Romer Commission Report  
 

Steering Committee  
 
 

Appendix A:  "Justice and Respect: Our position and direction"  
 

Appendix B:  "The Bible and Dialogue"  
 

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) has a publication, Why Ask Why?: Addressing the Research on Homosexuality. Jeffrey Satinover gave a talk about the research on sexual orientation at the June 1998 Exodus conference.  If the PFLAG publication is uploaded to the PFLAG site and Satinover’s address is uploaded to the Exodus site, then Bridges-Across will be in a position to provide a "compare and contrast" of the two publications. There is far more agreement about the research results, their meanings and limitations, than one would guess based on statements that are made (by both sides) when the scientific questions of nature/nurture and fluidity/immutability become combined with the political issues and the theological debate.  

The political allies of Exodus have successfully promoted the message that change is possible. However Exodus, with all the ensuing publicity, continues to fail in stopping the political allies, the media, and the opponents of reorientation from misrepresenting what is meant by the word "change."    Obviously there will still be strong disagreement about whether change is desirable, but the shouting match about change could be reduced about 90% if there was clarity about what is meant by change. 

New Direction for Life article: "Getting Out: Some things you should know about the journey out of homosexuality" 

"It is not unusual for the process of change to take 5-10 years. … As with any deep personal issues which a person may want to change, there are no guaranteed results. No one can promise you that in so-and-so many years you will experience a complete change of sexual orientation. Many people do experience a complete change of sexual orientation. Where before they were only attracted to the same sex, they are now only attracted to the opposite sex. Other people experience significant progress toward that goal. They may now be fully attracted to the opposite sex and ready for marriage, with very little same-sex attraction remaining. For others, there may be great change in their attraction toward the opposite sex without any change in their attraction to the same sex. Others still may become able to make healthy choices in terms of their behaviour yet find that their attractions and desires remain the same."

"By change we mean change from same-gender behaviour, attraction, fantasy, and identity toward opposite-gender behaviour, attraction, fantasy and identity (how a person views himself or herself). This kind of change does not happen by magic or wishful thinking. It is a difficult process and often takes a number of years.  Some people who were exclusively attracted to the same gender have experience a complete change and become exclusively heterosexual. Some people have experienced a partial change, and have become attracted to the opposite sex while still having some attraction to the same sex. Others find that change does not seem to be happening for them." 

Bisexual Resource Center: Using the Klein Scale to teach about sexual orientation: 

"New concepts and new research offer opportunities to change the way people understand and conceptualize sexual orientation. This article explains how we use these ideas in teaching about sexual minorities.  

"Whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, many of the attendees report thinking differently about sexual orientation after these presentations. They say they are able to ask questions and discuss sexual orientation more easily when they use the common vocabulary and the model shown here. Frequently, this is the first time that people with several different identities have been able to find their commonalties and discuss their experiences and differences with understanding and acceptance."

"The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid is shown in the table below. For each person it sets out the seven component variables of sexual orientation, listed as A through G down the left side. The three columns indicate three different points at which sexual orientation is assessed: the person’s past, their present, and their ideal. The person then receives a rating from 1 to 7 for each of the 21 resulting combinations, one rating for each empty box in the chart below. The meanings of the ratings are indicated just below the grid itself. 

URLs 
What do you mean by change?    (New Direction site) 
www.execulink.com/~newdirec/ygeneral.htm#whatischange 
Getting Out: Some things you should know about the journey out of homosexuality. www.execulink.com/newdirec/fs_primr.htm  

Using the Klein Scale to Teach about Sexual Orientation (Bisexual Resource Site) 
www.biresource.org/klein_graph.html 
The Klein Grid  (Bisexual Option Site) 
www.bisexual.org/BiOptBook.html#kleingrid 

The Bridges-Across Glossary: Trying not to push buttons: suggestions for talking across the divide  www.bridges-across.org/ba/glossary.htm 
B-A Sexual Orientation Page   www.bridges-across.org/ba/sexual_orientation.htm 
B-A Gender Identity Page   www.bridges-across.org/ba/gid.htm.