You may not know this, in fact, we suspect nobody knows this, but a provision of California law mandates an end to homosexuality, or at least a cure. Through Welfare and Institutions Code Section 8050, passed in 1950, California requires health officials to seek ‘the causes and cures of homosexuality” in what was initially a hope to eradicate the behavior.
California Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal is now seeking to overturn that law with Assembly Bill 2199. You can read her criticism of the law here. And below you can watch Lowenthal debate the issue with self-described ex-gay Richard Cohen.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHgJbjIXw8g&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Although UFI does not take an official position on what appears to be a generally poor law, we wanted to note Lowenthal’s efforts because it brings up a hugely important but divisive issue in the “gay rights” debate: Is homosexuality curable or innate?
The truth is homosexuality is neither genetic nor innate. Despite vigorous efforts to prove otherwise, no scientific study has demonstrated homosexuality to be attached to any gene, while a substantial amount of evidence has demonstrated that, for those who desire, same-sex attraction can be reversed. Although this position draws more accusations of bigotry and hatred than any other pro-family position, the evidence is on our side.
The United Families International’s Guide to Family Issues: Sexual Orientation is a great source for this evidence. It is also a great resource for thorough analysis of all the arguments in the “gay rights” debate. For ease of access, here are the arguments to counter anyone who does try to tell you that homosexuality is genetic or unchangeable. You can access the Family Issues Guide online for complete references to the evidence.
Myth: Research shows that there is a gay gene. Homosexuality is genetic.
Reality: Homosexuality is not a genetically encoded condition.
There is no conclusive or compelling empirical evidence showing any absolute biological, genetic or hormonal causation for homosexuality. Research by Dr. Simon LeVay reportedly showed genetic support for sexual orientation. The media reported a “gay gene” and LeVay was later forced to make the clarification. “I did NOT find a genetic cause for orientation.” Homosexual activist and molecular biologist Dean Hamer’s study claiming the existence of a homosexual gene has not been replicated nor scientifically acknowledged. Studies that claim to prove homosexuality is genetic have been purposefully designed from a homosexual advocacy perspective and seek to convince society that homosexuality is innate, and therefore normal, and should be recognized as such by society.
A small percentage of the population may have a predisposition toward homosexual feelings, but this does not mean such people engage in homosexual behavior as a result of genetic causation. Predisposition toward something does not mean that it is inevitable or that such a predisposition cannot or should not be resisted and overcome. . . Current evidence suggests that environmental, familial and personal influences contribute significantly to the development of homosexual tendencies. Seventy years of therapeutic counseling and case studies show a remarkable consistency concerning the origins of the homosexual impulse as an uncompleted gender identity seeking after its own sex to replace what was not fully developed in childhood.
Myth: Homosexuality is unchangeable.
Reality: Reputable studies and decades of successful treatment show that homosexual behavior can be changed.
Thousands of former homosexuals are testimony to the possibility of change. Homosexual activists claim that homosexuality is an unchangeable condition and insist that therapy does not work. They attempt to justify their claim by defining success in absolute terms stipulating that: 1) Before treatment a person must have never experienced opposite-sex attraction and never engaged in heterosexual relations; and 2) After treatment the person must be fully heterosexual in behavior and never have another same-sex thought or temptation for the rest of his/her life. This would be the equivalent of saying that no diet program works unless the person never gains back one ounce of weight that was lost and is never tempted to overeat again.