Coming Out Straight : Understanding and Healing Homosexuality
In this self-help book, which contains a foreword by Dr. Laura  Schlessinger, ex-gay therapist Cohen (the author of Alfie's  Home, a children's book about a sexually abused boy) writes for  gays and lesbians who want to transition to heterosexuality. His  comprehensive, well-written, well-organized, and heavily  referenced guide views homosexuality as a symptom of disrupted  affiliation with the same-sex parent and incomplete feelings of  maleness/femaleness, building on the psychological theories of  Joseph Nicolosi and Elizabeth Moberly. At least 30 ex-gay  platform books are in print, most  religious but some primarily psychological see the web site of  Exodus/Regeneration Books (www.exodusnorthamerica/org/resources)  and NARTH, Nicolosi's organization (www.narth.com). Cohen's  approach is sympathetic and rational and leans mostly on  psychosocial factors, but he also assumes nondenominational  religious affiliation. The ex-gay movement is highly  controversial and its activities considered both damaging and  misleading by many medical and psychological professional  groups and by most gay/lesbian rights proponents. This book is  thus recommended for libraries with large gender collections  covering different perspectives, which should also stock  Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the  Right's Attack on Democracy (a report from Political Research  Associates, 1998), Finally Free: Personal Stories; How Love and  Self-Acceptance Saved Us from "Ex-Gay" Ministries (Human Rights  Campaign Foundation, 2000), and Mel White's Stranger at the  Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America (S. & S., 1994). Martha  Cornog, PhiladelphiaCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.