Free Republic

As a teenager, Nate Oyloe was attracted to other boys. Hoping to change his sexual attractions, he sought therapy.  Today he is happily married to a woman.  Most people would be glad that Nate has achieved the life he wanted.  But not everyone is.  Lawmakers in his home state of Minnesota recently passed a law banning the kind of therapy Nate received to help him overcome his unwanted same-sex attraction. To date, twenty states and many cities have made it illegal to offer therapy for minors unless it affirms the LGBT agenda -- and several more are considering similar...

Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz has said he believes so-called "gay conversion therapy" can work, triggering widespread condemnation. "I think it's possible," Mr Peretz, an Orthodox rabbi, told Israel's Channel 12 TV channel. He added that he had "a very deep familiarity with the issue". PM Benjamin Netanyahu said such remarks were "unacceptable". Other politicians and gay groups also voiced criticism. "Gay conversion therapy" has been widely discredited around the world. The practice attempts to change an individual's sexual orientation through psychological, spiritual and sometimes physical means. What did Mr Peretz say?"I think that it is possible to convert [someone's...

I am perennially asked whether I do or do not “believe” in autism. I suspect that on most occasions, it’s a test. Nonetheless, it’s a fair question that usually takes this form: “I know you don’t believe in ADHD; but do you believe in autism?” To be clear, it would be absurd of me to deny that there are children – plenty of them, relatively speaking – who frequently exhibit behaviors associated with the bogus diagnosis of ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder). Those kids are problematic, for sure. But no one has ever proven that they “have” something. Childhood behavior disorders...

Name: Kate Perelman Age: 33 From: Silver Spring, Maryland Job: Federal contractor and social media specialist People think depression is just feeling sad, but that’s not it at all. Depression makes you feel nothing. And in late 2018, after years of battling the disease, feeling nothing replaced my love for running. So my brand new pair of silver and blue Asics sat in the corner of my apartment, laced for a run that I thought would never come. My couch became my safe harbor. It’s where I made several impulsive internet purchases one day in late November, which included, for...

Most Tuesdays, I run early in the morning with a woman named Meredith. For such close friends, we’re quite different. Meredith is a voluble social worker who draws energy from crowds. I’m an introverted editor who works from home. Meredith runs her best in large races and loves training with big groups. I’ve set PRs in solo time trials and tend to bail when a run’s head count gets above five. Meredith is a worrier, beset by regrets and anticipated outcomes, who has sought treatment for anxiety. I have dysthymia, or chronic low-grade depression. We like to joke that Meredith...

Christine Blasey Ford was believable and sincere when she told her story of being assaulted by a young Brett Kavanaugh. So was Judge Kavanaugh when he categorically denied her claims—and none of her purported eyewitnesses have any memory of the gathering she describes. They can’t both be telling the truth, but it is possible neither is deliberately lying. Consider that according to Ms. Ford, she first told the story during therapy. The therapist’s role is different from that of a detective, journalist or lawyer. When a patient tells me a story, I don’t test it to see if it’s objectively...

The lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford said Wednesday that they will only turn over documents requested by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to the FBI in an interview with the bureau — though an interview has still not yet been scheduled and time is running short. In a letter to the Iowa Republican, Ford’s lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks say that they are “prepared” to give the documents “to the FBI when she interviewed.” “We have not yet heard from the FBI about scheduling an interview with her,” they wrote.

Judge Kavanaugh’s accuser came forward, she says, because she feels it’s her “civic responsibility.” “These are all the ills that I was trying to avoid,” Ford told the Washington Post. “Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and my terror about retaliation.” Judge Kavanaugh has since issued two statements denying the allegations.

Facebook LEBANON, Ohio - A nonprofit in Lebanon is pulling out of its program for inmates at the Warren Correctional Institution. The program allowed some inmates to interact with dogs. But one canine, a German shepherd named Evie, was recently found dead in the prison. Katherine Hartung had been fostering Evie through Joseph's Legacy. Evie had a tough life, "a broken hip, having surgery. Living on the streets... She was a part of our family," said Hartung. --snip-- She says the dog was a Houdini of sorts, jumping over fences and even unlocking doors. So she handed her over to...

Make no mistake about it. The news from California is very big and very positive. As reported in the LA Times, "California legislator shelves bill to ban paid 'gay conversion therapy' for adults."In a somewhat unprecedented move in the history of gay activism, Assemblyman Evan Low, himself gay, has withdrawn AB2943 from a final vote.The bill, which would have made it illegal for people of any age to receive professional help for unwanted same-sex attractions, was almost certain to pass the Assembly, having been approved by the Senate 25-11. But to Low's credit, he took the time to meet with faith...

A new study is challenging the American Psychological Association's contention that therapies for unwanted same-sex attraction are harmful. The study, "Effects of Therapy on Religious Men Who Have Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction," which was first published July 23 in The Linacre Quarterly, finds that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), often derisively called "conversion therapy," improves the mental health of participants. Researchers surveyed 125 male residents of the United States. The men, mostly Christian, were at various stages of experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction. Some were sexually active while others were abstaining from sex. Eighty-nine percent of respondents were Christians from a variety...

Therapists in the U.S. say they have seen a rise in politically-related anxiety under the Trump presidency. Though a condition has not been officially named, therapists and patients have referred to it as “Trump Anxiety Disorder,” according to a report from Canada’s CBC News. Elisabeth LaMotte, the founder of the D.C. Counseling and Psychotherapy Center in Washington, D.C., told CBC that there is a “collective anxiety” among her patients related to President Trump’s rhetoric and policies. "There is a fear of the world ending," she said. "It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling." She said that Trump critics who she treats...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 13, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – In an amazing show of force, 30 former gay and transgendered people took to a podium outside the California statehouse to oppose a proposed law banning therapy and printed resources helping those who seek freedom from LGBTQ+ identities and lifestyles. Known as AB2943, the California Assembly Bill would essentially criminalize most if not all faith-based efforts to counsel members of the LGBTQ community. “California legislators have publicly claimed that change is impossible and those people simply don’t exist,” said a press release in advance of the event. “While the state celebrates those who...

Eight former gays and lesbians who are residents of California have released a video resisting pending state legislation banning therapy for individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction, arguing their state government considers them frauds.The video, which was published Saturday by Church United on the video sharing site Vimeo, features eight men and women who once lived and identified as gay or lesbian, some of whom are now in heterosexual marriages and have children."I'm a fraud," the participants say in the video at the beginning.That is how the state of California regards them with their proposed law, AB-2943, that would outlaw goods and...

Three-quarters of California’s state assembly supported a bill that has striking implications for American citizens’ first freedoms, in that state and nationally. It is ostensibly a ban on gay and transgender “conversion therapy,” but the bill’s vague and sweeping text could affect essentially every institution of every religion that affirms sexual complementarity.We’re talking churches, schools, religious charities, summer camps — every forum that involves a financial transaction could be banned from allowing any discussion of basic doctrines of sexuality that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, among others, have held for thousands of years. We’re talking core doctrines of religions adhered...

“Am I Gay?” Today, every family in America faces this question one way or another. Even the best families. Maybe you have a child, or sibling, or close friend who feels attracted to people of the same sex. Maybe a niece or nephew or grandchild wonders about their sexuality. Maybe they are asking YOU about these questions. The book “Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay” challenges the idea that feelings of same sex attraction necessarily mean a person is “gay.” The author, Daniel Mattson, tells his story of experiencing same sex attraction, acting on it, and ultimately, allowing Jesus to...

A Missouri teenager has been charged with child porn possession after his father found pictures of a nude toddler on his cellphone. According to KTVI, Paul Spensberger found the images after confiscating his son Andrew Spensberger's, cellphone. He had taken the device away as punishment. Advertisement He reported the images to police on Dec. 30. The O'Fallon Missouri Police Department says the images were of a 2-year-old girl, a relative of Paul Spensberger's girlfriend. Andrew Spensberger reportedly took the pictures while the child was asleep on the floor of his bedroom. Andrew told investigators he was planning to sell the...

Airports across the country increasingly are turning to therapy dogs to help relieve the stress of flustered fliers. But confusion and even conflict can result from the growing packs of pooches, after dogs used by security agents and emotional support animals traveling with passengers are factored in.

Sean Hannity offered to foot the therapy bill for MSNBC host Joe Scarborough after suggesting he needs “help” for his “rage and contempt” towards President Trump. The Fox News host played a clip of Thursday’s “Morning Joe” episode, where a panel led by Scarborough and his co-host and fiancee Mika Brzezinski suggested that Trump was not physically or mentally fit enough to serve as president after slurring his words in a speech recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's official capital.

Briony Whitehouse was a 19-year-old intern in 2003 when she boarded an elevator in the Russell Senate Office Building with a Republican senator who, she said, groped her until the doors reopened. She never reported the incident to her bosses for fear of jeopardizing her career. But she recently tweeted about her experience on Twitter as part of the #MeToo campaign, a social-media phenomenon that has aired thousands of complaints about sexual harassment. Some of the accounts have called out by name Hollywood moguls, media stars, even a former U.S. president. Other women such as Whitehouse have stopped short of...