Growing Up Straight (1968 book)

Growing Up Straight: What Every Thoughtful Parent Should Know About Homosexuality

Cover of the first edition
Authors	Peter and Barbara Wyden
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Homosexuality, parenting
Published	1968 (Stein and Day)
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages	265
ISBN	978-0812810721

Growing Up Straight: What Every Thoughtful Parent Should Know About Homosexuality is a 1968 guide for parents, by Peter and Barbara Wyden, on how to prevent their children from becoming homosexual.^[1]

Summary

The Wydens offer advice for parents on how to prevent their children from becoming homosexual.^[1] A popularization of psychoanalyst Irving Bieber's theories about homosexuality, their book contains an introduction by Stanley Yolles, then director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which concludes, "with broadened parental understanding and more scientific research, hopefully the chances that anyone's child will become a victim of homosexuality will eventually decrease."^[2]

Reception

Reparative therapist Joseph Nicolosi writes that Growing Up Straight has been seen as a classic.^[1] Neuroscientist Simon LeVay has noted the work is an example of psychoanalytic ideas influencing general attitudes toward homosexuality.^[3]

References

Footnotes

1. Nicolosi 2002. p. 14.
2. LeVay 1996. pp. 79-80.
3. LeVay 1996. p. 79.

Bibliography

Books

• LeVay, Simon (1992). Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-12199-9.
• Nicolosi, Joseph; Nicolosi, Linda Ames (2002). A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books. ISBN 0-8308-2379-4.