Dr. Robert Spitzer has invalidated his much-criticized 2001 study that claimed some "highly motivated" people could go from gay to straight, according to a Truth Wins Out press release.
Spitzer's rejection of his own research was originally published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
"Dr. Spitzer's repudiation of his 2001 study is an earthquake that severely undermines the validity of 'ex-gay' programs," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen, who criticized the study in his 2003 book, Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. "Spitzer just kicked out the final leg from the stool on which the proponents of 'ex-gay' therapy based their already shaky claims of success."
About the criticisms that have been leveled at him, Spitzer told American Prospect, "In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct. The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more."
In 1973, Spitzer led a movement to have homosexuality declassified as a mental illness. However, in 2001, he released a study that contended it was possible to change one's sexual orientation.