This article links to a video of Rachel Maddow interviewing Richard Cohen, who was gay and claims now to be straight. She points out that his work is being used by those who support the death penalty for gays in Uganda. Cohen is given the chance to talk and says strongly he does not support the Uganda bill. His work, he says, is to help those with unwanted attractions to the same sex.
This is a complicated issue. I believe that some people may have changed from homosexual to heterosexual behavior, but I believe this is possible because they are bisexual. I do believe there are people who are unchangeably monosexual, either homosexual or heterosexual. And I do believe that the work of people like Cohen, who, as Maddow points out, is not a licensed therapist, does damage to LGBT folk by encouraging those who think if one person changes, every homosexual can change,, and uses that to justify discrimination against gays. Given that, if someone who has same sex desires truly wants to not have those desires anymore, they should be free to explore options to change themselves. But they need to be aware that (1) it may not be possible for them; and (2) their desires for change may be motivated by feelings that being LGBT is wrong, and that a more effective "cure" would be to accept that it is all right to be gay, that they can be self-affirming and life-affirming and be proud and healthy as a gay person and have healthy same sex relationships.
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