Gays vs. Quacks

California is back in the gay saddle.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that “will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) minors from ‘reparative’ therapies administered by mental health professionals aimed at altering sexual orientation or gender identities and expressions.”

Obviously, this is a huge victory for gay activists, the gay community and plain old decent people, too.

But because it’s America, people are livid. And because I’m rational, I don’t understand.

The bill aims to protect LGBT youth.

These are minors who are brought in by their parents who speak for the child, saying they have “unnatural tendencies.”

Then, the therapist will ask the child if they feel unnatural.

The child will say yes.

Conversion therapists claim their practice is completely verified. 

Because they get consent from the children, they claim it is completely within the bounds of ethics, reason and the law.

But of course they’re getting consent from children, because children will give consent to almost anything unless they see an immediate cause for pain or sadness.

Parents say their child is “problematically” gay.

This child now believes and says they are “problematically” gay.

It’s essentially brainwashing.

Parents could tell their child it has purple skin, and while the child probably knows it does not have purple skin because of the source and willingness associated with childhood, little Robbie will confidently go tell his friends he has purple skin.

Conversion therapy has never been proven to produce positive results.

Even champions of the field are coming out and saying nothing’s certain.

Robert Spitzer, author of a 2001 study that stated that gay people could be cured of their homosexuality, even admitted the negative effects, saying, “In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques (of my study) are largely correct. The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.”

Most people who have gone through conversion therapy only admit to having lower self-esteem and suicidal tendencies afterward.

In fact, the American Psychiatrist Association has actually directly made the claim that conversion therapy leads to both of the above.

If these therapists really do want to continue their work, I say they forget this bill about minors.

Maybe they could still have a business with adults.

But most questioning people never really look back after they actually
experience sexuality.

Therapists have no right to be telling children what they do or don’t want. Before a certain point, children can’t really say anything for certain in the first place.

They cannot keep preying on LGBT youth.

Children aren’t having sexual epiphanies after normal experimentation at age 7.

Brown himself said conversion therapy belongs “to the dustbin of quackery,” and I hope any decent mind can agree with this.

­— sjostrow@indiana.edu