Al was an old-timer in my Lutheran congregation in Lake Woebegone country of central Minnesota who had been raised Catholic but became Lutheran when he married Lois.  He had received his elementary education in a Stearns County parochial school taught by nuns in full habit way back in the dust bowl days of the thirties.

“Whack”, he said as he jerked the ruler in his left hand.  “Whack”, he said again, demonstrating how the nuns would slap him on his left hand when they would catch him scribing his abc’s with the wrong hand.   “I would do my best with my right hand,” he said, “but I couldn’t help it, I always went back to my natural left hand.”  With a laugh, Al wrote his name in chunky block letters with his right hand before signing in flowing strokes with his left hand.

A headline in the Huffington Post proclaims, Gay-To-Straight Therapy Repudiated By Psychologists. 

The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

According to CNN.com, Programs to change gays to straights don’t work.

The American Psychological Association concluded Wednesday that there is little evidence that efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation from gay or lesbian to heterosexual are effective.  The report looks at 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007.  In addition, the 138-page report — covering 87 peer-reviewed studies — said that such efforts may cause harm.

Psychologists nix gay-to-straight therapy: Association slams technique that seeks to change sexual orientation reads the headline in MSNBC.com.

In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA’s governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called “reparative therapy” which seeks to change sexual orientation.

Duh.

UPDATE:

Michael Bayley at Wild Reed blog offers excellent insight from University of Minnesota Professor and HIV researcher, Dr. Simon Rosser. As Dr. Rosser states, the new APA policy “cuts out … a lot of crappy bad psychology that has done a disservice.” Dr. Rosser also mentions one of the leading voices that had supported reparative therapy, Dr. Warren Throckmorton who “has focused his career on proving ex-gay therapy works. The fact that he is in print now giving up ex-gay therapy is also very significant.”