The results of a study conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer have just been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2003, pp. 403-417.

Spitzer's findings challenge the widely-held assumption that a homosexual orientation is "who one is" -- an intrinsic part of a person's identity that can never be changed.

The study has attracted particularly attention because its author, a prominent psychiatrist, is viewed as a historic champion of gay activism. Spitzer played a pivotal role in 1973 in removing homosexuality from the psychiatric manual of mental disorders.

Testing the hypothesis that a predominantly homosexual orientation will, in some individuals, respond to therapy were some 200 respondents of both genders (143 males, 57 females) who reported changes from homosexual to heterosexual orientation lasting 5 years or more. 

The majority of respondents (85% male, 70% female) did not find the homosexual lifestyle to be emotionally satisfying. 79% of both genders said homosexuality conflicted with their religious beliefs, with 67% of men and 35% of women stated that gay life was an obstacle to their desires either to marry or remain married. 

More of the male respondents (34%) than females (2%) had engaged in homosexual sex with more than 50 different partners during their lifetime. Further, more of the men than women (53% to 33%) had never engaged in consensual heterosexual sex before the therapy effort.