Former US organization promoting conversion therapy
The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), which until 2014 was known as the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of people with same-sex attraction.[1] NARTH was founded in 1992 by Joseph Nicolosi, Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides. Its headquarters were in Encino, California, at its Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic.[2][3] NARTH has not been recognized by any major United States-based professional association.[4]
NARTH's promotion of conversion therapy as a scientifically supported therapeutic method is contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus.[5] For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) states that homosexuality is a normal and positive variation of human sexual orientation, and is not a mental disorder.[6] The APA's Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation affirms the tension between some religious values and other organizations and the existence of a subset of individuals who are distressed about their same-sex attraction, but it says it has not found adequately rigorous studies that suggest sexual orientation change efforts are successful. The APA Task Force has also found that some individuals reported being harmed by sexual orientation change efforts.[6]
NARTH was founded in 1992 by Benjamin Kaufman, Charles Socarides, and Joseph Nicolosi. In an article titled "In Defense of the Need for Honest Dialogue", Kaufman wrote that the three of them founded NARTH because the American Psychiatric Association and similar professional organizations "had totally stifled the scientific inquiry that would be necessary to stimulate a discussion" about homosexuality.[7]
The organization had 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, which was revoked by the Internal Revenue Service in September 2012 due to ongoing failure to file required paperwork.[8]
In July 2011, NARTH failed to pay its dues to the California Board for Behavioral Sciences and was removed from the list of groups that provide continuing education credits to therapists in California. NARTH had been an approved continuing education provider since 1998.[10]
No schools, universities or professional programs currently train counselors in reparative therapy.[11]
Stances on the etiology and mutability of homosexuality[edit]
The founders held that homosexuality is a treatable mental illness and that a person's sexual orientation can be changed through therapy. Such conversion therapyispseudoscientific,[1] harmful, and unethical according to major medical and psychological organisations in the United States[6][16][17] and elsewhere.[18][19] Socarides in particular said in the mid-1990s that he had treated about a thousand homosexual patients, and cured over a third by dealing with the parental causes of an absent father and overbearing mother.[20]
In 2010, NARTH’s executive secretary Abba Goldberg disclosed a 1991 criminal conviction for conspiracy and fraud, for which he served 18 months in prison.[26]
George Rekers was a former officer and scientific advisor of the NARTH.[27][28] Rekers has testified in court that homosexuality is destructive, and against parenthood by gay and lesbian people in a number of court cases involving organizations and state agencies working with children.[29] In May 2010, Rekers employed a male prostitute as a travel companion for a two-week vacation in Europe.[30][31][32] Rekers denied any inappropriate conduct and suggestions that he was gay. The male escort told CNN he had given Rekers "sexual massages" while traveling together in Europe.[33] Rekers subsequently resigned from the board of NARTH.[30][34]
In April 2005, NARTH published on its website an essay titled "Gay Rights and Political Correctness: A Brief History", written by Gerald Schoenewolf, a member of NARTH's Science Advisory Committee. The essay made several controversial claims, including that the civil rights and gay rights movements are "destructive", that the American Psychological Association "has been taken over by extremist gays", and that Africans were fortunate to have been sold into slavery.[35] The SPLC called it an angry polemic that made outrageous historical claims and criticised both NARTH and Schoenewolf. The essay drew little attention until a letter of protest was presented to NARTH by the National Black Justice Coalition in mid-September 2006. Truth Wins Out then called on Focus on the Family to cancel a planned appearance by Nicolosi at their conference. Nicolosi appeared as planned but the Schoenewolf essay was removed from the NARTH website the same day. On October 6, 2006, NARTH published a statement: "NARTH regrets the comments made by Dr. Schoenewolf about slavery which have been misconstrued by some of our readers."[35]
^Moss, Kevin (2021). "Russia's Queer Science, or How Anti-LGBT Scholarship is Made". The Russian Review. 80 (1): 17–36. doi:10.1111/russ.12296. S2CID234307412.
^Spitzer, R. L. (1981). "The diagnostic status of homosexuality in DSM-III: a reformulation of the issues". American Journal of Psychiatry. 138 (2): 210–15. doi:10.1176/ajp.138.2.210. PMID7457641.
^Greg Johnson, Still Time to Care: What We Can Learn from the Church's Failed Attempt to Cure Homosexuality
^Park, Jason. "Therapy". Evergreen International. Archived from the original on April 15, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
^Nicolosi, Joseph; Byrd, A. Dean; Potts, Richard W. (June 2000). "Retrospective self-reports of changes in homosexual orientation: A consumer survey of conversion therapy clients". Psychological Reports. 86 (3_suppl): 1071–1088. doi:10.2466/pr0.2000.86.3c.1071. PMID10932560. S2CID36702477.
^Committee for Therapeutic Interventions and Evidence-Based Practice, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (June 2015). "Position Statement 60 – Sexual orientation change efforts". Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018. The harm such therapies can cause to individuals, the contribution they make to the misrepresentation of homosexuality as a mental disorder, and the prejudice and discrimination that can flourish through the use of such therapies has led all major medical organisations to oppose the use of sexual orientation change efforts. Recommendations * The RANZCP does not support the use of sexual orientation change efforts of any kind * Mental health workers must avoid misrepresenting the efficacy of sexual orientation change efforts when providing assistance to people distressed by their own or others' sexual orientation * Mental health workers should assist people distressed by their sexual orientation by care and treatment approaches that involve acceptance, support, and identity exploration. These should aim to reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality and respect the person's religious beliefs.