The Possibility and Legitimacy of Sexual Orientation Change —Scientific and Ethical Explorations

The Possibility and Legitimacy of Sexual Orientation Change: Scientific and Ethical Explorations

Kai-man KWAN

Many people, including some professionals, deny that sexual orientation can be changed. They even advocate the prohibition of counseling services for those who want to change their sexual orientation voluntarily. In this paper, I review recent researches and studies, and argue that change of sexual orientation is possible. In fact, researchers have debunked the myth that sexual orientation is fixed and immutable. There are good quality studies which show that sexual orientation can be changed to a significant extent, and by and large the efforts of sexual orientation change would not cause harm to the clients. Finally, I argue that sexual orientation change is a legitimate goal, and we should uphold the autonomy of the clients themselves in this area.