From the U.S.-based Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists:
The Austrian Society of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (OEGPP) is a sponsor of an upcoming conference, “Religiosity in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,” to be held this October in Graz, Austria. Markus Hoffmann, a German conversion therapist who leads an evangelical group that attempts to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexuals, had been invited to speak.
AGLP President, Ubaldo Leli, M.D., wrote the OEGPP in August: “Conversion therapy of gay and lesbian people is unscientific, harmful, and unethical… By inviting these speakers to your conference, you are granting scientific legitimacy to a discredited therapy that not only continues to pathologize gay people, but is based on the erroneous assumption that homosexuality is a mental illness and that gay men and lesbians can and should change their sexual orientation.”
After receiving letters from AGLP, its members, and local Austrian groups, OEGPP’s Vice President, Dr. Christoph Stuppaeck, requested to the organizers that Hoffman’s invitation to speak be withdrawn. Three days later, the organizers announced that Hoffmann had withdrawn from the conference.
Thanks for this update. Dr. Leli’s quote could not be more profoundly articulate and accurate. I also thank President Dr. Stuppaeck, for taking Hoffman to task, resulting in his withdrawal.
Right on. What really bothers me, as I’m sure you know. Those who have an issue with homosexuality being taken from the DSM say it happened as if gay people held guns to the heads of the psychiatric community.
Why they would dismiss that further comprehensive and broader research is what changed the information on it. And most of all, it’s been DECADES now and the ability for further illumination on the subject has been possible.
This is why I keep saying that keeping gay people in the shadows, unable to speak out or honestly paralyzes education on what gay people really are and what gay people do.
Hiding gay people away from the mainstream furthers distrust, ignorance and certainly people like Nicolosi CONFUSE the public.
That the public most hostile to gay people hasn’t caught on that the only people talking about it are other hostile straight people should be their first clue.
The psychiatric profession shouldn’t be incurious about homosexuality or use the Bible as the gold standard on what it is the way NARTH keeps pushing.
That’s like using medieval medical techniques like bleeding and arsenic for head colds. Come ON….
Who’d want to see a doctor who applies leeches to a woman’s belly to relieve cramps?
Or tend to wounds with dirty hands?
Or in the case of NARTH, does anyone here smell prurience in the pursuit of forcing ex gay therapy on anyone?
I was wondering if you had any info regarding what therapists did to ‘help’ gay ppl when it was considered a disease or disorder?
Heard the infamous electric shock treatments and castration… but the more info the merrier 😀
I can already hear cries of censorship from the ex-gay camp.
The topic of the session was religiosity.
Could the ex-gay therapist, Markus Hoffman (Google search), have been trusted to stick to the topic, refrain from promoting discredited “therapies,” and refrain from demonizing or mischaracterizing other religious perspectives? That’s not clear from this press release.
A German conversion therapist? I guess they haven’t all learned their lesson from Buchenwald. Shame on the AGLP for inviting him in the first place.
Hmmm, AGLP didn’t invite him — OEGPP did.
I wonder whether OEGPP ever considered inviting former ex-gays or gay people of faith to speak.
Sorry I meant the OEGPP, my bad.
Germany has a very dark history when it comes to conversion “therapy.” The bigwigs at the OEGPP should have been primarily reminded of that.
I don’t know about Germany’s history regarding conversion therapy, and it’s on topic, so feel free to share more info, Xeno.