The Chapel, a nondenominational Christian ministry, sits nestled within the University of Akron campus.

A number of support groups meet weekly at The Chapel to discuss issues ranging from divorce to troubled children. One of these groups, the Genesis Support Group, takes part in an increasingly common practice that has garnered both positive and negative attention across the county.

Genesis Support Group works to change people's homosexuality with the help of religion. The process of changing a homosexual to a heterosexual is commonly referred to as sexual-reorientation therapy or reparative therapy. Critics say the practice is often harmful and unsuccessful, but a number of groups say they have seen it change people's lives for the better.

"It is about dealing with temptation,” says Wes Hartzfeld, a minister who provides pastoral guidance for Genesis Support Group. He also founded the Kent State University chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Genesis Support Group’s selection process mirrors that of a reality television show. The group is composed of about twenty people, and each member is selected through an interview process. The person must promise that he or she is committed to not practicing a homosexual lifestyle and must attend meetings for one year. If a member fails to live up to these requirements, he or she must leave the group.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. The association said that homosexuality was not a disease and should not be treated as one. This was a tremendous development for the gay rights movement and a tremendous step backward for many religious fundamentalists.

Nineteen years later, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality was formed. The association is a coalition of medical professionals who are devoted to disproving the American Psychiatric Association’s determination that homosexuality is not a disease. Members of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality believe the American Psychiatric Association is advocating a political agenda by supply false evidence in favor of issues like gay marriage and adoption. To counter this viewpoint, the group sends out promotional materials, often to schools.

The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality is one of the most prominent organizations behind sexual-reorientation therapies. But many other faith-based organizations also stand by these therapies. They are committed to proving that homosexuality is not a single, genetic, immutable characteristic but rather a changeable disorder.

“I believe that no one is born with a homosexual orientation,” says Richard Cohen, a self-proclaimed “ex-gay” and director of the International Healing Foundation.

The International Healing Foundation, formed in 1990, is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that has held seminars for over 14,000 men, women and adolescents. The purpose of these seminars is to teach people about the importance of escaping from homosexuality, according to the organization's Web site (www.gaytostraight.org).

“We believe in a gender-affirmative therapy,” Cohen says. “Homosexual desires are the result of unresolved childhood issues that lead to gender confusion. When the wounds are healed and the unmet needs for love are fulfilled in healthy, non-sexual, same-sex relationships, he or she will experience the fullness of his or her gender identity, and heterosexual desires will ensue.”

Cohen’s organization says attraction to the same sex is a condition called "same-sex attachment disorder." This condition does not scientifically exist, but, according to these organizations, neither does evidence that homosexuality can't be changed. These groups claim that many former homosexuals are now living happy and productive lives as heterosexuals.

Laurie Wagner, human sexuality professor at Kent State, says gay-to-straight conversion is not possible.

“I think these therapies are a disgusting attempt by narrow-minded people to impose their moral judgments on something that is none of their business,” Wagner says. “In the end, they simply pacify homophobes. They are harmful to everyone. They create a cultural idea that there is only one correct way to be. They make those directly involved feel there is a part of them that is wrong and in need of repair.”

While sexual-reorientation therapy is usually carried out in seminars or support groups, some organizations use non-traditional techniques. Practices may include flicking a rubber band on your wrist or biting your tongue every time you have a same-sex feeling. Other methods include avoiding rest areas when taking road trips, shopping for groceries late at night to avoid temptation and only reading certain books and watching certain movies.

The most recent controversy over sexual-reorientation therapy surfaced in May 2001 when Robert Spitzer, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, conducted a study that found homosexuals could change to heterosexuals. Spitzer spoke to 143 men and 57 women who said they changed their orientation from gay to straight, and he concluded that 66 percent of the men and 44 percent of the women reached “good heterosexual functioning.” The study, a 20-minute phone survey, was widely criticized for its survey methodology.

“Many of the research subjects in his study were also religious lobbyists,” says Wayne Besen, MSNBC correspondent and spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign. “The results were severely slanted. The vast majority of gays cannot change.”
While some question whether Spitzer slanted the results in favor of sexual-reorientation therapy, he was one of the psychiatrists who initiated the removal of homosexuality from the psychiatric list of diseases in 1973.

Besen is the author of “Anything But Straight,” a book that claims to expose the scandals and untruths behind the gay-to-straight movement. “None of these groups have solid success rates,” Besen says. “We’ve quite frankly begged them for answers. They know that actually supplying that information would be the death of their fraudulent practice.”

Richard Cohen, of The International Healing Foundation, says his organization has good success rates, but he provided no statistical evidence.

Cohen attributes the group’s success entirely to the individual’s desire to heal.

Members of the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that supports equal gay rights, say sexual-reorientation therapy can cause depression, excess anxiety, suicide and other adverse effects.
But Regina Griggs, founder of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, says she believes differently. Her organization is made up of parents who wish to change their homosexual children.

“Depression, excess anxiety and suicidal thoughts are some of the reasons why homosexuals leave the lifestyle," she says. "We would have less depression if reparative therapy was made more widely available to homosexuals and lesbians."

Besen says psychological literature doesn't link homosexuality to depression.

“The homosexuals who have those type of problems are the ones who cannot accept themselves or are being told to change by external pressure or societal stigma. These organizations are recycling disproved and debunked information,” he says.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays launched an ad campaign last year that featured smiling men and women proclaiming, “I’ve changed.” The nationwide campaign met a great deal of controversy.

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays also raises funds for former transsexuals who want to have their breast implants removed. It is one of the few organizations that funds reversal operations, which are not covered by medical insurance.
Griggs stresses the importance of parents loving their children despite their differences. But she says she does not believe that approval of a child’s same-sex attractions is true love or responsible parenting.

Even though the American Psychiatric Association’s decision happened 30 years ago, Cohen, of the International Healing Foundation, still has strong opinions on the topic.
“The psychiatrists sold out because of the sympathy for the suffering of homosexual men and women," he says. "Humanistically, it was admirable, but scientifically, it was poor judgment."