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Earlier this month we reported that noted psychiatrist Dr. Robert Spitzer had officially retracted a study he authored in 2001 that has since been used as key reference for the "ex gay" movement. Today, he's gone one step further by issuing a heartfelt apology to the LGBT community.
In a letter addressed to Dr. Ken Zucker, editor of Archives of Sexual Behavior (where the now retracted article originally appeared), Dr. Spitzer writes:
Several months ago I told you that because of my revised view of my 2001 study of reparative therapy changing sexual orientation, I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judged the major critiques of the study as largely correct. After discussing my revised view of the study with Gabriel Arana, a reporter for American Prospect, and with Malcolm Ritter, an Associated Press science writer, I decided that I had to make public my current thinking about the study. Here it is.
Basic Research Question. From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question.
The Fatal Flaw in the Study – There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid.
I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals..
Robert Spitzer. M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry,
Columbia University
Could this be a turning point for the LGBT community and the "ex gay" movement?
(Source: Truth Wins Out)
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