In (the April 15) issue of the Lanthorn, there was a letter to the editor titled “Benefits of reparative therapy for LGBT community” by Nathan Ruark … His claim of reparative therapy hold no peer reviewed scientific evidence or credibility.

Here are some facts from a peer reviewed scientific article concerning reparative therapy. According to the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing Vol. 23 Issue 1, reparative therapy adversely affects homosexual individuals. Patients suffered from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-destructive behavior such as suicide attempts, among several others. Additionally, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders more than 30 years ago, clearly supporting that being homosexual is not an abnormality or disorder.

In addition, Michael Bussee, co-creator of EXODUS International, a religious-based reparative therapy association, stated that within the therapy “not one of the hundreds of people we counseled became straight… instead, many of our clients began to fall apart-sinking deeper into patterns of guilt, anxiety, and self-loathing” …

Aside from Ruark’s claims being incorrect, reparative therapy is discriminatory and degrading to the LGBT community. The word “reparative” suggests that a sexual identity can be unnatural, abnormal, or broken. This perspective uses heterosexuality as a standard to which all humans should be molded into … Human traits like race, culture, hair color, behaviors and personalities are fluid, and sexual identity and sexual expression are no exception … Instead of helping them discover who they are, he is harming these youthful thinkers by insinuating that homosexuality is wrong and abnormal. Homophobia, transphobia, hatred, bigotry and any form of discrimination have real human faces behind them … S.A.F.E. is an organization of students driven to shape a society free of oppression, dehumanization, subordination and denigration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.

S.A.F.E. members

GVSU student organization