Pope Says Gay Kids Need Psychiatry
Implies that before age 20, sexual orientation can be changed
I write today to talk about ways to report and slant the truth.
When I first woke up, I saw several reports in the mainstream press announcing that on the way back from Ireland where Pope Francis attended a conference on families, he encouraged Catholic parents to be open and accepting with their gay children.
I thought perhaps he was about to take some important steps to change official Roman Catholic Church doctrine that labels us gay people as depraved, disordered, and ordered toward great moral evil.
I thought that he had perhaps reconsidered his affirmation that gay men are too “disordered” to enter seminaries and train for the priesthood, as reported in the New York Times:
[Speaking of applicants who might have gay sexual orientations] in a May meeting with Italian bishops, Francis said, “If there’s even the slightest doubt, better to not accept them” into seminary, according to participants at the closed-door session.
Then I had my coffee and browsed my Twitter feed.
Unlike the mainstream press, queer news sources were up in arms, reporting that Francis had endorsed conversion therapy or medical intervention as an appropriate response for parents who believe their adolescent children might be gay.
It took me a long time before I found a respected, non-queer press source that reported the facts without overlooking or minimizing that Francis has recommended psychiatric intervention to parents of possibly gay children.
I had to step outside of the English-speaking world to do it.
From Agence France Presse as reported in English translation by France24:
Pope Francis has recommended parents seek psychiatric help for children who show homosexual tendencies, during a press conference on his plane taking him back to Rome from Ireland.
…
"I would say first of all pray, not to condemn, to dialogue, to understand, to give space to the son or the daughter," he responded. .… "When it shows itself from childhood, there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry, to see how things are. It is something else if it shows itself after 20 years." ... "Ignoring a son or daughter who has homosexual tendencies is an error of fatherhood or motherhood."
In context, Francis is clearly telling Catholic parents that if they “catch” gay tendencies early enough, before 20 years of age, that psychiatric intervention might be effective.
The Pope is wrong about that, and nobody in the mainstream press is reporting that he’s wrong. Not even Agence France Presse, though they’re at least willing to name what the Pope is calling for.
The Pope is sending a message that sounds tolerant and accepting on its face, but his remarks are irresponsible, ignorant, and ill considered. He’s speaking outside his expertise, and children are bound to suffer in consequence.
Some Catholic families are going to seek out conversion therapy because of Francis’s suggestion. That’s a given based on his advice to parents.
What do mental health professionals have to say about the issue?
Mental health professional associations disagree with Francis entirely. They say that sexual orientation is not pathological and that psychological intervention is not just ineffective, but harmful.
From the American Psychological Association:
The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality per se is a normal and positive variation of human sexual orientation.
APA is concerned about ongoing efforts to mischaracterize homosexuality and promote the notion that sexual orientation can be changed.
The American Psychological Association reaffirms its position that homosexuality per se is not a mental disorder and opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation.
From The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds no evidence to support the application of any “therapeutic intervention” operating under the premise that a specific sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression is pathological. Furthermore, based on the scientific evidence, the AACAP asserts that such “conversion therapies” (or other interventions imposed with the intent of promoting a particular sexual orientation and/or gender as a preferred outcome) lack scientific credibility and clinical utility. Additionally, there is evidence that such interventions are harmful.
I could cite further examples of professional associations from around the world, some of which take even stronger positions condemning mental health professionals attempting to pathologize or interfere with children’s innate sexual orientations.
Sadly, not all practicing professionals follow their professional associations’ ethical guidelines. And some therapists who are not trained medical professionals misrepresent themselves and offer conversion therapy anyway. Because of Francis’s statement yesterday, some Catholic children are certainly going to find themselves in “treatment” with people like this.
And they’re going to suffer for it.
Sadly, though, almost nobody is talking about this. Mainstream news sources are glossing over it to report on the tolerant noises Francis made, ignoring the meat of the message he delivered to his followers.
If a non-religious leader had urged parents to seek psychiatric intervention for their gay children, I’m sure that news agencies would be all the story. They’d be reporting on how irresponsible and harmful that suggestion is.
Instead, The Washington Post’s headline is typical:
The Latest: Pope: parents of gay kids shouldn’t condemn them
Their headline praises Francis, burying his psychiatry comment paragraphs down, barely mentioning it and not reporting on its harmful significance to gay Catholic children.
That’s not truthful reporting, no matter how correct the bare facts are. This is a perfect example of religious ideas being elevated above other ideas in civic discourse.
We ought to be having a loud and vigorous discussion today about the harmful effects of psychiatric or psychological intervention in children’s sexual orientation.
Instead, we’re getting a soothing chorus of, “Gee, ain’t the Pope great?”
No, he isn’t. He may not have just lent full-throated approval for gay conversion therapy for children, but he absolutely ensured that more of it is going to happen.