Osmond Brother Defends Antigay Reparative Therapy

Alan Osmond, the eldest of the singing group the Osmonds, says being gay is not genetic and that "reparative" therapy is successful, and reveals Chuck Norris was enlisted to butch up the group's dancing.

Osmond, who sang with his younger brothers in the 1960s and '70s, posted a very misguided and ill-informed article on his website The Family last July that is just now getting media attention after being reported on today by Will Koehler at Back2Stonewall. In it Osmond writes, "It is important to understand that homosexuality is not innate and unchangeable. Research has not proved that homosexuality is genetic. Even more important, many researchers whose studies have been used to support a biological model for homosexuality have determined that their work has been misinterpreted. What is clear is that homosexuality results from an interaction of social, biological, and psychological factors. These factors may include temperament, personality traits, sexual abuse, familial factors, and treatment by one's peers. Developmental factors aside, can individuals diminish homosexual attraction and make changes in their lives? Yes."

Last October, Osmond posted a video on YouTube in which he grimaces while discussing dancing with his brothers and says "they had us doing effeminate moves." Osmond says the brothers enlisted their friend Chuck Norris, then a karate instructor, to "toughen up" their dancing. He says Norris made them very "boyish, which is what we wanted."

Though his family is synonymous with the Mormon faith, Osmond makes an effort to distinguish his thoughts from the church's. In the mission statement for the site, launched in 1994, Osmond writes, "Though we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this site reflects our words and is not an official site of our Church."

Osmond, whose sister Marie is the mother of a lesbian daughter, Jessica, currently serves on the high council of the Orem Suncrest Stake in Orem, Utah, for the Latter-day Saints Church.

Watch a portion of the interview with Osmond below.