Description
Book SynopsisDrawing on extensive participant observation at conferences for exgays, reorientation therapists, mainstream psychologists, and survivors of exgay therapy, The Straight Line traces reorientation debates in the United States from the 1950s to the present.
Trade Review"In The Straight Line, Tom Waidzunas offers a nuanced account of conflicts over sexual mutability in relation to civil rights and equal protection under the law. This book astutely analyzes the cultural saturations of scientific claims concerning ‘reorientation,’ tracing the ex-gay movement’s origins and its decline in the United States as well as its troubling ascent in post-colonial Uganda."—Jennifer Terry, University of California, Irvine
"How do you measure sexual orientation? In this intriguing book, Tom Waidzunas examines encounters between opposing social movements and mainstream science over the efficacy of ‘reorientation,’ ‘reparative,’ or ‘ex-gay’ therapies, tracing how these battles have affected the way we think about sexuality. The Straight Line masterfully queers the meaning of evidence, credibility, and knowledge in the construction of sexual subjectivities."—Amin Ghaziani, author of There Goes the Gayborhood?
"Finally we have a book that takes a deep, inside look at sexual reorientation therapies and their far-reaching cultural effects. In a provocative turn, The Straight Line not only interrogates the fringe science of sexual reorientation, but it shows us how these efforts to reorient gays and lesbians have shaped—and been shaped by—more liberal ideas about sexuality."—Jane Ward, author of Not Gay: Sex between Straight White Men
"The Straight Line is a remarkably forward-thinking work of scholarship with the potential to disrupt normative academic discourses in the best possible ways. "—Lambda Literary
"An excellent exploration of the way opposing movements influence the scientific process, and advances an intellectual opportunity structure model useful for understanding how dominant processes of knowledge production enable or constrain social movement mobilization and success. Scholars interested in social movements, sociology of science, or sociology of sexuality will find something of interest to them in this book."—Mobilization
Table of ContentsContents
Introduction. The Shifting Straight Line: Ex-Gay Activists Confront Limited Intellectual Opportunities
1. The Reorientation Regime: Therapeutic Techniques in an Anti-Homosexual Era, 1948–1972
2. The Evolution of Dr. Robert Spitzer: The Rise of Gay Affirmative Therapies, 1970–2003
3. Ex-Ex-Gays Match Testimony with Testimony, 2004–2007
4. Reorientation's Last Stand: Showdown at the American Psychological Association
5. A National Movement against "Homos": How Reorientation Concepts Traveled to Uganda, 2009–2014
Conclusion. Sexuality is a Matter of Perspective
Acknowledgments
Methodological Appendix
Notes
Index
