A leopard can’t change its spots… or so the saying goes. So why is it that religious fanatics like Focus on the Family, Exodus USA and other groups are jumping up and down preaching the power of “healing homosexuals and bringing them out of the lifestyle?”

Enlighten us if we’re wrong, but the last we heard from the real medical experts, not only is trying to change sexual orientation ineffective, it can be extremely damaging.

The American Psychiatric Association has stated unequivocally that, “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.… Clinical experience suggests that any person who seeks conversion therapy may be doing so because of social bias that has resulted in internalized homophobia, and that gay men and lesbians who have accepted their sexual orientation positively are better adjusted than those who have not done so.”

The American Psychological Association says that, “Changing one’s sexual orientation is not simply a matter of changing one’s sexual behavior. It would require altering one’s emotional, romantic and sexual feelings and restructuring one’s self-concept and social identity.”

It’s like trying to turn people into some warped religious version of the Stepford wives.

Many of the methods used to “cure” homosexuality are not only ludicrous they’re downright funny.

Men are told to play sports — presumably appropriately “manly” sports such as football. They practice going fishing and are taught to sit properly — no crossed legs allowed. They must avoid extreme sarcasm, and never, never stand with one hand on their hip. Calvin Klein clothes and Barbra Streisand records are taken away. They are shown photos of nude men while rotted hamburger meat is held under their noses, so that they will then associate repulsion with same-sex attraction.

Didn’t they do something like that in Agent Orange? Hopefully the ex-gay types aren’t as big on electro-shock therapy.

With methods like these, which might teach people to “pass,” at best, is it any wonder the ex-gay movement is dogged by stories such as: Wade Richards, an ex-gay teen leader who came out last year and said that not only was he not cured of his homosexuality, but that the ex-gay movement is a fraud; Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, who founded the ex-gay movement in 1976, then later decided to call it quits and married each other; or Michael Johnson, one of the top three “ex-gays” paraded around as the star of a television and print ad campaign, who was exposed this year for having unsafe sex with men he met in online chat rooms and not disclosing the fact that he is HIV-positive.

According to the viciously right wing Catholic monthly San Diego News Notes, published by Jim Holman (better known as publisher of The Reader), we even have our very own “ex-gay” living right in the middle of Hillcrest.

The paper states that this “ex-gay” is, “the one thing the gay community hates and fears the most: a converted homosexual ready to shout the gospel from the rooftops.” We would feel sorry for the man if he weren’t so venomous. Frankly, San Diego News Notes should be ashamed of themselves for printing such a ridiculous story about a man who seems to be seriously unbalanced and who believes that God will mystically cure him of HIV, which he says he contracted through drug use. It’s interesting to note that God first spoke to him while he was going through drug withdrawal in prison. He says that when he is cured, “God will use me to preach the gospel and one of the platforms for me to preach from will be my healing from HIV.”

It’s also interesting to note the emphasis on whether others perceive him as gay, rather than whether he now happily prefers sex with women rather than men. “About four years ago, the Lord began to purge from me the desires for homosexuality,” This “ex-gay” is quoted as saying. “I was an extremely effeminate homosexual. People could automatically tell I was homosexual. Today when people look at me and they don’t have a clue unless I tell them that I was there. God has removed every single manifestation that would identify me with the homosexuals. A lot of the characteristics that you see in homosexuals are demonically intertwined characteristics that get into the persona of that person and you can see it.”

In reality, groups such as Exodus and Focus on the Family prey on the vulnerable and confused — and apparently, the mentally disturbed. It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are causing harm, or even whether what they do is morally right, as long as it conforms to their dogma.

Sexual orientation and self-concept are part of the bedrock of personality. To manipulate a person who is still forming a personal identity or one who may be in psychological pain due to others’ refusal to see them as anything but flawed is wrong. To attempt to change his or her personality in order to conform to some notion of average behavior and to make everyone else at church feel more comfortable is absolutely immoral.