Op-Ed: Wingers Upset By Psychological Assn. Looking Into Swinging

It's come to AVN's attention that one or two people in the adult community are into swinging and/or simply have an open marriage/relationship. This would include not only performers but directors, company heads, publicists—you name it. (OK, so maybe more than one or two ...) In fact, non-monogamous relationships are becoming so common in society that the American Psychological Association (APA) has created a task force to study the issue—and that's drawing major flack from Liberty Counsel, the Christian-centric legal group that spends much of its time fighting anything that "threatens" hetero man/woman monogamy. According to the APA, its Task Force on Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) "promotes awareness and inclusivity about consensual non-monogamy and diverse expressions of intimate relationships. These include but are not limited to: people who practice polyamory, open relationships, swinging, relationship anarchy and other types of ethical, non-monogamous relationships." Then, the APA waxes a bit philosophical: "Finding love and/or sexual intimacy is a central part of most people’s life experience. However, the ability to engage in desired intimacy without social and medical stigmatization is not a liberty for all. This task force seeks to address the needs of people who practice consensual non-monogamy, including their intersecting marginalized identities." Sounds good, right? After all, there are plenty of laws protecting the rights of married people, even a few protecting LGBT married people, but what about the rights of people who are more sexually open, who aren't exclusive to one partner? That's one of the things the task force wants to study, and hopes to formulate educational materials and training seminars to help psychologists and social workers deal problems that may arise due to such unconventional relationships. But it took Liberty Counsel "researchers" to discover the true motives behind such inquiries. "The APA, which has over 110,000 members, continues to allow a small group of sex anarchists to define its positions on sexuality, instead of being a source for objective scientific information on sexuality or gender," Liberty Counsel claims on its website. "The task force’s 'peer-reviewed and historic consensual non-monogamous (CNM) literature studies,' including research on polyamory by Ken Haslam, are based on the works of Alfred C. Kinsey, the 1940-50s Indiana University sex addict[!] who is known as the father of the sexual revolution. The sexologist founded The Kinsey Institute in 1953 and it continues to 'work toward advancing sexual health and knowledge worldwide.' However, the methods Kinsey used were unethical, including sexual experiments and abuse on infants, and the statistically and scientifically fraudulent 'data' is derived from serial child rapists, sex offenders, prisoners, prostitutes, pedophiles, and pederasts." Most if not all of those last charges come from Judith Reisman, who has a Ph.D. in communications and is a visiting law professor at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University—and who has made it one of her missions in life to destroy Kinsey's reputation, having written four books on that exact subject. They're all horseshit, of course, but the Religious Right generally trusts only the "science" provided by its kindred spirits. But that's not all. Liberty Counsel also criticizes the APA for its "failure" to find something psychologically wrong with gay people, and that its Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation "concluded that efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be successful and involve some risk of harm, contrary to the claims of [sexual orientation change efforts] practitioners and advocates." Well, duh! The web is replete with stories of people who've tried to change their sexual orientation—that's "gay to straight," never the other way around—and found that, after trying to fake being hetero for a number of years, they only found happiness by letting their true desires come out. And the APA has been one of the primary organizations supporting legislation, which has already been enacted in several states, to prevent so-called "therapists" from foisting this "gender reorientation therapy" on gay and trans individuals. Nonetheless, the forces of anti-LGBT "science" continue to press for the "right" to try to turn gays straight—and they know who the enemy is! "The Task Force on so-called ‘Consensual Non-Monogamy’ is more evidence that the American Psychological Association has lost it way," declared Liberty Counsel Chair and founder Mat Staver. "The same people who want to deny counseling for people with unwanted same-sex desires or confusion also want to promote sexual anarchy and make ‘open relationships’ a protected class. It’s time to call out the APA for its unscientific bias that is harmful to people." Or maybe, just maybe, call out Liberty Counsel and its compatriots in the "no rights for gays" movement for what they are: Small-minded religio-conservative bigots. (Incidentally, the APA task force is looking for volunteers. Those looking for more information may email [email protected].) Photo courtesy of Adam & Eve's Swingers Wife Swap 5: The Pajama Party