ABSTRACT
Given a simple choice no one in his right mind would opt for the life of a sexual deviant, to be an object of ridicule and contempt, denied the fulfilments of ordinary family life, and cut off from the mainstream of human interests. Many confirmed homosexuals deplore their fate; but self interest and self determination seem powerless to effect a change. As for the prospects of conversion by special treatment, authorities differ wildly, and dogmatic and contradictory statements abound. Some therapists don’t care to admit how often their professional efforts prove futile. On the other hand, practising homosexuals, and their sympathizers, prefer the comforting belief that nothing they might do would make any difference. Undoubtedly much depends upon the circumstances of the individual case. At one extreme one has young people in a panic over some quite ordinary homo-erotic experience they fear may have permanently unfitted them for heterosexual life. A little authoritative reassurance is all they need to put them right again. At the other extreme, one has people who have lived as exclusive homosexuals for many years, with no interest in the opposite sex and no wish to change their ways, sent along unwillingly to see psychiatrists because their condition has come to the notice of the courts, or because some officious relative thinks something must be done. In such cases the hope of a successful conversion to heterosexuality by any method at present known is very slight.
