Free Republic

After initially saying he was undecided on the topic, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is against gay conversion therapy. Christie faced criticism when he said earlier in the week he wasn’t sure if he would sign legislation banning the practice on minors. “Governor Christie does not believe in conversion therapy,” spokesman Kevin Roberts said in a statement to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. “There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth.” Gay conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy,...

Gay Therapy Gay conversion therapy, as it is known, supposedly helps gay people overcome same-sex attractions. But mainstream psychologists say the therapy is ineffective, unethical and often harmful, exacerbating anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental disorder. In 2013, two cases involving the therapy to convert gay people into heterosexuals hit the courts, with one seeking to sue counselors who offer the therapy and the other seeking to defend them. Here are five things you need to know about the therapy and the current lawsuits.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Thomas Schmierer thought he was just a normal marriage and family therapist “flying under the radar” in Riverside, Calif. But Schmierer’s work with clients who seek him out for therapy for their unwanted same-sex attraction landed him in the crosshairs of homosexual-rights groups. The Human Rights Campaign, which lobbies for same-sex “marriage” and homosexual causes, wrote a letter to Psychology Today in February demanding that the magazine remove Schmierer from its professional referral service. The magazine complied, and it no longer accepts advertising from Schmierer, who says the listing is essential for his private practice, Vatican Values...

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill barring a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality in minors, the measure's sponsor said on Sunday, making California the first state to ban a practice many say is psychologically damaging. The move marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say so-called conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. The bill's sponsor, state Senator Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, said in a statement that Brown had signed the bill. An announcement from the governor's office was expected on...

White House officials pushed to ban conversion therapy for LGBT youths, pointing to new findings that debunk the therapy. A ban on the conversion therapy for minors was introduced in Congress on Thursday, following a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "The science rebukes this so-called practice and so do we," White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett told reporters on a call Thursday. The report from the administration includes a consensus from an expert panel held by the American Psychological Association earlier this summer.The panel found that variations in "sexual orientation and gender identity are normal,...

The Texas Republican Party would endorse psychological treatment that seeks to turn gay people straight under a new platform partly aimed at rebuking laws in California and New Jersey that ban so-called “reparative therapy” on minors. A push to include the new anti-gay language survived a key vote late Thursday in Fort Worth at the Texas Republican Convention where, across the street, tea party star U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz fired up attendees at a rally to defend marriage as between a man and a woman. Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP will “recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of...

In 1998 a 15-year-old Oregon boy named Kipland “Kip” Kinkel shot and killed his parents, then brought his guns to school, where he killed two people and wounded 25 more before he was disarmed. Oregon does not generally give mandatory life sentences without parole, but Judge Jack Mattison came as close as he could, sentencing Kinkel to 111 years and eight months in prison without parole, effectively ensuring that the spree killer would die behind bars. Now, in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision that found mandatory life sentences for minors to be unconstitutional, Kinkel’s lawyers have asked...

I saw the crawler go across the screen on a news broadcast recently, and it said, with an incredulous tone, that "praying away the gay" was still being done. From the context, it was clear the news editor did not think much of it. Recently, California banned reparative or "conversion" therapy for homosexuality. Signing the bill into law, Gov. Jerry Brown called the therapy "quackery." Lawsuits have been filed. Neither a counselor nor a lawyer, I can come at this issue only as a straight citizen concerned about freedom. It is not difficult to imagine the following scenarios. You're a...

California Weighs Bill To Ban Gay Teen 'Conversion' Therapy California may ban a controversial therapy designed to convert teens from gay to straight. By James Eng A California lawmaker says he’s optimistic about the prospects of a bill that would make it illegal for therapists in the state to try to “convert” gay youths. Sen. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, says so-called “reparative” or “ex-gay” therapy wrongfully treats homosexuality as a disease and can be dangerous to minors. If his bill becomes law, California would become the first state to ban therapy aimed at turning gay and lesbian teens...

Gay row hits Sanremo festival: Group threatens to disrupt event over 'gay convert' song (ANSA)Rome, Dec. 23-Italian gay rights group Arcigay on Tuesday threatened to disrupt Italy's biggest musical event of the year, the Sanremo song festival, if a song apparently about 'converting' gays to heterosexuality is not pulled... Mancuso said Povia was ''not exactly new'' to taking public stances against homosexuality, adding that he was famous for a magazine interview in which he declared that ''people aren't gay, they become gay on the basis of who they spend time with''... The Arcigay president said Povia had gone on to...

Brazilian Gay Groups Launch Multiple Lawsuits to Silence Christian Opposition Flurry of Lawsuits is Attempt to Prevent Criticism of Homosexual Movement By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman BRAZIL, August 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)--In recent weeks, homosexual groups in Brazil have attempted to silence their opponents with a flurry of lawsuits that take advantage of Brazil's pro-gay political climate. On August 5th, the Brazilian Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgender People (ABGLT) filed a criminal complaint against several websites for exposing the fact that the leader of Brazil's homosexual movement, Luiz Mott, is a promoter of pedophilia and pederasty (see LifeSiteNews' recent coverage...

Have you noticed, in the multitude of hostile reactions to the Vatican's Instruction, that what has provoked the most violent outrage is not the Church's teaching that homosexual tendencies are objectively disordered, but her conviction that they are capable of being overcome? Gays don't like the judgment that homo-erotic propensities are in need of healing, but it's the notion that healing is possible that brings out the rage, the flecks of spittle in the corners of the mouth. The secular dogma that insists homosexual orientation is innate is, for obvious reasons, a comforting one for many people, but to advance...

Ex-homosexuals and "reparative therapy" advocates recently gathered in Marina del Rey, California, for the 13th annual conference of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH. Reparative or reorientation therapy is designed to help men and women in conflict with their homosexuality attain the goal of reaching their heterosexual potential. NARTH comprises more than 1,000 therapists, sociologists, and psychoanalysts who believe homosexuality is not inborn and can be changed. However, the organization's November 11-13 gathering in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles County) attracted an angry group of protesters, many of whom argued that reparative therapy is dangerous...

A 2003 study on whether homosexuals can change their sexual orientation has become a central issue in the Montgomery County sex-education debate. The study conducted by psychiatrist Robert L. Spitzer of Columbia University found that some homosexuals "can and do change." Interviewing 200 former homosexuals, Dr. Spitzer conducted the study in response to a request by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2000 to determine the risks and benefits of "reparative therapy." Reparative therapy is psychiatric or religious counseling that former homosexuals, or "ex-gays," say has helped them overcome "unwanted same-sex attraction." "There is evidence that change in sexual orientation...