California may ban gay teen 'conversion' therapy

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California may ban gay teen 'conversion' therapy

By HANNAH DREIER, Associated Press - 1 hour ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A first-of-its-kind ban on a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay people straight is speeding through the California statehouse.

Supporters say the legislation, which passed its final Senate committee Tuesday, is necessary because such treatments are ineffective and harmful.

"This therapy can be dangerous," said the bill's author Sen. Ted Lieu. The Torrance Democrat added the treatments can "cause extreme depression and guilt" that sometimes leads to suicide.

Conservative religious groups emphatically reject that view of sexual orientation therapy and say the ban would interfere with parents' rights to seek appropriate psychological care for their children.

The bill would prohibit so-called reparative therapy for minors and obligate adults to sign a release form that states that the counseling is ineffectual and possibly dangerous.

Representatives of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality on Tuesday called the bill a piece of social engineering masquerading as a solution to a clinical problem.

David Pickup, who is registered with the California Board of Psychology, said a ban would prevent people from recovering from trauma of sexual abuse.

"Any therapist worth his salt knows that homosexual feelings commonly occur in victims as a result of abuses," he said. "I ought to know because I was one of those boys."

The debate comes as gay rights issues take the spotlight around the nation.

Over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden said he is "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex couples getting the same rights as heterosexual couples.

In North Carolina on Tuesday, voters moved to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. And in Colorado, a civil union bill faced a looming deadline in the state Legislature.

Conversion therapy penetrated the national consciousness last year when former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was questioned over whether her husband's Christian counseling business provided services that attempted to change gays and lesbians.

[edit: truncated by moderator for copyright reasons]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 473df2345f


good news every one!

Thank you for sharing that. I think it's about time that California came to that decision. People should be allowed to be the way that they were born, and they shouldn't have to go through such therapies. Let's hope that California follows through with their promise.

When I was in high school, my parents found and sent me to a "therapist" who told them they could "fix" my being a homosexual. I'm glad steps are being put into place to save future kids from going through that experience.

moved from Random Discussion to LGBT Discussion.

also, i cannot believe that such therapy still exists.

yeah..... that's not a great reason to put it in the wrong forum when we have a section devoted to it already.

i know, isn't it awesome???! !!

im sure ive saw it in the past, but i rarely use wp. my thought process is where do i put this random article i want to share, well why random of course.

fair enough. if we keep talking this thread will look superpopular and will lure some responses bwahahaha

the bigger the post count, the more people will be drawn to it. and they can see how cool cali is atm, even thou they failed at gay marriage and legalizing pot. they can still win at this!

GO CALI!! !! ! we are becoming more conservative in Canada in some ways too.

so whats your thoughts on lgbt issues

i think that there shouldn't be any issues left to fight for, meaning that they should have all the same rights as the rest of us (marriage etc).

my province stopped funding transgender surgery, which makes me sad.

i dont know about state funded surgery, its basically plastic surgery, dress like and act like the opposite gender all you like, and try to change your voice with practice all you like, but plastic surgery shouldn't be funded by the government, one can argue they would feel better in a females/male body, id feel better with a 10 inch dick and a ass you can bounce a quarter off of, but i wouldn't expect the government to pay for it. and my best friend from child hood is tranny, he tells me he would consider some surgery but not for his dick.