversion therapy SUBJECT United States Subject United States Genre/Form Electronic books History Form Electronic book LC no. 2015026526 ISBN 9781452953663 145295366X 9781452945538 1452945535

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