The American Psychiatric Association

Homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgement, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities. The American Psychiatric Association calls on all international health orgranizations, and individual psychiatrists in other countries, to urge the repeal in their own country of legislation that penalizes homosexual acts by consenting adults in private. And further, the APA calls on these organizations and individuals to do all that is possible to decrease the stigma related to homosexuality wherever and whenever it may occur. (December 1992)

There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy as a treatment to change ones sexual orientation. It is not described in the scientific literature, nor is it mentioned in the APA's latest comprehensive Task Force Report, Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (1989).

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 board of trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) passed a resolution in December of 1998 that condemns the practice of "reparative therapy". The APA's statement stressed that "reparative therapy", also known as "conversion therapy", is not harmless and often has deleterious effects. The statement said practitioners of "reparative therapy" often mislead patients and are motivated by personal prejudices.

"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. Many patients who have undergone `reparative therapy' relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing the effects of societal stigmatization discussed ... the APA opposes any psychiatric treatment, such as `reparative' or `conversion' therapy which is based on the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based on a prior assumption that the patient should change his/her sexual orientation."