A sober look at a hot topic

Chicago Sun-Times: There’s nothing like a dry research paper to help clear up the sexiest and most controversial of topics.

With a 138-page report to back them up, the American Psychological Association this week declared that mental health professionals should not tell their gay clients that they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

‘Reparative therapy’

We doubt this will dissuade die-hard proponents of “reparative therapy,” but we applaud the APA for taking a sober look at the topic — and for coming out strongly against it. The group has long espoused the view that homosexuality is normal. But this declaration, we hope, will reach gay people who are considering this discredited therapy and will lend more authority to the therapists who reject it.

The association also gets credit for carefully examining the difficult conflict between a person’s sexual orientation and his or hers religious views, (leading) gays to seek out such therapies.