October 31, 2000

Although a letter was given to the Lexington Minuteman by a resident to counter the scurrilous one that was printed on October 5, the paper has refused to print the rebuttal. 

The printed letter was from two doctors who are obviously activists in that they stated that the boys who killed at Columbine were Christians. To our knowledge, no one has made such a ridiculous statement about these demented boys who killed Christian students merely because they were Christian. The doctors who wrote the letter are a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School and a psychologist from Boston College.

The letter that was put in the Lexington paper is printed below (first) and the answer from another medical doctor is printed below it.

Sexual Identity Essential for Development
We are mental health clinicians who work with children, adolescents, and families, teachers of psychiatric residents and graduate students in education and psychology, and consultant to school systems and classroom teachers. From these multiple vantage points, we have come to respect the ways in which individuals come to realize that they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or transgendered. We view these identities as essential developmental milestones; and yet, we realize, how these identifications may place some children and adolescents at risk physically and psychologically.

Once recognized, these self-identifications become fixed and enduring facets of a personal basic character and sense of self. While people in the world are predominantly heterosexual, various studies point to figures as high as 11 percent of individuals who are homosexual or bisexual. One's inherent gender identity and sexual orientation, whether straight or gay, becomes fixed, more like anatomic features such as hair color or eye color, than like belief systems such as political or religious beliefs. To that end, this self-knowledge of one's sexuality must be respected as an integral component of a sense of self.

The research states and our clinical impressions confirm that individuals who are gay or lesbian can lead very normal and productive lives - no different from straight peers. They can and do nurture children and contribute to their community. However, the fear and strain of the potential of being at odds with the dominant culture can be hazardous to their mental and physical health, particularly at the time when one's sexual orientation or identity is discovered. There is an external threat of physical violence from bullies. The individual may come to feel alienated, alone, and unloved, especially as an adolescent. We argue that the dominant heterosexual culture needs to welcome and respect all individuals, regardless of their sexual and gender orientation.

Since the killings at Columbine High School by white, heterosexual, Christian males, there has been concern over the question, "Why?" Obviously, being white, heterosexual, or Christian should not breed murder - in fact, quite the reverse. In reality, conditions of discrimination, high unemployment, poverty, lack of community cohesion, and other forms of inadequate social opportunity and affirmation are always connected with higher degrees of school failure, crime psychopathology, and violence toward self and others. Good and thoughtful research and our clinical experience leads us to an analogous concern about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth, who endure suicide rates three to 10 times higher than the community average and rates of diagnosed depression and self-hatred many times greater than the community norm. Personal and social recognition does not cause children to become gay, rather, it allows them to safely identity themselves with pride and self-acceptance.

For those of us working with children and schools in the post-Columbine era, there must be room, recognition, and welcoming of all of us as individuals, and our unique blend of interests, beliefs, and practices, for a truly loving community to be created of affirmed, self-respecting, and respectful individuals. Part of the healing that is happening at Columbine High School is not the results of vilifying "odd" individuals. Instead, amongst many efforts, the sanctioning of the athletes and their coaches for their contribution to an environment at the high school that was divisive, intolerant, and dismissive is making the system safer.

"Respecting Differences," the name of the upcoming community forum (Oct, 14 and 15) which will focus on the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth, should not be mistaken as a community effort reserved only for these youth. While that weekend has a school focus, the issue of respecting differences ought to be applied to our community in general, as a way to think about and protect all our children and to continue our development of a safe, nonviolent, and increasingly accepting community for us all. We trust that the Lexington community will extend these efforts to recognize and affirm the existence of many individuals and their particular belief systems, over time. Our community should be more and more appreciated over time, not as a single colored, cloth, but as a beautiful patchwork quilt.

John Dacey, Ph.D. is a Lexington resident, practicing psychologist and Professor o f Developmental Psychology at Boston College.
Timothy Dugan, M.D. is a Lexington resident, practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist, and Senior Consultant in Education at the Cambridge Hospital of the Harvard Medical School.
 

Sexual Behavior Is Cultivated
In their commentary, “Sexual Identity Essential for Development,” doctors Dugan and Dacey lay down a bunt single when they recognize that character is developmental. After that, they are hitless.

We all know that character is who you are when no one is looking. An integral part of character is one’s sexual behavior. Character is cultivated, not discovered. When it comes to sexual behavior, one can cultivate life-affirming (and creating), monogamous heterosexual standards, or laissez-faire hedonistic sexual behavior. 

G.K. Chesterton stated, “We are educating ourselves into imbecility.” Example: the two doctors have jettisoned scholarship and taken on politics, espousing the worn-out and bizarre separation of gender from sex.

Because character is cultivated, the development of monogamy, promiscuity or homosexuality has a great deal to do with who is doing the cultivating. As evidence, children raised by homosexuals more frequently end up practicing homosexuality even without a genetic relationship to either caretaker. Dugan blindly parrots the false claim that “11 percent of individuals are homosexual or bisexual,” a statistic widely known to be wrong; only the fraudulent study of Alfred Kinsey (1948) supports it. Kinsey’s work was largely fabricated. The samples he used were skewed to sexual convicts, prisoners and prostitutes; and a high degree of homosexual activity in that group is common. The real number is in the neighborhood of 1-2 percent.

What difference does it make? The higher figure is touted in an attempt to portray this behavior as common and therefore normal.

The doctors further state that identity becomes fixed. It is an intellectually and professionally unsupportable leap for Dacey and Dugan to attempt to conclude that homosexuality is an inborn, unchangeable trait such as eye color. No credible studies support this conclusion. As an African American, I can tell you that my ethnicity did not “develop,” and will not change with any therapy. Face it, doctors, homosexuality is the result of a series of choices which can be changed. 

Actually, thousands have recovered from homosexuality. The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) documents the profound effect that therapy can have on people that want to change (www.narth.com).

The NARTH web site also describes how homosexuality was deleted from the list of pathologies of the American Psychologist Association (APA) due to homosexual activists’ political pressure and not reasoned scientific inquiry. Later, the APA attempted to denounce treatment of homosexuality despite the documented 33 percent success rate - about the same as for other habits such as cigarette smoking.

The scariest foul tip of the Dugan and Dacey commentary is the claim that the biggest threat to children’s lives is fear of discovery. But the real dangers are homosexual practices. They shorten life and spread disease. Anal sex is one of the most efficient manners to transmit disease. The wisdom of preventive medicine says, “Don’t do that!” Instead, Dugan and Dacey recommend calm acceptance of dangerous habits. The homosexual practices which start in the teens result in AIDS, anal cancer, hepatitis and gay-on-gay violence.

Another “swing and miss” by Dacey is the claim that the Columbine shooters were Christian. They did not claim Jesus Christ as their savior. On the other hand, the targets were Christians. Simply remember the question asked of victim Cassie Bernal: “Do you believe in God?” Her “yes” was immediately followed by a fatal gunshot. Clearly, Dugan and Dacey are selective about whom they tolerate if they go out of their way to falsely paint the Columbine event as a crime perpetrated by Christians.

Sexual practices are not simply a la carte choices from a menu. The choices have consequences. Sexual behavior can be trained. If not, what about those who have an “orientation” for children, animals, or corpses? Does Dugan want to welcome that “unique blend” too?

If the two doctors want to really protect children, if they truly believe that there is a time before which gender identity becomes fixed, they will actively steer children away from activities which are guaranteed to expose them to life-threatening diseases and psychological mayhem that could lead to suicide, which the doctors rightfully bemoan. Instead, they benignly wait for people to discover their “orientation” while teaching that all choices have equal value. That is a strikeout.

John R. Diggs, Jr., MD
 

RETURN TO FRONT PAGE