Techniques used in conversion (or reparative) therapy went from the truly abhorrent to the merely reprehensible.
In the twentieth century prefrontal lobotomies were sometimes performed on people considered to be too resistant for less restrictive treatments.
Aversive therapy wasn’t uncommon. A behavioral modification technique, it was based on associating any gay related feeling or arousal with a very panful, accompanying response.
Clockwork Orange and Alex’s reprogramming is an example of this technique. Electro-shock therapy, nausea inducing drugs, sleep deprivation, chemical castration were all part of a varied treatment arsenal.
My own State of Maine used plethysmography as a way of assessing deviant arousal. In retrospect, conversion therapy techniques were sometimes very simply the use of torture.
In the twenty-first century Fundamental Christians supplied the major impetus for continued use of conversion therapy. Kidnapping or by using a ruse, the gay person became more or less a house prisoner.
Vigils, prayer circles, non-stop bible readings, the use of psychotropics, use of family and friends , etc. were part of the range of techniques.
There is still a Christian oriented group that advocates some of the strong measures mentioned above that they refer to as re-programming- to “rescue” gay people from their sickness and delusions.
The fact that their success rate has been abysmal (around 5%) has not deterred either their determination or influence.
– Robert V
