The Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists are taking on the claims of the Christian right with Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement, which will be shown at the Reeling International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The documentary explores the lack of scientific evidence around conversion therapy, asks where the ex-gay leaders of yesterday are and points out the dangers of these supposed treatments. Dr. Alicia Salzer, M.D., director and producer of the film, spoke with Windy City Times about the documentary, a film that she hopes will have universal appeal to anyone who has ever felt like they had to pass or change to be a part of their community.

Windy City Times: What led you to pursue this issue and take on this project?

Alicia Salzer: I am a member of a professional organization of psychiatrists called Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists. They’re the ones that funded the film and they were really the force behind it. They have an increasing concern about the fact that conservative Christians were making more of a media presence with billboards, TV commercials and ads that were basically saying ‘Look, we’ve changed and you can too,’ and we felt that it was misrepresenting what they had to offer because there was really no waiver that said, ‘Results not typical. This may be harmful. This hasn’t really been proven to be successful except in anecdotal situations. This is expensive.’ So, we felt that people were being misled into the idea that this was a treatment that was safe, reliable and effective, and we felt that we had to share what our views are on the topic as well, so people had that to inform their decisions about whether they want to undergo this type of therapy.

WCT: When this type of therapy has failed, are their certain dangers that have been particularly documented, or certain issues people tend to face afterwards?

AS: I mean as far as documented evidence, that’s where you can get into trouble, because it’s very hard to study people who have or haven’t changed…. As far as meeting with people, talking with people, and reviewing what, for example, [psychotherapists Ariel] Shidlo and [Michael] Schroeder found when they spoke to their subjects, they characterized several different types of danger. … As a client of reparative therapy, you’re told if you fail it’s because you’re not trying hard enough. So when they do fail, they’re set up for a kind of self-loathing…. Part of many reparative therapies is that your family is coached to not love you unconditionally.

The thing that struck me most about the people that I met through the film is that they had spent decades of their lives not having relationships and engaged in this passionate, agonizing struggle to be straight to such an extent that they didn’t have any time or energy to focus on their careers, friendships, relationships, hobbies, nothing…. I think that falls into the realm of harm, too.

WCT: With all the evidence pointing to the failure of conversion therapy and the fact that most members of the psychiatric profession don’t believe this type of therapy is scientifically backed, why do you think that organizations like Exodus flourish?

AS: You kind of asked two questions. One is why do they continue to flourish, and the reason they continue to flourish is because they continue to create a market for themselves by misinforming people that what it means to be gay is that you’ll be disenfranchised, you’ll live a life of sneaky, unsafe sex and drugs and never have a relationship, kids, or a family, and that you’ll ultimately die of AIDS. … Add to that the threat of losing your family, your church, your community, and everything you believe in. So, I think they perpetuate the demand for the service.

Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement will play during the Reeling 2007 Film Festival in Chicago on Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. at Center on Halsted along with God Only Knows: Same Sex Marriage.

Read the entire interview at http://WindyCityTimes.com.