Do people really overcome same-sex attraction?
Some people would like the public to believe that no one really changes. They claim that individuals who say they have overcome it either (1) didn't really experience same-sex attraction in the first place or (2) are only suppressing their true feelings and will someday realize it. The truth is that many people find success in overcoming homosexual behavior, diminishing same-sex attraction, resolving internal conflicts, and living according to their personal and religious values.
For proof of the many who are successful, read the following:
 | Jason Park is a married man who has resolved his homosexual problems. He has shared his experience publicly on the People Can Change Website and has written three books on the subject. |
| Ty Mansfield co-authored a book about his same-gender attractions (see In Quiet Desperation: Understanding the Challenge of Same-Gender Attraction) and has been interviewed on radio and television. |
| Dozens of personal experiences are documented on the testimonials page of the Evergreen International Web site. |
| The book A Place in the Kingdom: Spiritual Insights from Latter-day Saints about Same-Sex Attraction details a number of personal experiences. |
| The People Can Change Web site documents a number of personal experiences. |
| The book Resolving Homosexual Problems has a number of personal experiences in the appendix. |
| Many people blog about their life. See, for example, Faithful LDS SSA Ring, Keep Changing: A Gay Mormon Journey, Here's to Hope, Of Loyal Mind, Changing Countenance, and Northern Lights. |
| Does everyone change? See the article
Still Struggling
With Same-Sex Attraction by Mike Ensley |
The following information may also be helpful:
Just the Facts by David Pruden, Executive Director of Evergreen International
In their ongoing war of misinformation, activists spread rumors that all those who have written books or otherwise publicly shared their story of change either do not exist or have returned to a gay identity. This just isn't true.
Gay-To-Straight Research Published In APA Journal
The American Psychological Association's prestigious journal Professional Psychology: Research and Practice has just published a comprehensive research paper on sexual-orientation change. Clients have the right to pursue change, the author says, because "sexual orientation, once thought to be an unchanging trait, is actually quite flexible for some people...."My literature review contradicts the policies of major mental health organizations because it suggests that sexual orientation, once thought to be an unchanging sexual trait, is actually quite flexible for many people, changing as a result of therapy for some, ministry for others and spontaneously for still others."
Dr. Spitzer recognizes that some people can and do change
Dr. Robert Spitzer, who was one of the key figures behind the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) decision to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual in 1973, now believes that "some people can and do change. Like most psychiatrists, I thought that homosexual behavior could only be resisted, and that no one could really change their sexual orientation. I now believe this to be false."
Is Sexual Re-orientation Possible? by Warren Throckmorton, PhD
For some, answering this question...is a simple matter of finding an instance of sexual reorientation. And they are easy to find, if you look. So for them, this question is quickly answered in the affirmative. However, for others, the question is theoretical. Some have decided that sexual reorientation is impossible and therefore any change that an individual might claim could not possibly be sexual reorientation.
Homosexuality and the Possibility of Change: A Review of 31 Published Studies
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This study looked for changes in behavior, identity, attractions, desires, and fantasies to see if a homosexual person can become exclusively heterosexual. Rather than looking for stories of those who claim to have experienced change or statements made by psychiatrists and psychologists, they focused on actual research to provide evidence for change. They found major changes (such as exclusively homosexual people becoming exclusively heterosexual) and they found small changes (such as a homosexual person gaining the ability to be sexually involved with the opposite sex in satisfying ways).
Their conclusion: “Our research has shown the statement ‘homosexuals can't change’ to be a generalization. Various sources provide evidence for a partial or full shift in sexual orientation. Such evidence does not mean that every homosexual person should change. It does not mean that everyone can change. It does not mean that change is easy. It does mean that, at least for some people, change of sexual orientation is possible.”
John and his wife appeared in the national media to tell their story of overcoming same-sex attraction. Later, John was spotted in a gay bar and the gay media reported it as proof that he had gone back to homosexuality. While it was a serious mistake, it does not mean that John has reverted to homosexuality.