At Human Life International's 13th World Conference held at the Irvine Marriot in Irvine, CA on April 6-10, 1994, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, PhD listed 10 strategies used by the gay movement to promote the gay agenda. The gay agenda pursues society-wide acceptance of the gay identity and of homosexual sex. Dr. Nicolosi's list forms part of a content analysis of a video documentary produced in part by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles entitled "Journey to Understanding". Dr. Nicolosi showed the film to conference attendees. He predominantly treats men with a homosexual problem and has helped cure approximately 200 clients. Dr. Nicolosi's outline of the psychological components of the homosexual orientation introduces this essay.

First, he describes the word "homosexual" as being an adverb rather than a noun; i.e., it describes a particular condition afflicting an individual's gender identity. It does not describe an inherently natural state for that person. "When we say the homosexual, it is shorthand for the heterosexual with a homosexual problem." Second, the homosexual orientation represents a frustrated desire for contact with the same sex parent in childhood. Later in life, the child's frustration becomes eroticized in same-sex relationships.

"[H]omosexuality...is a developmental disorder; it is a gender identity problem. They are seeking the emotional connection with the ...same sex parent. The homosexual boy has a poor relationship with the father . The lesbian is looking for the love with the feminine, with the mother. These are frustrated needs. I like to talk about the 3 A's: attention, affection, approval. These are the emotional needs that are the foundation of homosexuality and later on in adolescence they become eroticized. That's the psychological understanding of homosexuality. And that has to be said and it has to be clarified; they're not born that way."

Curing the homosexual begins by tapping into his latent heterosexuality. Dr. Nicolosi flatly tells homosexual clients when they first arrive: "You're not homosexual, you're a heterosexual with a homosexual problem."

The individual pro-lifer must clearly understand the homosexual problem if he/she expects to engage an apologist for the gay movement.

Ultimately, the gay movement seeks societal acceptance of homosexual conduct and of the gay identity. Dr. Nicolosi outlined 10 strategies used to achieve these goals. He drew these strategies from "Journey to Understanding". The film itself demonstrates how these strategies have infiltrated the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

STRATEGY #1: Confuse homosexual with gay. As already stated, "homosexual" refers to a treatable, curable psychological condition. The word "gay", however, is a social/political identity. It's saying "This is who I am. It's an identification with a particular culture, with a particular value system." The difference between "gay" and "homosexual" lies with the individual's view of the orientation as normal and natural or as unnatural and problematic, respectively. Viewing the orientation as normal and natural sets the foundation for a gay anthropology. "Christian anthropology sees us all as basically and naturally heterosexual.... A typical example of Christian anthropology is the idea that the human body retains its spousal significance. the compatibility of the sexes reflects the inner unity of the Creator, and man and woman together cooperating with God in the transmission of human life."

STRATEGY #2: "...apologetics, the soft selling of the radical organizations such as Act UP, Queer Nation, and within the Catholic church, Dignity."

STRATEGY #3: "`There is absolutely nothing wrong with the homosexual or lesbian person.' This is a quote from Cardinal Mahoney." According to the letter to the Catholic bishops on the pastoral care of homosexual persons promulgated by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in 1986, homosexuality is an objective disorder. "A celibate homosexual, in terms of the natural law, is not equivalent to a celibate heterosexual. Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it remains a tendency ordered toward an objective disorder."

STRATEGY #4: Like #2 it's an emotional appeal. "Love is love." It blurs the distinction between love and sex and equates the two. In the video, one nun says :"you know, I cannot judge the love between two persons."

STRATEGY #5: "Gay is perfectly normal for some people" Dr. Nicolosi introduces the term "Jamming". Jamming is the juxtaposing of the radical gay message with a pleasant face. A good looking, pleasant person articulates the message. In our era of visual media (TV especially) the visual image always wins. "[W]e are swayed in our thinking by visual images."

STRATEGY #6: "The accusations of homophobia and intolerance."

STRATEGY #7: "Gay celibacy" "if you listen to the documentary, you will [find] (sic) contradictory messages with that.

STRATEGY #8: "This is me." i.e., homosexuality is an integral, natural and defining element of the gay person.

STRATEGY #9: Gay gifts: i.e., one's homosexuality, even in gay celibacy, contributes to the Church. A kind of gay spirituality springs from the gay person's sexual identity. Dr. Nicolosi, however, points out that, like alcoholism, any spiritual blessings or graces come from the struggle with the condition, not the condition itself.

STRATEGY #10: In the video documentary, the ministry Courage is not mentioned once. "Courage goes beyond the commitment to celibacy, but even talks about the healing of the homosexual condition. And there's absolutely no reference to that."

It helps to remember that the gay agenda seeks societal acceptance of homosexual sex and of the gay identity. Two gay activists, Kurt and Madsen, describe how to win over straight America to the gay agenda in their book titled "After the Ball". They define the terms "jamming" and "desensitization". Jamming describes the use of the visual media to present the radical concepts of the gay agenda through a pleasant face. (Does the movie "Philadelphia" ring a bell?) A polite, soft spoken, good-looking homosexual articulates the gay agenda. In our world of TV images, the pleasant face defeats reason. Desensitization is the action of repeating the same, normally shocking, message over and over again until people become desensitized to it. Again, through the visual media, people come to uncritically assimilate the gay message.

We must pray and act if we expect to reclaim our society for Christ. Carefully phrased, well thought-out arguments sew seeds of doubt and help carry people's hearts and minds to the Kingdom of God. These arguments, though initially ignored, if repeated over time, will certainly bear fruit.

It helps to remember that homosexuality is not an inevitable, natural reality for some; but a curable and reversible developmental disorder. The word "gay" is a political term that describes homosexuality as normal and natural for some.