a normal variant of human sexuality, and that any ability to diagnose people with a disorder related to their sexual orientation, even if "distress" is the presenting problem, incorrectly implies that in some cases it might be reasonable to help a person attempt to develop heterosexual desires. As part of its recommendation that ego-dystonic sexual orientation and the other diagnostic categories related to sexual orientation be deleted from the ICD-11, the WHO working group tasked with assessing these categories noted that one of its reasons for this recommendation was the potential for negative consequences if they were retained, naming that use of these categories could lead to "mistakes or delays in accurate diagnosis and treatment" for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, and that "retention of these categories may also be construed as supporting ineffective and unethical treatment that aims to encourage people with a same-sex orientation to adopt a heterosexual orientation or heterosexual behaviour." In some countries where homosexuality is criminalized, the medical legacy has been drawn on to help justify harsh penalties for people who engage in same-sex sexual activities. In Uganda, the Member of Parliament who introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, which called for the death penalty for "serial offenders," quoted psychological research that lacked empirical grounding as part of his justification for the bill. A member of the board of the ex-gay organization Exodus International (which later repudiated its aims, apologized for the harm caused, and folded) attended a Ugandan seminar to show support for the bill. Relationship to religion The terms egodystonic and egosyntonic are used within the Roman Catholic Church in that, according to gay-rights advocate Bernard Lynch, priests who are gay but egodystonic, that is, "hate their homosexuality", are acceptable, whereas egosyntonic candidates for the priesthood, those who accept their own sexuality, cannot be considered. See also Conversion therapy Homosexuality and psychology Homosexuality in the DSM Internalized homophobia Gay affirmative psychotherapy Gender dysphoria Minority stress Sexual orientation change efforts References External links Sexual disorders Sexual orientation and psychology Sexual orientation change efforts Types of mental disorders Obsolete medical terms