I appreciate Eugene’s reply, but I wonder if we’re just left with a question of definitions. In the past, when I have heard the claim that “gays and lesbians are trying to convert others to homosexuality,” I did not understand it to mean the narrow claim that Eugene is making. “Conversion” was depicted as something sinister and unusual, generally associated with the homophobic stereotype of gays as sexual predators. Those who have responded by calling such claims a “myth” were not taking the position directly implicated by the point Eugene makes; rather, I understood them to be arguing that the homophobic stereotypes were a “myth.” If I’m right, Eugene’s position is that the homophobic stereotypes are in fact a myth, but that it is possible to come up with an alternative meaning of the claim that so-defined might not be a myth. Whether that is true, it seems like a question of definitions more than substantive disagreement.
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