A Utah psychologist and 10 members of Evergreen International will join a protest this weekend against what the group calls the American Psychological Association's "hostility" toward treatment of unwanted same-sex attraction.
According to a press release from Utah-based Evergreen International, the protesters will join with delegates from other "traditional values organizations" to challenge the APA's president and governing board, who are meeting this weekend in New Orleans. The APA, according to the Evergreen statement, has refused to meet with defenders of same-sex attraction treatment.
The evidence that "some people can modify their homosexual orientation is far greater than the evidence available for some of the therapies currently endorsed by the APA, for which there is no scientific evidence," said Evergreen director David Pruden. Evergreen is defined on its Web site as a "nonprofit organization that helps people who want to diminish same-sex attraction and overcome homosexual behavior."
"There exists a climate of prejudice in APA against clients — often people of traditional values — who wish to decrease their homosexual attractions and develop their heterosexual potential," said Utah psychologist Dr. A. Dean Byrd, who will take part in the protest in New Orleans.
The APA's position is based on "one-sided activism, not science," Byrd said. "Such a position denies the very existence of those people whose lives prove that change is possible."