Divergence, your post reminds me of the old joke:

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Just the one, but the light bulb has to want to change!

It should be obvious to everyone that you can't change people's sexual orientation against their will. And indeed it would be abusive to try to. But that shouldn't preclude helping people to become more attracted to people of the opposite sex if that's what they want.

Well Victoria is known for its draconian laws, well and beyond even the rest of Australia.
This is what matters, rather than the benign and private question whether people ought to be heterosexual or homosexual.

It is disturbing that people are legally prevented from seeking and providing each other with guidance and assistance in whatever area they like. What they consensually do between them on the couch is nobody else's business.

The point of therapy is to help people understand what they really want and why, and banning therapy for those that are confused is political opportunism of the worst kind.

Similarly, while I support efforts to enhance tolerance, I consider those encouraging tweens to "come out" as wantonly reckless. The reality is that young teens are desperate to conform, and that about 95% of their peers are going to be straight. Even for those that are absolutely sure of their sexuality coming out is traumatic, and for those who are not so sure, it could be even worse.

If it is true that your sexuality is determined at birth then why is it that so many homosexual teenagers have to go through such torment trying to ‘discover’ their sexuality?

How do we know it is ‘determined’ at birth? Where is the evidence for this and if there is some then why not look for that evidence before puberty and tell a young person what their sexuality is? This would eliminate all the angst and doubt, reduce the suicides that are attributed to this struggle and generally make the whole thing much easier to manage.

Why do we know that sexuality is determined at birth? Why did we need to go looking for such evidence? We do not need to look for evidence that heterosexuality is determined at birth. What evidence should we use to determine homosexuality? Should we use the empirical evidence or should we use the fact that some people find those of the same-sex attractive? If the latter is sufficient then why talk of the former or vice-versa?

Why is it that we only hear about the struggle of homosexual young people as if heterosexual people just sail through their teen years without any problems? If it is about acceptance in society then that is not a sexual issue. Teens struggle for acceptance in lots of areas – it is all part of growing up. There is no good reason why homosexual kids should have any more problems than fat kids or shy kids or pimply kids. If homosexuality is no more unnatural than those other things that growing people have to deal with then why is so much fuss made about having to ‘deal’ with homosexuality?

I think the author is grasping at straws and or false positives?

As for science unable to alter one's natural attraction/desire?

I'm not sure that's so, but may be possible using tiny electrodes to burn out the inappropriately firing control centres for the gender, and given the tiny current needed to achieve the task, nothing at all like shock or aversion therapy, which is rather like using a sledge hammer to drive a tack?

Studies have shown that the brain is plastic!

If you selectively burn out a tiny part of the basal ganglia. Other parts (spares) will take over and assume the duties of former control centres?

And there seems to be cases, where this has occurred due to accidental damage?

Alpha male to gay hairdresser?

Some folks can get just a little pedantic, and are reminiscent of the huge body of professional medical opinion that simply pooh poohed the idea that ulcers were caused by bacteria.

And only due to quite pathetic ignorance and a refusal to look at a growing body of evidence?

I think that specialist neurosurgeons, especially those trained in Scotland, where this procedure is just not new; may at some future date be able to offer a minor surgical procedure in a day clinic, for folk who are struggling with the religious certainty of others, whose opinion they value?

And should be completely volutary, except for convicted pedoephiles, who simply have no control whatsoever over their particular aberration?

If a single minor procedure can progressively adjust their desires to that of normal for their gender and consequently save little children from perverted and uncontrollable desires, why ever not? Given it's just not the future victims that are rescued?

And no, it's nothing like a lobotomy, or thoroughly disgraced shock therapy, given in either case the cerebral cortex is the target. That isn't the area controlling your basic NATURAL desires!

As for psychiatrists? Anyone who thinks they need a psychiatrist, ought to have their head examined!
Rhrosty.

For interest sake, the journal "New Science" states :
"No studies have found specific "gay genes" that reliably make someone gay. But some genes may make being gay likelier. For instance, a 2014 study in the journal Psychological Medicine showed that a gene on the X chromosome (one of the sex chromosomes) called Xq28 and a gene on chromosome 8 seem to be found in higher prevalence in men who are gay. That study, involving more than 400 pairs of gay brothers, followed the 1993 report by geneticist Dean Hamer suggesting the existence of a "gay gene." Other research has found that being gay or lesbian tends to run in families. It's also more likely for two identical twins, who share all of their genes, to both be gay than it is for two fraternal twins, who share just half of their genes, to both be homosexual. Those studies also suggest that genes seemed to have a greater influence on the sexual orientation of male versus female identical twins."

I seems that scientists believe there is a 'gay gene' but just haven't fully identified it yet.
I believe it is only a matter of time.