Ex-gay movement

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The expression ex-gay movement (English ex- gay movement ) summarizes a number of mostly religiously motivated groups who consider a change in the homosexual orientation of people to be possible and desirable, and which this change with so-called conversion therapies , counseling and Want to promote public relations and make them known. In addition to same- sex sex , they also reject other aspects of what they disqualify as “homosexual lifestyle”. Their motivation is mostly based on religious conviction and on the rejection of the concept of sexual orientation , which is practically unanimously accepted in sexology , psychology and psychiatry . Since the movement is primarily supported by evangelicals , it is mainly anchored in the United States and has fewer followers here due to the lower spread of the evangelical movement in Europe.

Specialist scientists reject the attempt to " therapy " homosexuality through the conversion therapies propagated by the ex-gay movement as senseless and harmful for those affected. In science, the view has prevailed that homosexuality is to be assessed as a variant of sexual desire that is equivalent to heterosexuality and therefore does not require any “therapy”. The professional association of German psychologists , for example, regards attempts at therapy aimed at “training off” homosexuality or bisexuality as a violation of several aspects of its ethical guidelines. In the US state of California, the conduct of such therapies on minors has been prohibited by law since September 2012.

Represented view of sexual orientation

The movement assumes that homosexuals can permanently change or transform their sexual preference through willpower and outside help - in the form of advice, but also through turning to and praying to God - towards heterosexuality. The fact that this could be desirable at all is mostly seen as a question of faith or the thesis is put forward that being a Christian is not compatible with a homosexual orientation.

"Pathologizing" homosexuality

The fact that sexual orientation can be changed at will is often presented as being based on modern sexual science findings. After analyzing a corresponding information brochure, the psychologist Udo Rauchfleisch said: “If you subject the sources used by the authors of the brochure to a closer examination, it quickly becomes apparent that the cited literature - in a tendentious manner - is only cited in excerpts, and this is quite obviously included the goal of pathologizing homosexuality and putting same-sex people under massive pressure to change their sexual orientation. "

Use of renowned scientists

Professor Gunter Schmidt , sexologist, social psychologist and psychotherapist from Hamburg, who is often quoted in their spirit by the ex-gay movement , commented on the corresponding use of one of his articles as follows:

“… To deduce [from my essay] that homosexuals should be reversed therapeutically is a brazen or stupid, in any case manipulative misunderstanding of my essay. I consider such (by the way: hopeless) attempts, be they psychotherapeutic or somatic or whatever, to be deeply inhumane and accordingly unchristian. "

According to Rauchfleisch, other authors repeatedly cited by the movement, such as Nicolosi, are regarded by experts as rather insignificant or as outsiders and, with their one-sided pathologizing view of homosexuality, would no longer correspond to the views generally held today.

Sexual orientation as "subject to free will"

According to the views of the ex-gay movement, the categories of sexual orientation are to be viewed in a constructivist way, not as "conditions" independent of time and culture, but as sociological constructs based on the meaning of sexuality derived from the respective culture. It differentiates between occasional homoerotic and homosexual sensations; People with constant homosexual orientation; People who engage in homosexual practices contrary to their ethical principles; and people who openly practice a gay lifestyle.

Conversion through prayer and devotion to God

The cause of homosexual orientation is often seen in psychological influences in childhood or in a combination of predisposition and psychological influences. While the homosexual orientation is normally not seen as consciously chosen, from the perspective of the ex-gay movement, homosexual practices, like all sexual practices, usually also contain a volitional component. In the case of people in particular who experience a conflict between their sexual orientation or practice and their ethical or religious principles, the ex-gay movement sees the solution to this conflict in a change in sexual orientation instead of in an adaptation of ethical or religious principles. Some groups also see the homosexual orientation in and of itself as “not wanted by God”, and some see homosexuality as a “psychological mistake” that can be cured.

In contrast to essentialism , the movement does not see sexual orientation as an identity that is inseparable from personality . Sections of the ex-gay movement represent an image of man that they derive from their interpretation of the New Testament . According to this interpretation, sexuality can never be the basis for a person to define his identity or to find meaning and fulfillment in life, but this basis can be found in the identification as disciples of Christ .

Overview of the representatives of the ex-gay movement

Groups that can be clearly assigned to the ex-gay movement can be found primarily in the USA. These include, for example, the evangelical Exodus International (dissolution of the organization in 2013), Desert Stream Ministries , the Mormon Evergreen International, the Jewish JONAH (sentenced in 2015 to pay damages to the victims of the “therapies” offered by the organization for fraudulent and immoral business practices dissolved by order of a court), the interfaith umbrella organization PATH , the Muslim StraightWay Foundation and NARTH , which is scientifically oriented according to its own self- image . The movement is less widespread in German-speaking countries. There are only a few groups and organizations that include Wuestenstrom and the “ German Institute for Youth and Society ” (DIJG) of the Young Christians Offensive (OJC). Roland Werner (General Secretary of the YMCA 2011–2015) is one of the most prominent ex-gay theologians in German-speaking countries ; his writings on homosexuality are also recommended by the DIJG, to which he was a member of the "Scientific Advisory Board" until 2010.

The 2009 edition of the Essential Psychopathology and Its Treatment manual reads : “While many mental health professionals and professional associations have expressed considerable skepticism that psychotherapy can alter sexual orientation and have further believed that therapeutic attempts at reorientation have been suggested are harmful, recent empirical evidence shows that a homosexual orientation can indeed be therapeutically changed in motivated clients, and that reorientation therapies do not cause emotional damage. ”This conclusion, however, the book draws on the basis of studies that were predominantly by members of the ex-gay movement were carried out themselves (Byrd & Nicolosi , 2002; Byrd et al., 2008; Schaeffer et al., 1999; Spitzer , 2003). Spitzer withdrew his study in April 2012, according to which a change in sexual orientation was possible in a therapeutic way. He admitted that the criticism expressed was largely correct.

criticism

The positions of the ex-gay movement are widely rejected in the psychological and psychiatric professional world or are highly controversial because they fundamentally contradict the practically unanimously accepted scientific assumptions and findings about sexual orientation .

Strengthening the self-worth of homosexuals instead of attempting to convert

In contrast to one of the basic assumptions of the ex-gay movement, the scientific world has now established that homosexuality is to be assessed as a variant of sexual desire that is equivalent to heterosexuality. In particular, representatives of gay affirmative psychotherapy , but also the world's leading psychiatric and psychological professional associations see the propagated conversion and reparative therapies as a problematic approach, as there are reports that they have identity crises and associated psychological disorders ( depression , suicidality ) in some clients. caused.

Homosexuality is not "in need of therapy"

In the DSM-IV of the American Psychiatric Association and in the International Classification of Diseases ( ICD-10 ) of the World Health Organization , homosexuality has not been mentioned as a disorder since 1973 and is therefore not regarded as “in need of therapy”. The groups that are assigned to the ex-gay movement consider this classification to be unscientific because they are of the opinion that the classifications were not changed on the basis of scientific findings after appropriate research, but rather through a political process. The coming-out , in which the sexual behavior of patients often undergoes a visible change, and the Gay Movement Ex is interpreted as evidence of the variability in sexual orientation from that, however, according to the findings of Sexology and Psychology, a step to be heard a latent homosexuality that has always been present, which was previously masked by heterosexual behavior that conforms to roles (see also heteronormativity ).

View of professional associations

The view of homosexuality represented by the ex-gay movement is not shared by doctors, psychiatric and psychological professional associations or health insurance companies. According to Armin Traute, General Manager of the Professional Association of German Psychologists , reparative therapies violate the ethical guidelines of his association, specifically against the required "respect for the dignity and integrity of the individual," the "protection of the rights of professionally entrusted persons" and the Due diligence of psychologists working in medicine.

The American Psychological Association issued a resolution expressly recommending that religiously motivated groups recognize that it was beyond their task and expertise to assess the findings of scientific psychology. The American Psychiatric Association issued an official statement rejecting all psychiatric treatments based on the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disorder.

Statement by the German Federal Government from 2008

In 2008, the German government at that time answered a small inquiry from Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the Bundestag according to the state of scientific research available to it at the time. She neither takes the view that homosexuality needs therapy nor that it is accessible to therapy. For over 20 years, homosexuality has not been viewed as a disease in the professional world and was therefore deleted from the ICD classification in 1992 . The professional world largely rejects the "so-called 'conversion' or 'reparation' therapies, which were often offered especially in the 1960s and 1970s" because, according to (unspecified) "more recent scientific studies" the majority of those treated in this way had “negative and harmful effects (e.g. fears, social isolation, depression and even suicidality)”, but the prospects for a cure were disappointed. In contrast, a benefit has been proven for affirmative therapies.

Psychological studies at a glance (2009)

The " American Psychological Association " set in 2007, a so-called one. "Task force" of scientists who until 2009 studies commissioned with scientific methodology to success and risks of "efforts to change sexual orientation" (short "SOCE" she avoids the word “therapies”). In the literature report she presented in 2009, she came to the conclusion that those studies that indicated the effectiveness of such efforts contained scientific flaws and that there was therefore no scientific basis for the conclusion that SOCE treatments actually had an effect on sexual orientation . In particular, those studies that documented changes had problems with the generalizability of their results. The “Task Force” therefore states that the success of SOCE forms of treatment is “unlikely” from a scientific point of view.

The second question posed by the “Task Force” was whether, according to the available scientific literature, “SOCE” treatments cause damage. Here the task force complains about a research gap, since no study with the necessary scientific thoroughness has yet been carried out, particularly on current "SOCE" forms of treatment. There are only studies documenting individual reports from people who stated that they were harmed by "SOCE" treatments. Here, among other things, self-reports of anger, fears, confusion, depression, grief, feelings of guilt, suicidal thoughts, sexual dysfunction are documented as “social and emotional consequences”. This contrasts with studies that document individual reports from people who stated that “SOCE” treatments would have been of benefit to them. Among other things, the feeling of liberation, feelings of happiness, an improved relationship with God and the perceived improvement in mental health would be mentioned here. These studies did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the cause-and-effect relationship between “SOCE” treatments and harm or benefit, but merely underlined the diversity and scope of the experiences of “SOCE” participants. The “Task Force” concludes from this that a clear finding on the prevalence and frequency of harmful effects is not yet possible due to the lack of relevant studies. Therefore, she cannot infer how likely it is that “SOCE” treatments will cause harm; however, there was evidence in some studies that attempts to change sexual orientation could induce suffering and poor mental health in individuals, including depression and suicidal ideation. In summary, she therefore formulates: "Efforts to change sexual orientation involve some risks for harm"

US trade associations advise against conversion therapy

The American Psychological Association of the United States adopted a resolution on August 5, 2009 that states that mental health professionals should avoid explaining to clients that their sexual orientation is through therapy or other treatment might change. The resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation-Related Tensions and Change Efforts also recommends that parents, guardians, young people and their families avoid treatments that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or a developmental disorder. Instead, they should look for psychotherapy, social support, and educational services that "provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support, and reduce rejection from teenagers belonging to a sexual minority."

World Medical Association and Conversion Therapies

In October 2013, the 64th General Assembly of the World Medical Association in Fortaleza, Brazil, decided that homosexuality is not a disease and therefore does not require any cure. The delegates of the World Medical Association strictly rejected so-called reparation or conversion therapies.

German Medical Association and Conversion Therapies

In May 2014, the German Medical Association turned against conversion therapies. The delegates called for the deletion of diagnostic categories that pathologize homosexuality or suggest the possibility of treatment or therapy as an option.

additional

The Canadian television broadcaster CTV , which after protests against a television commercial of the ex-gay movement no longer aired the spot, saw in the message of the movement a discriminatory statement that would violate the broadcaster's own anti-discrimination guidelines.

For a detailed criticism and press coverage of the work of wuestenstrom, the largest relevant organization in Germany, see there .

Prohibition of ex-gay therapies

Map of countries that have banned conversion therapies by law
  • Legal ban on conversion therapies
  • De facto ban on conversion therapy
  • Case-by-case ban
  • Legal prohibitions planned or proposed
  • no legal ban on conversion therapies

    • In September 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown signed law banning ex-gay therapy for minors because of its harmful effects in California.

    For Germany, the Bundestag parliamentary group Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen presented a legislative initiative in March 2013 that wants to ban the offer and implementation of therapies for minors with the aim of changing their sexual orientation, because: "[...] negative and harmful Effects of such treatment on treated people have been scientifically proven. In addition to fears, these include social isolation, depression and increased suicidality. [...] The effectiveness of such therapies, however, does not exist. ”Violations are to be punished with a fine of at least 500 euros. Although the draft law only refers to therapy attempts on minors, it has been criticized by several organizations from the evangelical spectrum: the German Institute for Youth and Society of the Young Christians Offensive on the grounds that the thesis that such therapies are "harmful" is "scientifically untenable" , from the organization Wuestenstrom , for whom homosexual people have a “right” to “change”, and from Michael Diener , according to whose words the German Evangelical Alliance prevents discrimination against people who have psychological problems due to their sexual orientation, do not want to accept.

    In March 2018, for the first time across party lines , the European Parliament advocated for the first time, with a majority of 435 to 109 votes, the "cure" of homosexuality, conversion therapies, to be legally prohibited.

    Ex-ex-gay

    There are now numerous people who consider themselves “ ex-ex-gay ” because they formerly belonged to the ex-gay movement and recognized this path as wrong; Some therefore publicly criticize the theses and the approach of the "ex-gay movement".

    The psychoanalyst and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Basel Udo Rauchfleisch gives reasons for the dropouts of the ex-gay movement : “The actual sexual orientation with the associated feelings, the erotic and sexual fantasies and the social preferences cannot be changed. The many examples of same-sex people who have made a change under massive pressure from outside - that is, supposedly 'cured' - and sooner or later live again according to their original sexual orientation, bear eloquent testimony to this fundamental immutability of sexual orientation from."

    Ex-ex-gays often adopt formulations of the ex-gay movement and apply them or deal with them critically. Günter Baum von Zwischenraum says about the ex-gay concept of a postulated “right to change”: “Zwischenraum also advocates a right to change, namely a change towards being human, embracing the sexual orientation given by God in all of it Understanding and integrating diversity and its forms as a life-fulfilling gift. We are very grateful that we can go the path of change and experience how we have come a little closer to our calling as human beings by accepting our sexuality and integrating it into our humanity. "

    Cinematic processing

    • A satirical reception of the movement is the film " Because I'm a Girl " ("But I'm a Cheerleader") by Jamie Babbit (USA 1999).
    • In the film Brüno , Sacha Baron Cohen plays a homosexual fashion reporter who wants to become a star in the USA. Because he suspects that he has little chance as a gay person, he goes to an evangelical therapist, among other things, to become heterosexual.
    • In season 11, part of “Cartman Sucks” from South Park, Cartman fears being mistaken for gay, while Butters comes to a “boot camp” for bi-curious boys to learn of his alleged inclinations. to be cured ”.
    • In the film Religulous , a supporter of the ex-gay movement is satirically interviewed by presenter Bill Maher .
    • This Is What Love in Action Looks Like (USA 2011): Documentary about "Love in Action", an organization of the ex-gay movement
    • Boy Erased - The Prodigal Son (USA 2018): Film based on the autobiography "Boy Erased: A Memoir" by the 1985 born author Garrard Conley.

    literature

    About the ex-gay movement

    • Hedwig Porsch: Sexual-moral conditions of understanding. Same-sex partnerships in discourse. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-020439-3 .
    • Jack Drescher, Kenneth Zucker: Ex-Gay Research: Analyzing the Spitzer Study and Its Relation to Science, Religion, Politics and Culture. Haworth Press, 2006, ISBN 1-56023-557-8 .
    • Tanya Erzen: Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement. 2006, ISBN 0-520-24582-2 .
    • Robert Spitzer : 200 Subjects Who Claim to Have Changed Their Sexual Orientation from Homosexual to Heterosexual - Presentation at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Convention. New Orleans, May 9, 2001. Original (English), translation (de) by OJC .
    • Valeria Hinck : Love dispute. Biblical pleading against the exclusion of homosexual people. Dortmund-Verlag Franz Krämer, Dortmund 2012, ISBN 978-3-943262-26-1 .
    • Rik Isensee : The God Squad: A Spoof on the Ex-Gay Movement. Writer's Digest, 2000, ISBN 0-595-00677-9 .
    • Schneider: Lesbian women in psychotherapy. Psychosocial women's counseling center Donna Klara eV, Kiel 2003.
    • I. Steffens (Hrsg.): Yearbook Lesbian-Gay-Psychology. (on behalf of the VLSP), Pabst Science Publishers, Digital Druck Ag, Frensdorf, 2003, pp. 72-87.
    • Udo Rauchfleisch and others: Same and yet different. Psychotherapy and counseling for lesbians, gays and bisexuals and their relatives. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 36-37, 223-227.
    • Ariel Shidlo , Michael Schroeder, Jack Drescher (Eds.): Sexual Conversion Therapy. Ethical, Clinical and Research Perspectives. The Haworth Medical Press, New York et al. 2001, pp. 204-208. (Appendix 2 to the essay by Jack Drescher: Ethical Concerns Raised When Patients Seek to Change Same-Sex Attractions)
    • W. Symalla: Systemic counseling for gay couples. German AIDS Help, Carl Auer Systems, Heidelberg 1997.
    • Erwin J. Haeberle , Rolf Gindorf (ed.): Bisexualities - Ideology and practice of sexual contact with both sexes. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-437-11571-5 .
    • Erwin J. Haeberle, Rolf Gindorf: Sexology and Sexual Policy. Gruyter, 1992, ISBN 3-11-012246-4 .
    • Erwin J. Haeberle, Rolf Gindorf: Sexualities in our society. Gruyter, 1989, ISBN 3-11-011373-2 .
    • Erwin J. Haeberle, Rolf Gindorf: Sexuality as a social fact. Gruyter, 1986, ISBN 3-11-010147-5 .
    • American Psychological Association : Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality.

    From the ex-gay movement

    Web links

    Per

    Cons

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ a b Statement (PDF; 18 kB) from Professor Dr. Udo Rauchfleisch on the brochure: “Gay marriage !? No to the yes-word "of the pastoral organization" Wuestenstrom "(as seen on December 11, 2009)
    2. ↑ V. Hinck: "Grotesk" - ex-gay literature and the scholars it refers to ( memento of February 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) www. Zwischenraum.net, June 2005, accessed on March 4, 2015.
    3. ^ Jones and Yarhouse: The Controversy. (PDF; 332 kB) Archived from the original on January 14, 2010 ; Retrieved May 10, 2010 .
    4. ↑ Heinzpeter Hempelmann : Does God love gays and lesbians ?: Points of view for the discussion about the Bible and homosexuality . 2nd Edition. Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission , Bad Liebenzell 2004, ISBN 3-921113-42-3 , p. 110 f .
    5. ^ Tanya Erzen: Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement . University of California Press , Berkeley 2006, ISBN 0-520-24582-2 , pp. 17 (en-US).
    6. ^ Richard B. Hays : The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation - A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics . HarperSanFrancisco , San Francisco 1996, ISBN 0-06-063796-X , pp. 390 f . (en-US).
    7. ↑ Mark Joseph Stern: Consumer Fraud Lawsuit Forces Ex-Gay Conversion Therapy Group to Pay Victims and Disband . In: slate , December 21, 2015.
    8. ↑ Hedwig Porsch: Sexual-moral conditions of understanding. Same-sex partnerships in discourse. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, pp. 139-142.
    9. ↑ Hedwig Porsch: Sexual-moral conditions of understanding. Same-sex partnerships in discourse. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, pp. 141ff.
    10. ↑ While many mental health care providers and professional associations have expressed considerable skepticism that sexual orientation could be changed with psychotherapy and also assumed that therapeutic attempts at reorientation would produce harm, recent empirical evidence demonstrates that homosexual orientation can indeed be therapeutically changed in motivated clients, and that reorientation therapies do not produce emotional harm when attempted.
    11. ↑ Jerrold S. Maxmen, Nicholas G. Ward, Mark D. Kilgus: Essential Psychopathology and Its Treatment: Third Edition. WW Norton & Company , 2009, ISBN 978-0-393-70560-7 , p. 488.
    12. ↑ Ted Thornhill: Psychiatrist retracts controversial study that claimed gay men and women can be turned heterosexual by therapy. In: Daily Mail . April 12, 2012.
    13. ^ American Psychological Association (APA): Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts
    14. ^ Charles W. Socarides: Sexual Politics and Scientific Logic: The Issue of Homosexuality. In: The Journal of Psychohistory. 10, No. 3, New York / London 1992.
    15. ↑ Statement of DIJG p. 3: “The result was not a decision based on the approach to scientific truth as it can be grasped with reason, but on the demands of an ideological climate of this time.” Quote from Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. New York 1981, pp. 3-4.
    16. ↑ Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Homosexuality: There is still discrimination
    17. ↑ Armin Traute: On the "Therapy of Homosexuality". In: Report Psychology. 31, 2006, p. 5. ISSN  0344-9602
    18. ^ American Psychological Association (APA): Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts , adopted on August 5, 2009.
    19. ↑ Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies): Position Statement ( Memento of April 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). American Psychiatric Association, May 2000.
    20. ↑ BT-Drs. 16/8022 Bundestag: Statement by the Federal Government on anti- homosexual seminars and pseudo-scientific therapy offers by religious fundamentalists. (PDF; 111 kB)
    21. ^ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (PDF; 834 kB), 2009.
    22. ↑ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (PDF; 834 kB), p. 34: Due to these limitations, the recent empirical literature provides little basis for concluding whether SOCE has any effect on sexual orientation .
    23. ^ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (PDF; 834 kB), SV
    24. ↑ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (PDF; 834 kB), p. 42f.
    25. ^ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation , p. 42.
    26. ↑ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation , p. 42: Although the nature of these studies precludes causal attributions for harm or benefit to SOCE, these studies underscore the diversity of and range in participants' perceptions and evaluations of their SOCE experiences
    27. ↑ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation , p. 42f .: Early and recent research studies provide no clear indication of the prevalence of harmful outcomes among people who have undergone efforts to change their sexual orientation or the frequency of occurrence of harm because no study to date of adequate scientific rigor has been explicitly designed to do so. Thus, we cannot conclude how likely it is that harm will occur from SOCE. However, studies from both periods indicate that attempts to change sexual orientation may cause or exacerbate distress and poor mental health in some individuals, including depression and suicidal thoughts.
    28. ↑ Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation , p. V: "efforts to change sexual orientation (...) involve some risk of harm."
    29. ↑ Position statement (press release) of the American Psychological Association (APA) on conversion therapies ( Memento from June 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on: huk.de August 5, 2009.
    30. ↑ US psychologists: Once gay, always gay! on: queer.de
    31. ↑ World Medical Association: Homosexuality is not a disease. Press release of the German Medical Association, October 22, 2013.
    32. ↑ queer.de: Ärztetag gegen Umpolung-Therapien accessed on June 12, 2014.
    33. ^ "Ex-gay" adverts forced off the air in Canada. on: pinknews.co.uk , March 10, 2008 and Code of business conduct. ( Memento of March 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) at: ctvglobemedia.com
    34. ↑ California: Gay "healing" of minors prohibited on queer.de, October 1, 2012.
    35. ↑ Erik Eckholm: Gay 'Conversion Therapy' Faces Test in Courts. In: New York Times. November 27, 2012.
    36. ^ Draft of a law on the punishment of therapies with the aim of changing the sexual orientation of minors (PDF; 138 kB), German Bundestag, printed matter 17/12849.
    37. ↑ Christopher Pramstaller: Pseudo-scientific offers: Greens demand a ban on therapies for homosexuals. on: sueddeutsche.de , March 23, 2013, accessed on March 25, 2013.
    38. ↑ "conversion therapies": Pastoral organizations criticize Greens push to idea .com, March 25, 2013, accessed March 26, 2013.
    39. ^ Alliance: Volker Beck creates enemy images. In: PRO. Christian media magazine. March 25, 2013, accessed March 26, 2013.
    40. ↑ Queer.de: EU Parliament strengthens LGBTI basic rights , accessed on March 2, 2018
    41. ↑ Schwulissimo.de: European Parliament condemns the "healing" of homosexuals , accessed on March 2, 2018
    42. ↑ Comment on the brochure: «Homosexual marriage ?! No to the yes word »of the pastoral care organization" Wüstenstrom "by Dr. Udo Rauchfleisch, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Basel and psychotherapist in private practice in Binningen, Switzerland
    43. ↑ Between "right to change" and "freedom to decide". ( Memento of July 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) at: Zwischenraum.net