{"id":3776,"date":"2019-02-04T09:25:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/how-a-psychologists-change-of-heart-prompted-a-sea-change-for-lgbtq-rights\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T14:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:16:13","slug":"gerald-davison-changes-course-of-lgbtq-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/gerald-davison-changes-course-of-lgbtq-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"How a psychologist\u2019s change of heart prompted a sea change for LGBTQ rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2944-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2944-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"How a psychologist\u2019s change of heart prompted a sea change for LGBTQ rights\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Homosexuality is no longer considered a psychological syndrome in need of treatment thanks in large part to pioneering work by USC Dornsife psychologist Gerald Davison. (Image by Dennis Lan.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=faculty\">Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>How a psychologist\u2019s change of heart prompted a sea change for LGBTQ rights<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  A young mental health professional\u2019s decision to condemn conversion therapy more than 40 years ago marked a turning point for social and political change for LGBTQ rights. <strong>[5 \u00bd min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Emily Gersema<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">February 4, 2019<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Gerald Davison objects to anyone calling him \u201cone of the six cardinal bishops of behavioral therapy,\u201d as <i>Radiolab<\/i> podcast host Jad Abumrad recently referred to him. However, given his numerous awards and the many publications citing him, there is little doubt about Davison\u2019s influence on the science and practice of clinical psychology.<\/p>\n<p>But what many may not know about Davison, professor of psychology at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, is that he took a stand against conversion therapy early in his career that sent waves through the entire field of psychology and psychiatry and eventually increased social and political acceptance of LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n<h2>A stance against conversion<\/h2>\n<p>Elected in 1972 as president of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, now known as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), when he was just 33, Davison spent much of his presidency refuting erroneous charges that behavior therapy was akin to the torture used to rehabilitate the psychopath Alex DeLarge in Anthony Burgess\u2019 fictitious <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/09\/02\/books\/review\/a-clockwork-orange-at-50.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Clockwork Orange<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>For centuries, churches and other institutions \u2014 and later, psychologists and psychiatrists\u2014 treated homosexuality as a disease or disorder, often using methods that inflict pain and shame, including electric shock, Davison notes.<\/p>\n<p>Davison, who has been at USC Dornsife since 1979 and holds a joint appointment at <a href=\"http:\/\/gero.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology<\/a>, has drawn renewed public attention for his stance against \u201cconversion therapy,\u201d known in professional circles as \u201csexual reorientation treatment,\u201d because of two recently released films that highlight the personal stories of teens forced by families to attend camps that claimed to turn gay kids straight. <i>The Miseducation of Cameron Post<\/i>, based on a novel by Emily M. Danforth, hit theaters in August 2018, and <i>Boy Erased<\/i>, based on a memoir by Garrard Conley, that debuted in November 2018<i>.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Abumrad interviewed Davison for a special podcast series, <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/stitcher\/unerased-the-history-of-conversion-therapy-in-america\">UnErased<\/a><\/i>, about his remarkable role in the profession\u2019s condemnation of conversion therapy. <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teenvogue.com\/story\/how-gay-conversion-therapy-came-to-be-and-how-it-persists-today\">Teen Vogue<\/a><\/i> also highlighted his significance in an article last summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy position was to not only stop doing conversion therapy, but to also not do it even if patients ask for it,\u201d recalls Davison, who laid out his concerns about conversion therapy in detail during a 1974 <a href=\"http:\/\/www-bcf.usc.edu\/~gdaviso\/Library\/Davison's%20Articles\/1976%20Homosexuality%20the%20Ethical%20Challenge.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">speech<\/a> to ABCT.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/migration-uploads\/Davison1_2ndary_225x350-2944.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Gerald Davison\" width=\"225\" height=\"350\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gerald Davison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhat are we really saying to our clients when, on the one hand, we assure them that they are not abnormal and on the other hand, present them with an array of techniques, some of them painful, which are aimed at eliminating that set of feelings and behavior that we have just told them is okay?\u201d he asked then. \u201cWhat is the real range of \u2018free choice\u2019 available to homosexually oriented people who are racked with guilt, self-hate, and embarrassment, and who must endure the burden of societal prejudice and discrimination? \u2026 How have we helped them with these problems?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In taking this position, Davison was arguing that psychotherapeutic goals are strongly influenced, if not determined by larger sociocultural factors, and that these factors inevitably make therapy an ethical and political enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>Davison says he did not know at the time that his thoughts and words would be profoundly influential for society, far beyond the walls of clinical offices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was saying simply, \u2018This is what I think is right,\u2019\u201d Davison says. \u201cI was not thinking that I was going to be part of, or a leader of, a movement that would lead to mental health professions regarding sexual reorientation as unethical and to state legislatures designating it as illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Pure motivations<\/h2>\n<p>Like many researchers, Davison arrived at his conclusion after a journey of his own. Early in his academic career at Stony Brook University in 1966, some young men came to him for help with their feelings for other men. He developed his own form of conversion therapy, encouraging them to redirect their desires to images of women in <i>Playboy <\/i>magazine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy motivations were pure. I thought that I was doing something positive by helping them relieve their psychological pain, and helping them live more comfortably in society at large,\u201d Davison recalls. \u201cI didn&#8217;t think homosexuality was an illness, nor a perversion. But I thought they were making a voluntary decision, and I saw it as my duty to help them through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was the standard for practice at the time, he adds.<\/p>\n<p>Davison published articles about the work and even produced a dramatized film about the therapy. But he soon encountered criticism from some of his peers. Clinical psychologist Charles Silverstein held a symposium in October 1972 at the ABCT convention accusing therapists like Davison of perpetuating further discrimination, guilt and shame for the vulnerable and emotionally distraught men who had asked him for help.<\/p>\n<p>At first, Davison admits he felt angry. But as he considered Silverstein\u2019s criticisms, he realized that he had a point.<\/p>\n<h2>A change of heart<\/h2>\n<p>Davison himself went through a conversion, so to speak, in the days and weeks following Silverstein\u2019s diatribe. During his 1973\u201374 presidential year, Davison persuaded the ABCT board of directors to adopt a resolution that declared that homosexuality is not in itself a mental illness.<\/p>\n<p>In his outgoing presidential speech to the ABCT in November 1974, Davison went beyond the organization\u2019s resolution, warning fellow therapists that, despite condemning conversion therapy, they were still approaching homosexuality as a problem in need of a solution. Many continued to offer reorientation treatment to patients who asked for it, he says, and it was time to stop.<\/p>\n<h2>Ongoing progress<\/h2>\n<p>Davison believes that there has been a sharp decline in the number of men coming to psychologists and other health professionals for help with being gay, further validating his 1974 argument to end conversion therapy. His stance at the ABCT set the bar for other organizations focused on psychiatric and psychological help. In 1998, the American Psychiatric Association adopted his earlier position, declaring sexual reorientation treatments improper and unethical. In 2009, the American Psychological Association followed suit.<\/p>\n<p>Since Davison issued his first statements to the ABCT, activists have fought for and achieved several milestones for LGBTQ rights. For example, marriage equality became federal law in 2015, due to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Conversion therapy has been banned in 13 states and Washington, D.C., according to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lgbtmap.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Movement Advancement Project<\/a>, an organization focused on ending the practice.<\/p>\n<p>Two years ago, in an essay he wrote for <i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S107772291600002X\">Cognitive and Behavioral Practice<\/a><\/i>, Davison shared his reflections on his efforts in the \u201970s to end conversion therapy, repeating his concern that therapists had a powerful role in determining how to help their patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChange-of-orientation programs should be stopped, even when patients request them because prejudice and often physical attacks against homosexuals have made it highly unlikely that \u2018voluntary\u2019 change requests are in fact self-determined,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>These statements on the role of the therapist remain true today, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/hd-and-bryher-a-hidden-love-story\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >English professor charts out the hidden love story between two iconic, early 20th-century women<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/nsf-graduate-fellowships-help-sustainable-chemistry-research\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Students pursue big ideas in cleaner water, better batteries and diversity<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/supreme-court-justice-decisions-unexpected\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >When Supreme Court justices defy expectations<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A young mental health professional\u2019s decision to condemn conversion therapy more than 40 years ago marked a turning point for social and political change for LGBTQ rights. <strong>[5 \u00bd min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":3779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[143,176,197,759],"class_list":["post-3776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-faculty","tag-gerald-davison","tag-lgbtq","tag-pyschology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How a psychologist\u2019s change of heart prompted a sea change for LGBTQ rights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gerald Davis&#039; decision to condemn conversion therapy more than 40 years ago marked a turning point for GBTQ rights. [5 \u00bd min read]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/gerald-davison-changes-course-of-lgbtq-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How a psychologist\u2019s change of heart prompted a sea change for LGBTQ rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gerald Davis&#039; decision to condemn conversion therapy more than 40 years ago marked a turning point for GBTQ rights. 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