Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation can Change: Debunking the Myth of “Immutability”

In Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation Can Change: Debunking the Myth of “Immutability,” I gave a report on academic studies over the last two decades based on four large data sets drawn from surveys about sexuality. These studies are both “population-based” (representative of the population as a whole) and “longitudinal” (meaning they survey the same individuals … Continue reading “Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation can Change: Debunking the Myth of “Immutability””

In Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation Can Change: Debunking the Myth of “Immutability,” I gave a report on academic studies over the last two decades based on four large data sets drawn from surveys about sexuality. These studies are both “population-based” (representative of the population as a whole) and “longitudinal” (meaning they survey the same individuals at intervals years apart, allowing us to measure change over time).

The truth is, “sexual orientation” is a multi-faceted concept, involving a combination of attractions, behaviors, and personal identity. These four studies all demonstrate that significant change in each of the elements of sexual orientation is possible. The percentage changing from homosexuality to heterosexuality ranged from 13% to 53% (while the percentage changing from heterosexuality to homosexuality ranged only from 1% to 12%). In one survey of “same-sex attracted respondents,” up to 38% of men and 53% of women “changed to heterosexuality” in only a six-year period.

Confirmation of this has come from a surprising source. Scholar Lisa Diamond (who herself identifies as a lesbian) has long studied and written about the “sexual fluidity” of women. In a 2016 article with her colleague Clifford Rosky, she declared, “Given the consistency of these findings, it is not scientifically accurate to describe same-sex sexual orientation as a uniformly immutable trait.”[Source: Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council]

You may download the full report at Evidence shows sexual orientation can change: Debunking the Myth of “Immutability”

PDF file:Evidence Shows Homosexuals Can Change Peter Sprigg

Peter Sprigg’s report nicely complements the research findings given in my two earlier posts:

Practising Homosexuals Can Change: A Simple Biblical Argument & Social-Scientific Evidence. Part 1/2

Practising Homosexuals Can Change: A Simple Biblical Argument & Social-Scientific Evidence. Part 2/2

Note: It has been reported that Peter Sprigg advocates that “criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior” should be enforced. On my part, I have been advocating since the early 1990s for the repeal of Sect 377 of the Penal Code (Malaysia) which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”(sodomy).