Fact Sheet: The Obama Administration’s Comprehensive Efforts to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Worldwide

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

“When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous.  Over the last year, we’ve seen women and girls inspiring communities and entire countries to stand up for freedom and justice, and I’m proud of my Administration’s efforts to promote gender equality worldwide.” --President Barack Obama, March 8, 2013

President Obama has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls central to our national security strategy and foreign policy, including by leading through example at home.  The Administration will continue to prioritize these efforts in the coming years, in collaboration with stakeholders throughout the world, recognizing that our journey is far from complete and that securing equal rights and opportunity for women and girls is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.

Highlights of the Obama Administration’s record to empower women and girls worldwide include:

Building Capacity and Enhancing Coordination and Accountability across the U.S. Government

Strengthening our leadership and coordination to enhance our impact abroad:  On January 30, 2013, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing that the Secretary of State designate a Coordinator at the Ambassador at Large level, reporting directly to the Secretary of State, to lead the Office of Global Women’s Issues and to provide advice and assistance on issues related to promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls internationally.  In this Memorandum, President Obama also recognized the accomplishments and leadership of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and established an interagency working group led by the White House National Security Staff.

Bolstering agency policies, staffing, and training:  Agencies have issued policy and operational guidance, including at the Department of State, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and USAID, to ensure a comprehensive approach on gender equality and women’s empowerment.  From the Department of Justice to the Department of Defense, the Administration has expanded training and created new positions, including on the National Security Staff, to advance these policies.

Holding ourselves accountable and monitoring our progress:  The MCC and its partners in compact countries have made significant progress in integrating gender equality into projects that support poverty reduction through growth.  In March 2011, the MCC released guidelines for gender integration that make MCC’s Gender Policy fully operational, and MCC will  continue to work to improve both global policy and practice.  The Department of State and USAID are also launching new efforts to strengthen the evidence base on the importance of promoting gender equality, including by improving data collection and strengthening metrics.

Increasing Women’s Roles in Conflict Prevention and Security Decision-making

Empowering women as equal partners in preventing conflict and building peace: On December 19, 2011, the Obama Administration released Executive Order 13595 and the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to support women’s voices and perspectives in decision-making in countries threatened and affected by war, violence, and insecurity.  Agencies such as the Department of State, USAID, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have begun to realize the goals of the National Action Plan through the development of detailed implementation plans.  And on January 24, 2013, the Department of Defense announced its intent to remove gender-based barriers to service and fully integrate women into all occupational specialties. 

Expanding Economic Opportunity for Women  

Launching new initiatives to bolster women’s economic empowerment:  The Administration has launched several signature regional programs to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship and help spur economic growth worldwide, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy initiative, and the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas) initiative.

Empowering women farmers to advance food security:  In 2009, the Administration launched the Feed the Future initiative to advance food security worldwide, with a priority focus on women agricultural producers as critical drivers of economic growth in developing countries.  The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched at the Camp David G-8 Summit, invests in smallholder farmers, particularly women, who play a critical role in transforming agriculture and building thriving economies.

Leveraging U.S. trade and investment programs to support women in emerging markets:  The United States Trade Representative is helping countries empower women to participate in the global economy, for example through the establishment of Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Groups in South and Central Asia, and along with the Departments of Commerce and State, through the African Women Entrepreneurs Program (AWEP).  The Department of Commerce is also working to support women-owned businesses in emerging markets including Iraq and Afghanistan, and in 2012 led a roundtable with women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia as part of an ongoing conversation around business growth and competitiveness.

Promoting access to financial services for women:  OPIC works to expand economic opportunities for women, including through extensive support for microfinance and by providing incentives for banks to lend to female entrepreneurs, from Cambodia to Egypt to Turkey.  The Treasury Department is also supporting the G20 Global Partnership on Financial Inclusion to document barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, and supports innovative lending models for women in Latin America and the Caribbean through the Inter-American Development Bank.

 Expanding employment opportunities for women and strengthening protections for women workers:  The Department of Transportation is working to promote opportunities for women in transportation sectors abroad, for example through an APEC Women in Transportation initiative, and in Iraq through mentoring women in the Ministry of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Authority.  The Department of Labor is funding efforts to expand legal protection for domestic workers, and also supports the International Labor Organization and International Finance Corporation’s Better Work program, which protects worker rights and improves working conditions in the apparel industry worldwide.

Launching a Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence

Launching an executive order and U.S. strategy to address gender-based violence:  On August 10, 2012, President Obama issued Executive Order 13623 directing departments and agencies to implement the first ever United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally.  The Department of State and USAID have led the United States’ work to prevent and respond to gender-based violence by ensuring that this issue is integrated in diplomacy and development efforts.  The Executive Order creates an interagency working group to establish a coordinated, government-wide approach to this issue.

Addressing the needs of marginalized women:  Agencies have also worked to ensure our approach to gender-based violence addresses the needs of women and girls from particularly marginalized groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons, refugees and other conflict and disaster-affected women and girls, and women and girls with disabilities. 

Combating Trafficking in Persons

 Taking new steps to end modern slavery:  On September 25, 2012, President Obama announced unprecedented government action to combat one of the greatest human rights abuses of our time—human trafficking — which affects more than 20 million people around the world, many of them women and children.  In response to this challenge, the President signed  Executive Order 13627 to strengthen the U.S. Government’s zero-tolerance policy on trafficking in government contracting, and launched several new initiatives to identify and assist survivors, increase resources, plan for future action, and grow public-private partnerships.    

Promoting the Health of Women and Families

Promoting gender integration across all global health efforts:  President Obama has placed women, girls, and gender equality at the heart of his global health agenda, including through the Global Health Initiative (GHI).  The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has ensured a comprehensive approach to gender issues in HIV prevention, treatment, and care.  Over the last three years, PEPFAR has provided post-exposure prophylaxis to almost 85,000 survivors of sexual violence as part of post-rape care.

Advancing women’s reproductive and maternal health:  USAID advances and supports voluntary family planning programs in more than 45 countries across the globe.  This past year, USAID's family planning programs reached more than 84 million women and averted 21 million unintended pregnancies, preventing 15,000 maternal deaths and saving the lives of more than 230,000 infants.  The U.S. Government has also restored funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the largest multilateral provider of family planning and reproductive health information and services with programs in 150 countries.  UNFPA’s programs support maternal health care services and gender-based violence prevention and response including for refugees, disaster victims, and those in emergency situations.  Since 2009, the U.S. Government has provided nearly $165 million in core funding to UNFPA.

Engaging men and boys as allies to promote women’s health and rights:  Agencies across the U.S. Government are focused on engaging men and boys as allies in promoting gender equality, for example through the Peace Corps’ programs working with men and boys.

Expanding the use of clean cookstoves to protect the health of women and families:  In September 2010, Secretary Clinton launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership that will help 100 million homes adopt cleaner stoves and fuels by 2020, thereby reducing the deadly risks for women and girls associated with traditional cookstoves.

Expanding Education Opportunities and Promoting Leadership for Women and Girls

Promoting leadership of women and girls:  The Department of State and USAID have launched new efforts to promote women’s leadership and political participation, including in countries in transition.  The Department of State launched the Women in Public Service Project in 2011, and USAID has dedicated over $30 million in funding to support women’s leadership in a range of sectors.  Peace Corps Volunteers around the world organize and lead GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camps to empower young women with leadership skills.

Harnessing technology and STEM education to promote women’s empowerment:  The Department of State and USAID are expanding efforts to empower women with technology, including through the GSMA mWomen program designed to close the gender gap in mobile technology.  Agencies including the Department of Education are also supporting global efforts to advance women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Expanding training for women in law enforcement fields:  The Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Justice are working to provide training to women law enforcement personnel from dozens of countries, including through the International Law Enforcement Academies.

Leading New Global Efforts to Advance Gender Equality and Strengthening Multilateral Organizations  

Leveraging U.S. leadership in multilateral forums:  The United States is leading new efforts in a range of multilateral forums to advance women’s empowerment, from brokering new commitments from the G20 to the G-8 and NATO to our financial contributions and robust monitoring of UN agencies’ policies and programs to advance gender equality.  And as the largest shareholder at the World Bank, the United States works with the Bank to continue and strengthen its efforts to address gender issues throughout its work.  

Building a new multilateral partnership on women’s political and economic participation:  At the UN General Assembly in September 2012, the United States launched the Equal Futures Partnership, a new network of countries making national commitments to expand women’s political participation and economic opportunity, in response to President Obama’s challenge.  

President Obama hosts the 3rd Annual White House Science Fair and celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.

President Obama speaks to the American people about the act of terror at the Boston Marathon that wounded dozens and killed three innocent people on Monday, and says that through it all, Boston’s spirit remains undaunted and Americans have proven they refuse to be terrorized.

President Obama commends the response from the state and local police and federal investigators after law enforcement makes an arrest in the Boston Marathon bombings.

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Paul Ryan Learns Nothing from Historic Gender Gap: Budget Guts Women’s Health Programs

Our guest blogger is Lindsay Rosenthal, a Research Assistant for Health Policy and Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress.

The 20 point gender gap in the 2012 election was the largest since Gallup poll began tracking in 1952 — the Obama-Biden ticket beat the Romney-Ryan ticket by a large margin with women, driven largely by women of color turning out at high rates for the President.

That loss was predictable based on polling that asked women questions about specific proposals in Paul Ryan’s previous budgets, which showed that women highly disapprove of cutting Medicaid, Medicare, and other vital programs that meet their health care needs. But the budget Ryan released this week suggests he learned nothing from women’s responses at the voting booth.

Ryan has never been a friend to women’s health, and has repeatedly taken action to limit women’s rights and access to health care — and his new budget is just more of the same. It would dismantle the advancements made through the Affordable Care Act and institute dramatic reductions in the services available through key programs, on top of the cuts women’s health services are already facing as a result of the sequester.

Here are the top four ways the new Ryan Budget (which is just the same as the old Ryan budget) guts key programs for women’s health:

Millions of women would lose the consumer protections and access to affordable health coverage that they gained under the health law. These reforms are critical for both women’s health and economic security.

The Ryan budget would eliminate the ban on discrimination against those with preexisting conditions, including breast cancer, Cesarean sections, rape, and health needs related to domestic violence; provisions that allow young women to stay on their parents health insurance plans until age 26; premium tax credits that help individuals and small businesses purchase health insurance; Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid; and a slew of other benefits that the law provides for women’s health.

By repealing protections in Obamacare, the Ryan budget would preserve an individual health insurance market that routinely discriminates against women. Insurance companies in the individual market charge women $1 billion more in premiums than men each year for the same set of benefits. Under the health reform law, insurers will also be required to cover maternity care — only 12 percent of plans on the individual market currently do.

Women are 70 percent of adult Medicaid beneficiaries. In fact, more than one in ten non-elderly women receive their health insurance coverage through Medicaid.

But the Ryan budget would replace guaranteed federal funding for Medicaid with block grants to states — fixed sums of money set in advance, regardless of actual costs. By 2023, the Ryan budget would reduce federal Medicaid spending by 810 billion, forcing states to cut back on coverage and benefits. And by repealing Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, the Ryan budget would deny Medicaid coverage to at least 7 million women who are expected to become newly eligible for the program if the law is fully implemented, leaving them with nowhere to turn for coverage.

Women represent over half of Medicare beneficiaries and 62 percent of those over the age of 80.

The Ryan budget would move toward a privatization of Medicare, proposing that those currently in the health program get vouchers for private insurance. Under the Ryan plan, the first seniors hit by these changes could pay up to $59,500 more during retirement, with those who will be Medicare eligible in 2050 paying up to $331,200 more.

Women on Medicare generally earn less in social security benefits than their male counterparts and have higher out-of pocket-medical costs. Paul Ryan’s plan to privatize Medicare threatens both the health and economic security of elderly women.

By repealing Obamacare and gutting Medicaid, the Ryan budget would severely undermine access to reproductive health care, especially contraception, for millions of women.

47 million women are projected to benefit from the no-cost preventive services that have already gone into effect, including mammograms, Pap smears, well-baby care, contraception, preconception and prenatal care in well-woman visits, gestational diabetes screening, lactation supports, and much more. In addition, the Medicaid program provides 75 percent of public funding for family-planning services and is expected to play an even greater role in providing access to family planning once the ACA is fully implemented.

Women of reproductive age spend 68 percent more on their health care expenses than men and their reproductive health care and the expense of birth control is a significant part of that spending. Surveys show that nearly one in four women with household incomes of less than $75,000 have put off a doctor’s visit for birth control to save money. More than half of young adult women say they have not used their prescribed contraceptive method as directed because it was cost-prohibitive.

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Dad Challenges Retro Gender Roles By Hacking ‘Donkey Kong’

Mike Mika might be the world’s best feminist dad.

When his 3-year-old daughter discovered that the girl character in Donkey Kong, Pauline, could only sit distressed and wait for a male character to help her, Mika decided to do something about it. So, The Verge reports, he hacked the popular game to make Pauline a functional character, and the male character, Mario, became the damsel (or, lord?) in distress:

Thankfully Mika happens to be a competent developer, and after a few late-night hours spent hacking the NES version of Nintendo’s classic, he accomplished the role reversal his daughter had wished for. Mario was now under Donkey Kong’s control, and Pauline was tasked with rescuing the plumber in distress. Following the successful endeavor, Mika shared some details of how he swapped the characters on a YouTube page demonstrating the hack. “I’ve redrawn Mario’s frames and I swapped the palettes in the ROM,” he wrote. “I replaced the M at the top with a P for Pauline.”

Mika uploaded this video on YouTube to demonstrate how it worked:

Technological hacks for thinking about and subverting gender barriers are gaining in popularity. Another father recently did a gender swap for the game Zelda. And a recent invention, a Google Chrome browser extension called “Jailbreak The Patriarchy,” swaps the gender pronouns on websites to show how gender dynamics affect our views of the world.

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Lawmakers Introduce Sweeping Sex Ed Bill To Mandate LGBT Inclusive, Gender Balanced Health Classes

Just this week, the CDC released new data pointing to the United States’ “ongoing, severe epidemic” of sexually transmitted infections, which incur the country an estimate $16 billion each year in medical costs. That public health crisis is partly fueled by the lack of comprehensive, medically accurate sexual health instruction in classrooms across the country — but some lawmakers are seeking to change that with a sex ed bill that would overhaul the outdated health classes in America’s public schools.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and 32 other Democratic politicians re-introduced the “Real Education for Healthy Youth Act” on Thursday, legislation that would “expand comprehensive sex education programs in schools and ensure that federal funds are spent on effective, age-appropriate, medically accurate programs.”

“The bill does a lot of important things — it’s a big bill,” Sarah Audelo, the Domestic Policy Director for Advocates for Youth, explained to ThinkProgress. “There’s a lot to be covered, and a lot of resources that young people need that they’re not currently getting.” In particular, the legislation would ensure that federal funding is allocated only to the sexual health programs that include inclusive language about LGBT issues, don’t rely on outdated gender stereotypes, and impart accurate information about HIV.

Right now, sexual education standards vary widely across states. Just 12 states mandate that sexual health curricula must be medically accurate — which means that young people across the country are receiving false information about birth control’s effectiveness, the right way to prevent STDs, and the way that HIV is transmitted.

“Ultimately, we have a long way to go when it comes to sex ed,” Audelo pointed out. “The United States has some of the worst sexual health outcomes in the developed world, and we can’t blame young people for their poor decisions when we don’t teach them how to make the right choices for their bodies.”

And there is concrete evidence to back up Audelo’s claims. The states that push abstinence-only education programs in their public schools — which doesn’t trust teens enough to teach them facts about their bodies — have the highest rates of teen pregnancies, while adolescents who actually receive instruction about prevention methods are 60 percent less likely to get someone else pregnant or get pregnant themselves. Nevertheless, right-wing politicians continue to do exactly what Audelo cautions against — and blame teenagers themselves for failed abstinence-only policies.

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Focus On The Family ‘Analyst’: Gender And Sexuality Are Only Determined By Procreation

Jeff Johnston is Focus on the Family’s resident ex-gay, who regularly promotes harmful ex-gay therapy because he claims conforming to heteronormativity is ideal for society. He applies this to trans people too, rejecting transgender identities as disordered. In a new screed against LGBT equality today, he discounted any understanding of gender whatsoever, claiming the only determining factors in gender are what men and women contribute to human reproduction:

Despite years of brainwashing from academia, radical feminists, the media, and entertainment, most people know that men and women are different, unique and complementary. A society that attempts to erase male and female or to create new categories to stand next to male and female is living in unreality. Which of the supposed “other genders” being created by individuals or groups can reproduce or replicate itself? [...]

As Christians we also reject the reduction of humanity to groups defined by their sexual attractions and behaviors. Male and female are categories of existence – there is the biological reality of being male or female, and we live in the spiritual reality of a masculinity or femininity that reflects God’s image. It is de-humanizing to categorize individuals by the ever-proliferating alphabet of identities based on sexual attractions or behavior or “gender identity” – LGBBTTQQIAAFPPBDSM – however many letters are added. No. We stand with the truth that there are male and female. There is no recently discovered race of “homosexuals” or “gays” or “lesbians.” We don’t define people’s essence, their being, by their sexual appetites or by other desires.

Actually, there is a biological reality of being gay or straight too, and no sexual orientation compromises whether someone is male or female. And gender involves so much more than just whether you contribute sperm or eggs — it is the complex intersection of socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions, activities, and attributes that might be associated with one’s sex and how they interact with society.

Johnston believes he successfully erased his own sexual identity so now he works to erase others’. His simple-minded view of the world ignores wide swaths of diversity within sex, gender, and sexual orientation to the detriment of all. He may claim that Christians “reject the reduction of humanity,” but his narrow categories for who people can be does just that.

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Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally

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For Immediate Release January 30, 2013 Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally

 

January 30, 2013 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally  Promoting gender equality and advancing the status of all women and girls around the world remains one of the greatest unmet challenges of our time, and one that is vital to achieving our overall foreign policy objectives. Ensuring that women and girls, including those most marginalized, are able to participate fully in public life, are free from violence, and have equal access to education, economic opportunity, and health care increases broader economic prosperity, as well as political stability and security. During my Administration, the United States has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls a central element of our foreign policy, including by leading through example at home. Executive Order 13506 of March 11, 2009, established the White House Council on Women and Girls to coordinate Federal policy on issues, both domestic and international, that particularly impact the lives of women and girls. This commitment to promoting gender equality is also reflected in the National Security Strategy of the United States, the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development, and the 2010 U.S. Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. To elevate and integrate this strategic focus on the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women and girls around the world, executive departments and agencies (agencies) have issued policy and operational guidance. For example, in March 2012, the Secretary of State issued Policy Guidance on Promoting Gender Equality to Achieve our National Security and Foreign Policy Objectives, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator released Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. The Millennium Challenge Corporation issued Gender Integration Guidelines in March 2011 to ensure its existing gender policy is fully realized. My Administration has also developed a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, created pursuant to Executive Order 13595 of December 19, 2011, to strengthen conflict resolution and peace processes through the inclusion of women, and a Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, implemented pursuant to Executive Order 13623 of August 10, 2012, to combat gender-based violence around the world. Improving interagency coordination and information sharing, and strengthening agency capacity and accountability will help ensure the effective implementation of these and other Government efforts to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls globally. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to further strengthen the capacity of the Federal Government to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls worldwide, I hereby direct the following: Section 1. Strengthening Capacity and Coordination to Promote Gender Equality and Advance the Status of Women and Girls Internationally. (a) Enhancing U.S. global leadership on gender equality requires dedicated resources, personnel with appropriate expertise in advancing the status of women and girls worldwide, and commitment from senior leadership, as exemplified by the critical and historic role played by the Office of Global Women's Issues at the Department of State. To assure maximum coordination of efforts to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls, the Secretary of State (Secretary) shall designate a coordinator (Coordinator), who will normally also be appointed by the President as an Ambassador at Large (Ambassador at Large) subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The Ambassador at Large, who shall report directly to the Secretary of State, shall lead the Office of Global Women's Issues at the Department of State and provide advice and assistance on issues related to promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls internationally. (b) The Ambassador at Large shall, to the extent the Secretary may direct and consistent with applicable law, provide guidance and coordination with respect to global policies and programs for women and girls, and shall lead efforts to promote an international focus on gender equality more broadly, including through diplomatic initiatives with other countries and partnerships and enhanced coordination with international and nongovernmental organizations and the private sector. To this end, the Ambassador at Large shall also, to the extent the Secretary may direct, assist in: (i) implementing existing and developing new policies, strategies, and action plans for the promotion of gender equality and advancement of the status of women and girls internationally, and coordinating such actions with USAID and other agencies carrying out related international activities, as appropriate; and (ii) coordinating such initiatives with other countries and international organizations, as well as with nongovernmental organizations. (c) Recognizing the vital link between diplomacy and development, and the importance of gender equality as both a goal in itself and as a vital means to achieving the broader aims of U.S. development assistance, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at USAID shall provide guidance to the USAID Administrator in identifying, developing, and advancing key priorities for U.S. development assistance, coordinating, as appropriate, with other agencies. (d) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (or designee), in close collaboration with the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls (or designee) and the Ambassador at Large (or designee), shall chair an interagency working group to develop and coordinate Government-wide implementation of policies to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls internationally. The Working Group shall consist of senior representatives from the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security; the Intelligence Community, as determined by the Director of National Intelligence; the United States Agency for International Development; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the Peace Corps; the U.S. Mission to the United Nations; the Office of the United States Trade Representative; the Office of Management and Budget; the Office of the Vice President; the National Economic Council; and such other agencies and offices as the President may designate. Sec. 2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law or Executive Order to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) Upon designation as such by the Secretary, the Coordinator shall exercise the functions of the Ambassador at Large set forth in this memorandum. (d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (e) The Secretary of State is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. BARACK OBAMA

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Inside Ex-Gay Therapy: Homosexual Behavior Is A Fantasy Addiction To A Wounded Gender Identity

The late psychoanalyst Joyce McDougall believed homosexuality was a perversion.

Joseph Nicolosi, founder of ex-gay group NARTH and trainer of many other ex-gay therapists, is back with another brief article attempting to explain his perspective on the nature of homosexuality. Earlier this month, he explained that his patients can get over their supposed “addiction” to gay porn by simply making friends with more men. This week, he offers a convoluted description of homosexual behavior as an addiction to acting out a fantasy that compensates for a wounded gender identity:

Joyce McDougall has investigated the central role of “theatre and role-playing” in non-typical forms of sexual activity, including homosexuality. She is among the few contemporary psychoanalysts willing to study such forms of sexuality. McDougall understands “sexual theatre” as an acting-out of intrapsychic sexual forces in a symbolic attempt to resolve an identity conflict. In this regard she confirms the classic psychoanalytic understanding of “perverse” (as the term was used in previous years) sexual activity as being rooted in identity confusion. Noting the repetitive-compulsive nature of these role enactments, McDougall found that while her patients complain about the constrained structure of these “erotic theatre pieces,” they could not abstain from their enactments: “…and have to do it again and again and again” (McDougall, 2000, p.182).

What Nicolosi is trying to suggest is that gay people (and “the extreme case of transsexuals”) were somehow sent the wrong messages by their parents about how they are supposed to understand their own gender. This leads to a sense of inner conflict that they then address through compulsively trying to fulfill that “false” identity. Essentially, he thinks that gay people are just actors cast in the wrong role who don’t know how escape the performance because they believe they are trying to fix some kind of “past trauma” by acting it out.

Stepping back from that gobbledygook, it’s actually easy to make sense of how these perpetrators of fraud arrive at such nonsense. The obvious explanation for why there are gay people who don’t want to be gay is because they exist in a society that condemns homosexuality; they are taught from a young age that being gay is wrong and something to be ashamed of. Mainstream social science recognizes this reality, which is why the recommended professional practice is to affirm same-sex orientations to help resolve the inner conflict.

Ex-gay therapists take the opposite approach. They assume same-sex attractions are a defect by default. Thus, they need to invent other explanations for why people feel conflicted about having them. And like most aspects of ex-gay therapy, the easy solution is to blame the patient. Nicolosi’s gibberish is a means of doing just that. It’s a gay person’s fault he’s gay, it’s a gay person’s fault he feels bad about being gay, and only by accepting that shame and blame can that gay person attempt to find recovery. That’s the insidious message behind ex-gay therapy.

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