The Straight Line: How the Fringe Science of Ex-Gay Therapy Reoriented Sexuality
The Straight Line: How the Fringe Science of Ex-Gay Therapy Reoriented Sexuality
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Abstract
The Straight Line argues that scientific definitions of “sexual orientation” are not merely reflections of human nature, but emerged through a process of social negotiation involving opposing social movements, professionals seeking jurisdiction, and historical context. Following the demedicalization of homosexuality, relegating reparative therapies, “ex-gay” ministries, and reorientation research to the scientific fringe has required scientists to enforce key boundaries around scientific expertise and research methods. The book traces reorientation debates in the United States from the 1950s to the present, following homosexuality therapies from the mainstream to the margins. As the ex-gay movement has become increasingly transnational in recent years, the last chapter turns to Uganda, where understandings of the scientific nature of homosexuality played important roles in the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014. The book brings together sexuality studies, science studies, and sociology of social movements to examine dynamics when opposing social movements target knowledge producing institutions. Waidzunas develops a theory of “intellectual opportunity structure” as features of knowledge producing institutions that enable and constrain movements when trying to shape the content of scientific facts. While most literature on the ex-gay movement treats it as a religious phenomenon, this book takes seriously the engagements of this movement with scientific institutions, and its attempts to use research to establish the legitimacy and ethics of reorientation therapies, with important consequences for public policy.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
The Shifting Straight Line
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One
The Reorientation Regime: Therapeutic Techniques in an Anti-Homosexual Era, 1948–1972
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Two
The Evolution of Dr. Robert Spitzer: The Rise of Gay-Affirmative Therapies, 1970–2003
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Three
Ex-Ex-Gays Match Testimony with Testimony, 2004–2007
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Four
Reorientation’s Last Stand: Showdown at the American Psychological Association
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Five
A National Movement against “Homos”: How Reorientation Concepts Traveled to Uganda, 2009–2014
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Conclusion
Sexuality is a Matter of Perspective
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End Matter
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