{"id":85886,"date":"2015-04-25T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T10:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=85886"},"modified":"2015-05-20T08:44:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T06:44:00","slug":"high-tech-conversion-therapy-could-change-your-sexual-orientation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/85886\/high-tech-conversion-therapy-could-change-your-sexual-orientation\/","title":{"rendered":"High-tech conversion therapy could change your sexual orientation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following the death of 17-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/aponline\/2015\/01\/24\/us\/ap-us-transgender-teen-suicide.html\">Leelah Alcorn<\/a>, a transgender teen who committed suicide after forced \u201cconversion therapy,\u201d President Barack Obama <a href=\"https:\/\/petitions.whitehouse.gov\/response\/response-your-petition-conversion-therapy\">called for a nationwide ban<\/a> on psychotherapy aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>The administration argued that because conversion therapy causes substantial psychological harm to minors, it is neither medically nor ethically appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>We fully agree with the President and believe that this is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, in addition to being <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apa.org\/pi\/lgbt\/resources\/therapeutic-response.pdf\">unsafe<\/a> as well as <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">ethically unsound<\/a>, current <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apsa.org\/content\/2012-position-statement-attempts-change-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-or-gender\">conversion therapy<\/a> approaches <a href=\"http:\/\/www.psychiatry.org\/lgbt-sexual-orientation\">aren\u2019t actually effective<\/a> at doing what they claim to do \u2013 changing sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<p>But we also worry that this may be a short-term legislative solution to what is really a conceptual problem.<\/p>\n<p>The question we ought to be asking is \u201cwhat will happen if and when scientists <em>do<\/em> end up developing safe and effective technologies that can alter sexual orientation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wV1FrqwZyKw\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Based on current scientific research, it is not unlikely that medical researchers \u2013 in the not-too-distant future \u2013 will know enough about the genetic, <a href=\"http:\/\/learn.genetics.utah.edu\/content\/epigenetics\/\">epigenetic<\/a>, neurochemical and other brain-level factors that are involved in shaping sexual orientation that these variables could in fact be successfully modified.<\/p>\n<p>And here is the important point. If such neuro-interventions are developed, they will have serious implications for a gay rights movement that is largely centered around a \u201cborn this way\u201d response to discrimination \u2013 and the idea that sexual orientation isn\u2019t something one can choose.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Where the science stands<\/h3>\n<p>With Oxford University colleagues Julian Savulescu and Anders Sandberg, one of us \u2013 Brian Earp \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">has proposed<\/a> dividing potential neuro-interventions into sexual orientation into two categories.<\/p>\n<p>On the one side, there are current and emerging technologies that could <em>diminish<\/em> (but not necessarily re-orient) same-sex love and desire. These would work by interfering with brain-level systems involved in lust, attraction and attachment that have evolved among mammals including humans. These could be called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">anti-love biotechnologies<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, most <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2013\/01\/the-case-for-using-drugs-to-enhance-our-relationships-and-our-break-ups\/272615\/\">\u201canti-love\u201d technologies<\/a> work by regulating testosterone levels. Some target testosterone directly, such as anti-androgen drugs that are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.neulaw.org\/blog\/1034-class-blog\/4034-chemical-castration-is-it-ethical\">sometimes administered<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonmagazine.com\/news\/article\/2014\/02\/25\/chemical-castration\/\">sex offenders<\/a> as a condition of parole, while others work more indirectly.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), typically used as anti-depressants, can have the \u201cside effect\u201d of a diminished libido. Disturbingly, there are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/weekend\/week-s-end\/rabbi-s-little-helper-1.422985\">reports out of Israel<\/a> of ultra-religious Jewish groups prescribing SSRIs to yeshiva students \u2013 not to treat depression, but to harness the \u201cside effect\u201d of a reduction in sex drive. The point in these cases is to chemically blunt any same-sex desires or even the urge to masturbate.<\/p>\n<p>However, the effects of these drugs are global. That is, they have a dampening effect on one\u2019s entire libido \u2013 whether one has homoerotic desires or otherwise \u2013 rather than blocking attraction to a specific person or group of people based on their outward sex-based appearance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-right zoomable\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_85894\" style=\"width: 247px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Human-brain.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85894\" class=\"size-full wp-image-85894\" src=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Human-brain.jpg\" alt=\"The more we learn about what\u2019s going on in there, the more feasible it becomes to manipulate what\u2019s going on in there. Kenny Stoltz, CC BY-NC\" width=\"237\" height=\"259\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-85894\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The more we learn about what\u2019s going on in there, the more feasible it becomes to manipulate what\u2019s going on in there. Kenny Stoltz, CC BY-NC<\/p><\/div>\n<p>On the other side, then, are what might be called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">high-tech conversion therapies<\/a>.\u201d These are interventions that <em>would<\/em> change a person\u2019s orientation from predominately same-sex attraction to predominately opposite-sex attraction \u2013 or, indeed, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/11384105\/Make_Me_Gay_Neurointerventions_on_Sexual_Orientation\">other way around<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While these kinds of technologies are not currently available, based on the trajectory of scientific investigation, <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">one of us has argued<\/a> that \u201cthere is no good reason to think that such conversion may not one day be achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The upshot is <a href=\"http:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/mind-identity\/\">this<\/a>. All animal behavior \u2014 including human behavior \u2014 is at least in principle <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1017\/S1477175614000128\">reducible to brain states<\/a>. It then becomes a matter of figuring out which specific brain-based manipulations would work to alter the higher order drives and capacities that govern one\u2019s sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<p>We know that hormones and genetics play a large role in determining sexual desires. In 1991, Bailey and Pillard <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1001\/archpsyc.1991.01810360053008\">found<\/a> that 52% of male identical twins compared to 22% of male non-identical twins had the same nonheterosexual orientations.<\/p>\n<p>Hormonal studies have found that for many traits that differ between the sexes, gay men share similar characteristics with heterosexual women \u2013 including the index finger to ring finger <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1007\/s10508-007-9171-6\">length ratio<\/a> and certain aspects of <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.yhbeh.2003.07.003\">bone structure<\/a>. These are characteristics that appear to be influenced by in utero exposure to androgens and other aspects of the amniotic environment.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_85892\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Pregnant.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85892\" class=\" wp-image-85892\" src=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Pregnant.jpg\" alt=\"The prenatal environment can have lasting implications for life. Bonbon, CC BY\" width=\"600\" height=\"470\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-85892\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The prenatal environment can have lasting implications for life. Bonbon, CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Of course, it is no small step to get from learning about how genes and prenatal exposures affect the development of a fetus\u2019s later sexual desires, to determining how we can manipulate those desires in adolescents or adults. But as the ethicists <a href=\"http:\/\/philpapers.org\/rec\/DECPEA\">Decamp and Buchanan<\/a> have pointed out, it is important to \u201cexplore a range of possible issues, some of which may not arise, than to be overtaken by events owing to the failure to think ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So what does thinking ahead about high-tech conversion therapy tell us?<\/p>\n<p>Put simply, the more we learn about the biological processes that underlie sexual orientation, the more likely it is that someone will figure out how to <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">influence<\/a> those processes directly.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">I can\u2019t change, even if I tried?<\/h3>\n<p>The advent of high-tech conversion therapy would be disastrous for the \u201cborn this way\u201d gay rights movement.<\/p>\n<p>This movement uses a variety of evidence, such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1001\/archpsyc.1991.01810360053008\">twin studies mentioned above<\/a>, as well as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apa.org\/about\/policy\/sexual-orientation.aspx\">inefficacy<\/a> of Christian conversion camps, to argue that being gay is biological and \u2013 hence \u2013 unchangeable. If one is born gay, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk\/2012\/01\/can-you-be-gay-by-choice\/\">this argument runs<\/a>, then one cannot change this fact anymore than one can change one\u2019s height or skin color.<\/p>\n<p>This is an idea that has been movingly expressed in the chorus of a recent pop song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. As the singer says, \u201cI can\u2019t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hlVBg7_08n0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This has become a lynchpin in the fight for gay rights. \u201cSince I can\u2019t change who I am,\u201d many gay people have argued, \u201cit isn\u2019t fair to discriminate against me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On this kind of view, sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic like race \u2013 a highly protected category. Yet if biotechnologies of the future do allow people to change their sexual orientations, then the gay rights movement would lose one of its central arguments.<\/p>\n<p>So we think that better arguments are needed \u2013 and ones that are not dependent on the current state of technology. Surely, we don\u2019t want to say that if sexual orientation <em>could<\/em> be changed, it would be therefore OK to discriminate against people who identify as gay!<\/p>\n<p>There are two avenues of response worth considering. First, we can develop \u2013 and enforce \u2013 strict legal measures to prevent the (future) use of high-tech conversion therapies on children and other minors. As <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/21507740.2013.863242\">one of us has argued<\/a>, \u201cWhen it comes to protecting vulnerable children from the misuse of love- or sexuality-altering technologies, the strong arm of the law could go a long way\u201d in reducing the potential for harm.<\/p>\n<p>Second, we can take a closer look at our concepts about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/11384105\/Make_Me_Gay_Neurointerventions_on_Sexual_Orientation\">what it means to be gay<\/a> in the first place, and ask whether being \u201cborn this way\u201d is actually necessary to defend against discrimination.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_85890\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Discrimination.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85890\" class=\" wp-image-85890\" src=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Discrimination.jpg\" alt=\"Anti-gay discrimination typically takes a different form than what was once common around race. shizzy0, CC BY\" width=\"600\" height=\"470\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-85890\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anti-gay discrimination typically takes a different form than what was once common around race. shizzy0, CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Changeability and discrimination<\/h3>\n<p>In a <a href=\"http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/livewire\/ben-carson-prison-gay-choice\">notorious interview<\/a> recorded earlier this year, Ben Carson, a Republican physician (and possible 2016 presidential candidate), was asked if he thought that being gay is a choice. He answered, \u201cabsolutely,\u201d with the implication being that this could be a reason for failing to extend marriage rights to homosexual couples.<\/p>\n<p>Progressive commentators were outraged. In a typical line of response, they took issue with Carson\u2019s empirical claim: being gay <em>isn\u2019t<\/em> a choice, <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/3733480\/ben-carson-gay-choice-science\/\">they insisted<\/a>, often pointing to studies that seem to show a biological basis for sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<p>But there are at least two problems with this kind of reaction. First, it mixes up \u201cbeing gay\u201d (which is a question of how one self-identifies, and therefore something about which individuals <em>do<\/em> have some <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk\/2012\/01\/can-you-be-gay-by-choice\/\">measure of choice<\/a>) with \u201chaving a same-sex sexual orientation\u201d (in other words, being predominately or exclusively attracted to members of the same sex), only the latter of which is \u2013 currently \u2013 largely outside of one\u2019s control.<\/p>\n<p>But why should we think that a person\u2019s sexuality has to be unchangeable in the first place in order to serve as a basis for equal rights? The activist and author Dan Savage has pointed out the flaws in this line of thinking:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[R]eligious conservatives knock on doors,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestranger.com\/blogs\/slog\/2015\/03\/04\/21827375\/republican-idiot-being-gay-is-a-choice-and-prison-proves-it\">he writes<\/a>, \u201cdistribute pamphlets, proselytize, and evangelize all over the country in an effort to get people to do what? To change their religions. To choose a different faith.\u201d In other words:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>[F]aith \u2013 religious belief \u2013 is not an immutable characteristic. You can change your faith. And yet religious belief is covered by civil rights laws and anti-discrimination statutes\u2026. The only time you hear that a trait has to be immutable in order to qualify for civil rights protections is when [conservatives] talk about [being] gay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_85888\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Equality.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85888\" class=\"size-full wp-image-85888\" src=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Equality.jpg\" alt=\"How would the ability to change sexual orientation change what it means to be gay? Flats!, CC BY-NC-SA\" width=\"668\" height=\"457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Equality.jpg 668w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Equality-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 668px) 100vw, 668px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-85888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How would the ability to change sexual orientation change what it means to be gay? Flats!, CC BY-NC-SA<\/p><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Choice and equality<\/h3>\n<p>Savage is right: if it\u2019s unjust to discriminate against people because of their religious beliefs, which \u2013 while not necessarily immutable \u2013 are certainly central to many people\u2019s sense of self as well as how they engage with the world, then it\u2019s also unjust to discriminate against people because of their innermost sexual desires and orientation (whether these turn out to be immutable or not).<\/p>\n<p>The lesson here is that \u201cchoice\u201d is not the point. Whether you\u2019re gay, straight, bisexual \u2013 or whether you reject such simplistic labels altogether \u2013 you should be free to form consensual relationships with whomsoever you please. And so long as the state is involved in regulating marriage, it should not be allowed to deny its citizens equal treatment before the law, whatever their orientation.<\/p>\n<p><em>By\u00a0<strong>Andrew Vierra<\/strong>,\u00a0Neurophilosophy Graduate Student at Georgia State University, and\u00a0<strong>Brian D Earp<\/strong>,\u00a0<span class=\"role\">Research Associate in Science and Ethics at University of Oxford<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This article was originally published on <strong><a title=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/rude-comments-online-are-a-reality-we-cant-get-away-from-34560\" href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/rude-comments-online-are-a-reality-we-cant-get-away-from-34560\" target=\"_blank\">The Conversation<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Read the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/born-this-way-how-high-tech-conversion-therapy-could-undermine-gay-rights-40121\" target=\"_blank\">original article<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">More from The Conversation<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to What is 5G anyway?\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/mobile\/84163\/what-is-5g-anyway\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">What is 5G anyway?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to Internet Explorer? This is Spartan!\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/internet\/84171\/internet-explorer-this-is-spartan\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Internet Explorer? This is Spartan!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to How Dark Matter could mean disaster for earth\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/84175\/how-dark-matter-could-mean-disaster-for-earth\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">How Dark Matter could mean disaster for earth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to What the duck? Why computers suck at predicting human behaviour\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/electronics\/84173\/what-the-duck-why-computers-suck-at-predicting-human-behaviour\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">What the duck? Why computers suck at predicting human behaviour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What will happen if and when scientists end up developing safe and effective technologies that can alter sexual orientation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":85906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876,1],"tags":[9782,9780,26,9104],"class_list":["post-85886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-trending","tag-conversion","tag-gay-rights","tag-headline","tag-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85904,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85886\/revisions\/85904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}