The Spitzer Study and the Finnish Parliament

ABSTRACT

In Finland, legal recognition of same-gender partnerships was first proposed in 1974 in the charter of the Finnish Organization for Sexual Equality. As the civil rights struggle against more blatant forms of discrimination (such as criminalization of homosexual acts, censorship laws limiting the dissemination of factual information about homosexuality) advanced, the demands for legal recognition for same-gender couples became stronger. In 1993, the first bill was introduced into the Finnish Parliament proposing gay and lesbian civil unions. Although it was initially defeated, support for the bill continued to grow over the next decade. By 2001 it had the support of Finland's ruling parties and its President as well. Opponents of the bill argued that same-sex civil unions threatened the basic fabric of Finnish society. In additional support of their arguments, they offered discredited psychoanalytic theories which pathologized homosexuality. Using the American political model of conservative, antihomosexual groups like NARTH, they cited claims of people being able to change their homosexuality as a reason to oppose the proposed bill. Robert L. Spitzer's then unpublished study was drawn into the parliamentary and public debate.

Opponents of civil unions distorted the meaning of the Spitzer study, implying that its author had changed his mind about his historic role in deleting homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual. In response to requests from Finnish gay and lesbian civil rights groups, Spitzer wrote a letter to the Finnish parliament regarding the “misuse” of his study by “those who are against anti-discrimination laws and civil unions for gays and lesbians.” Spitzer said that being able to change is “probably quite rare, even for highly motivated homosexuals” and that it would be a serious mistake to conclude from his study that any highly motivated homosexual can change his or her sexual orientation or that his study shows that homosexuality is a “choice.” Spitzer's letter was read in the plenary session of the Finnish Parliament and was published in the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat on September 26, 2001. On September 28, 2001 Finland's Parliament voted 99 to 84 to pass the same-sex partnership bill.

KEYWORDS:

• Civil unions
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
• Finnish Parliament
• gay marriage
• homosexuality
• lesbians
• NARTH
• reparative therapy
• sexual conversion therapy
• SETA
• Robert L. Spitzer