Family Research Council spokesman Peter Sprigg defended sexual orientation conversion therapy yesterday by insisting that homosexuality is the result of “developmental issues in childhood and adolescence” such as “sexual abuse” and “poor bonding with a same-sex parent or peers.”

Sprigg told his FRC colleague Craig James, who was guest hosting the group’s “Washington Watch” radio program, that “while same-sex attractions are not a sin, they are a temptation to sin and same-sex sexual conduct, homosexual conduct, is the sin.” Sprigg, upset with President Obama’s recent statement condemning the pseudo-scientific therapy, which has been discredited by major medical and social worker groups, insisted that gay people can “overcome their sinful temptations.”

He dismissed “this idea that these therapists are forcing change on people who are perfectly happy to be gay” as “just a fantasy,” claiming that the therapy benefits even reluctant clients since it helps them “with underlying issues, with their depression, with their relationship issues.”

“And what they sometimes find is if the underlying psychological problems are addressed, the same-sex attractions actually begin to go away,” he said.

James agreed, complaining that Americans are “being forced to accept” bans on “conversion therapy” when in reality “many” have “chosen a heterosexual lifestyle.”