"
During this time at the top of APA, Cummings said, the headshrinkers' group adopted the
Leona Tyler Principle, which mandated scientific proof for the organization’s public positions. That principle was “paramount,” he said.
Cummings said the APA “abided by the Leona Tyler principle. All of the sudden things began to change as things became more political than scientific” and the principle “disappeared.” “The principle was never withdrawn,” [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BPgq1c4TYi4"]
he said[/ame], yet it is nowhere to be found in the “annals” of the APA and “was absolutely forgotten” by the mid 1990s. Politics rule science at APA, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BPgq1c4TYi4"]
he said[/ame], with its members “cherrypicking results” to fit their leftist political ideas. [ame="http://search.apa.org/search?limited=true§ion=pi&query=%22leona%20tyler%20principle%22"]
A search[/ame] of the terms "leona tyler" at the APA website does not return results.
He said the “gay rights movement sort of captured the APA.”
It’s very interesting the way it happened. The APA bent over backwards to be understanding and open … it left an open door for people to rush in and use it for other than scientific purposes, for political purposes. ... It became part of the movement for ... diversity. You want to bring all underrepresented peoples into psychology. And this is a very lofty idea on the surface of it. ... but when it becomes a bias. ... If I had to choose now, I would see a need to form an organization that would recruit straight white males, which are underrepresented today in the APA.
The change occurred because the same group of leftist officers rotate leadership positions in the APA.
“For years, about 200 to 250 people were running the AP,” [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BPgq1c4TYi4"]
he said[/ame], “and they were a very select, inbred group.”
They were ultraliberal. And anything that wasn’t ultraliberal was anathema, so that things like questioning some of the statements about gay and lesbian rights was not being accepted. It became a civil rights issue rather than a scientific issue.
Cummings stressed that he favors “gay rights” and “gay marriage,” but he says an individual must decide what to do with his or her orientation, not the APA or homosexual activists. He says people have a right to disagree about “gay rights” and “gay marriage,” but that among the APA leadership “
that’s not allowed. You only hear one side of the issue.”
Former APA President Says Homosexuals Can Change