Gay Conversion Therapy Still Allowed in 48 States

[stromboli]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/03/gay-conversion-therapy_n_5548982.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

The Supreme Court this week declined to hear a case challenging California's ban on "therapies" meant to turn lesbian, gay and bisexual youth straight, clearing the way for the state to enforce the law. Amid losses for women's health care coverage in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which could have unexpected ramifications for LGBT Americans, it's one small victory gay rights advocates can take away from the court's choices this term.

New Jersey is the only other state with a ban in place on gay conversion therapy. Other states have introduced bills banning the practice, but none have passed yet.

California state Sen. Ted Lieu (D), the California law's sponsor, said of the court's decision on Monday, "The Supreme Court has cemented shut any possible opening to allow further psychological child abuse in California. The Court’s refusal to accept the appeal of extreme ideological therapists who practice the quackery of gay conversion therapy is a victory for child welfare, science and basic humane principles."

Lieu's bill, which banned licensed therapists from engaging in efforts to change the sexual orientation of minors, was signed in 2012 by California Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The law applies only to professionals licensed by the state, and does not ban religious groups from attempting to change someone's sexual orientation.

A pair of lawsuits brought by anti-gay groups and self-proclaimed ex-gays challenged the ban, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the law was constitutional. In its ruling, the court cited a lack of evidence that reparative "therapies" work, and the fact that they have been disavowed by most major medical groups.

The 9th Circuit held that a ban on a certain type of counseling is not an unconstitutional restriction of freedom of speech, as the plaintiffs claimed, and that the state had a right to ban certain types of medical treatment for minors even if parents sought the treatment for their children.

The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case means that California's ban, which had been on hold, can now be implemented. New Jersey's ban was similarly challenged and upheld by a federal court. An appeals court will hear arguments this July against the New Jersey law.

One online survey of 417 people who had undergone an attempt to change their sexual orientation found that for many, the treatments began at a young age and left lasting scars. More than 90 percent of the survey respondents said they experienced at least some harm from the attempts, and 16 percent said it "devastated their lives." Those who have been through ex-gay counseling tell of disturbing treatments and of self-hatred they felt was caused by the experience.

Though more research needs to be done to fully understand the effects of conversion "therapies" on LGB youth, studies have shown that they experience depression and thoughts of suicide at higher rates than do their straight peers. There is also evidence that rejection by their families and communities is linked with even higher rates of depression, suicide attempts and other negative health outcomes.

It amazes me that we are still so backward in our thinking that this isn't so obviously stupid to be even thought about. Scary.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Conversion 'therapists' will have to advertise: Now with 100% fewer successful conversions!

[Hydra009]

Conversion 'therapists' will have to advertise: Now with 100% fewer successful conversions!

It's not about successfully changing orientation.  It's about selling the public on the idea that orientation can be changed.  Otherwise, all this would seem monstrous.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

It's not about successfully changing orientation.  It's about selling the public on the idea that orientation can be changed.  Otherwise, all this would seem monstrous.

It is monstrous. It's like selling people on the idea of war being a good idea when clearly it isn't.

[stromboli]

The bad news is that mindset isn't going to change soon. As long as one person can claim success in gay conversion therapy, the myth will persist. Fortunately SCOTUS has ultimately killed any challenge to overturning gay therapy, so at least there is good news at the end of the tunnel.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You can almost hear the song.. Amazing grace.....was gay..now straight...  Sing it if you know the words.. Follow the bouncing testicles..

[Solitary]

I knew Amazing Grace, she could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.   

[stromboli]

I knew Amazing Grace, she could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.   

You knew Grace? Damn.

[Nam]

Florida currently has legislation trying to ban it. Probably won't go through, though since we still got Repubes running things. Hopefully this election that'll change.

-Nam

[Munch]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/03/gay-conversion-therapy_n_5548982.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


It amazes me that we are still so backward in our thinking that this isn't so obviously stupid to be even thought about. Scary.

We're not backwards in thinking, its them who are.

Its like over here in the uk, money goes into paying for people to have breast enlargement or butt enlargement surgery, while nurses remain under paid and stuggle to find a carrier in nursing.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

I tend to stray from this topic because it really, really pisses me off. Luckily when I came out my family was accepting, but being that I live in the south I've heard several horror stories (none about these therapies luckily, but one guy I talked to had to endure having his mother anoint him with oil and being forced to pray for 2 hours). I honestly don't think I would mind much if the parents who forced their kids into these "therapies" were murdered after their kids snapped from the torment. Not that I'd wish it upon them, and I wouldn't want any kid to snap, but I don't think the news would phase me much. It's abuse, plain and simple. That being said, I'll present some of the arguments I've seen in favor of this abhorrent practice:

Parents' Choice/Rights:

FUCK PARENTS' CHOICE/RIGHTS, in this situation anyways. Parents are given a lot of choice when it comes to the upbringing of their children, and they should have a lot of choice. That being said, they shouldn't have unlimited choice. I think most people would agree that one shouldn't do something that only causes harm to a child. While more research needs to be done, and is being done, I don't see how forcing a sexuality on a child (something they like to accuse homosexuals of doing, lol) would be anything other than harmful. At the very best it would be ineffective and a waste of time (Christians like to point to "ex-gays", I like to point to "ex-ex-gays, which they like to skip around).

A person's sexuality is a personal issue with very complex intricacies, and it shouldn't be up to anyone else to decide.

On the flip-side: what if a parent wanted their kid to be gay? Should that therapy be allowed?

Christian/Religious Values:

FUCK THAT SHIT AS WELL! No, I'm not envisioning some tyranny where Christians are dragged into the street and hung for speaking out against "homofascism" or whatever the fuck they call it these days, but your religious/cultural/traditional values do not trump the well-being of your child. Shit, taking your child to a church where they are told time and time again they are an abomination is enough, that already causes suicides. Hauling them off to some camp or some quack is just adding shit to the shit pudding. I also don't think Jehovah's Witnesses should be allowed to deny their kids blood transfusions, nor should "faith healing" be allowed on children when it's a serious disease. When your stupid is killing your own children, your religious values can go to hell and rot.

So yeah, go ahead and take your kids to church. If they truly become brainwashed they'll seek the therapy as an adult, which is fine and good because they're adults. Otherwise they'll just fucking hate you for making their lives a living hell, as they should. I really wish I could personally reach out to every gay kid/teen living in a uberreligous family out there and tell them to just hold on for a few years, move out, and then cut contact.

What if the kid is that way because they were molested?:

This one is actually a complex issue. The trauma from being molested can indeed manifest in sexual confusion, and can cause something like a kid who would otherwise be heterosexual to have homosexual thoughts. That being said, the type of faith-based therapy usually touted is still bullshit in these cases. Yes, the issue should be addressed, but not by some pastor with a degree from Liberty University. Rather it needs to be addressed by a professional therapist, and should probably be initially addressed in the same manner other molestation/PTSD cases. That being said, such events are tragic and later on in therapy should be handled on a case by case basis, as no blanket approach will work for everyone.

In the meantime those who try to act like all homosexuals are predators trying to recruit by molesting kids can go choke on burning tar.

Homosexuality is a choice:

Yeah, just fuck whoever says this with a rusty sword. Pretty much anything else they say can be dismissed out of hand. While they're talking feel free to check your Facebook, as nothing they say is likely to matter.

Genetic, environmental, or a combination of both, one thing should be clear to anyone who has gone through puberty: sexuality isn't a fucking choice. One can't just wake up one day and decide they're not gay anymore. They have to brainwash themselves into it. Now, some "ex-gays" (many of whom become ex-ex-gays) and religious folks will jump on that and say "a-ha! So it is a choice!", but what they don't get is that if you have to brainwash someone into something it's not a fucking choice.

If sexuality were a choice it would be an easy fucking choice: During puberty I would have chose to be heterosexual. I think that every gay guy or lesbian who's lived in a homophobic society would've chosen to be heterosexual if given that choice during puberty, but we were never given that fucking choice.

tl;dr - fuck these people.

[stromboli]

This is a movie everyone should see. It is currently showing on Showtime. It should be on broadcast television.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/11/kidnapped-for-christ-review-come-because-you-re-gay-stay-for-jesus.html

Kidnapped for Christ is a heart-wrenching story, both anger-inducing and redemptive, about ordinary teens abducted from home and sent to the Caribbean for pricey religious fixes.
The summer before David’s senior year of high school, two strangers showed up at his Colorado home, and as his parents declared their love for him, the two men wrapped a belt around the 17-year-old’s waist and shoved him into the backseat of a car. They drove David to an airport, dragged him through security, down the terminal, and boarded a flight to Miami.

Once there, the honors student learned where he was being taken, that his parents had signed him up for an undetermined length of stay at Escuela Caribe, a Dominican Republic-based Christian behavioral modification school for “troubled” teenagers started in 1971 by Gordon Blossom, a former “juvenile delinquent” who became a pastor. The reason David’s parents sent their son to the Caribbean for pricey offshore come-to-Jesus treatment was that he’d recently told them that he was gay.

David’s experience at Escuela Caribe, along with the experiences of Beth and Tai, two other American teenagers abducted from their homes and taken to the DR for religious fixes, is the focus of Kidnapped for Christ, an award-winning documentary directed by Kate Logan and executive-produced by Tom DeSanto, Lance Bass, and Mike Manning, that premiered Thursday on Showtime (available On Demand until September 3, 2014). Funded by online campaigns at Kickstarter  and IndieGogo, Kidnapped for Christ made its film festival debut in January at Park City, Utah’s Slamdance Film Festival and took home the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

I watched part of it. It made my stomach turn.

[Nam]

This is a movie everyone should see. It is currently showing on Showtime. It should be on broadcast television.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/11/kidnapped-for-christ-review-come-because-you-re-gay-stay-for-jesus.html

I watched part of it. It made my stomach turn.

I DVR'd it for 5pm today. It may be awhile before I watch it, it's one of those types that I need to be in a mood to watch.

-Nam

[Nam]

I watched it. I lost the first 30 minutes because of a storm during recording. So...it's a prison. What school has coded locks on students bedrooms? And, when they turn 18 they aren't permitted to leave. The staff should be arrested for kidnapping and keeping people against their will; the parents should be arrested for permitting it etc.,

It's a prison. A tropical prison.

-Nam