If being gay is an illness, as recent statements by the Democratic Party senator suggest, shouldn't we seek a cure? Some have made an effort to do so, and apparently homosexuality can be cured...
December 23, 2007 Davide Varì tells on the pages of Liberation his path of repair from homosexuality (”I told him: «I'm gay». They answered me: «It's a mild illness, we can treat it well...»): he pretends to be a homosexual in crisis and through Don Giacomo arrives at Tonino Cantelmi, psychiatrist and president of the’Italian Association of Psychologists And Catholic Psychiatrists (AIPPC).
THE GURU OF HEALERS – After having ascertained whether the patient had had complete intercourse and had been “also passive”, the first interview with Cantelmi It ends with the name of a psychologist and the indication to undergo a test under her supervision: «Let's say we are a group of Psychologists who try to help people in difficulty. Ours is a reparative therapy.». After having done the Minnesota test and having answered for the third time (after Don Giacomo and Tonino Cantelmi) the question "“active or passive?”, Varì returns for a second interview from Cantelmi. “He gives me a book: “Beyond homosexuality”" Of Joseph Nicolosi. Nicolosi, himself, the guru of healers, the creator of reparative therapy, the one who boasts 500 cases of «gay treaties»", or rather, take shelter. "«Read it – he tells me – You'll find situations similar to yours. People like you who have made it.»"Vari's article ignited Cantelmi's ire, who filed a lawsuit. But the story didn't end there.
THE THORNY QUESTION OF GAYS – “After your piece and the legal issues, you never responded publicly to Cantelmi: why, and why did you decide to do so now?“. “When I began my investigation, I didn't even know who Cantelmi was. A young priest (Don Giacomo, ed.) recommended him to me as the person in charge of reparative therapy. Once the investigation was finished, and the time had come to write and publish it, we wondered whether or not to include his name. It's not our habit to wage battles. ad personam, but in that case we realized that it was inevitable – especially for the public role of Cantelmi as president of the AIPPC.
After the publication of the investigation we decided not to respond to his provocations and we gave him the opportunity to reply by publishing it on Liberation with wide coverage. I myself asked him for an interview, but he preferred to decline. At this point, after months of insinuations about me, I decided to respond to his constant provocations. I owe it to the seriousness of my newspaper and to the thousands of homosexuals who have undergone this type of therapy. That said, this, I learned that Professor Cantelmi wrote a book about the whole affair. Perhaps his continuous attacks they are used for to advertise to his work. No problem, we'll help him. The book is called: Catholics and psyche. Subtitle: The controversial homosexual issue. It costs approximately eleven euros and is found in the Vatican libraries“.
HOMOSEXUALITY = SATANIC DISEASE – “What impressed you most about the time you pretended to be gay and were a patient of Cantelmi and his collaborators?“. “It's been a long time but the feeling of emotional claustrophobia I fear it will remain with me for a long time. Not only that: after my investigation I was bombarded by calls, from letters and from email of people who have undergone this therapy from other psychiatrists and psychologists. Some children have even undergoneto exorcisms by priests who consider the’homosexuality as a manifestation of the devil.
This world must be wiped out! There are hundreds of well-intentioned parents who experience their children's homosexuality as if they were suffering from cancer or a serious mental disability. This idea is fueled by many quarters of our society.“.
DEFAMATION? – “What's happening on the legal level (of your complaint)?“. “On the legal level there is a complaint whose accusations make no reference to reparative therapy but refer to some of my expressions, absolutely secondary. Cantelmi would feel defamed by the fact that his office was called a seaport («The office of Professor Tonino Cantelmi – President of the Institute of Interpersonal Cognitive Therapy, it is written on the label – is a seaport in whichand the worries and anxieties of various humanity pass through and arrive: children, adolescents, mothers, grandmothers"). Strange, isn't it?
It's strange that Cantelmi speaks of the complaint as if it were a final conviction. It's strange that a professor of his stature doesn't know the difference Between conviction and complaint. There's a saying among journalists: you're not a good journalist if you don't have at least three complaints. I currently have one, Cantelmi's, which I claim with great pride. Sure, those who conduct investigations expose themselves, but are those who don't expose themselves truly good journalists?.
THEODEM SUPPORT – “But it is true that the PD senator Paola Binetti did he publicly defend Cantelmi's practice?“. “Of course. I don't know if Senator Binetti knows Cantelmi but her statement, the day after my investigation, is unequivocal:
«Cantelmi does an excellent job. Until the 1980s, homosexuality was classified as a pathology in the main scientific texts worldwide, then lobby of homosexuals she managed to get it deleted. But the clinical evidence prove the opposite." In short, clear, right? The senator says that Cantelmi is right to heal gays because they are sick people. If you were Cantelmi, you would really sue Binetti; objectively, her accusation is much more explicit and direct than my investigation.“.
A HARMFUL PRACTICE – “THE'’Order of Psychologists did he ever intervene in the matter?“. “The Order of Psychologists has officially distanced itself from reparative therapy, warning anyone who uses it («In the exercise of the profession, the psychologist respects the dignity, the right to privacy, self-determination and autonomy of those who avail themselves of his services; he respects their opinions and beliefs, refraining from imposing his system of values; he does not discriminate on the basis of religion, ethnicity, nationality, social background, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, disability. It is therefore evident that the psychologist cannot lend himself to any '‘reparative therapy‘'of a person's sexual orientation'). I was heard by the Commission of the Order of Psychologists of Rome, which cannot intervene on Professor Cantelmi because he is a psychiatrist. In any case, I would like to reiterate that I never wanted to engage in a personal battle against Professor Cantelmi, but only to denounce a useless and harmful practice. As far as I'm concerned, I consider it a victory for the
investigative journalism the public declaration of many psychologists who have definitively delegitimized reparative therapy“. “Also Leonardo Ancona, a very famous Catholic psychiatrist and psychoanalyst contested Cantelmi on the pages of Republic ('Catholics and Psyche. Controversies. Psychiatrist Leonardo Ancona speaks', la Repubblica R2, 14 January 2008): I tend to contest Cantelmi's qualification.
Why describe psychological or psychiatric workers as Catholic? I find it redundant: a good person should not describe himself as Catholic, otherwise non-Catholic people implicitlyand they would be for evil… I have never understood the usefulness or even the convenience of a grouping like that which Cantelmi presides over. I could have done it, but it never occurred to me.or thinking of doing so…”.
ONE OF THEM – “Aside from the honor of the first complaint, what positive things have you learned from this investigation?“. “I must say that this experience gave me the opportunity to learn about the gay world. Before the investigation, I was aagreement in principle to the battle for civil rights. Aseptic. Now I know the people behind that battle and I feel like one of them in every way. On the other hand, this is a battle that affects each of us because it is capable of overturning our world, our intellectual laziness. Because, as he said Don Milani: it concerns me is the opposite of I don't care“.
