March 18, 2014

The following PFOX press release “US Supreme Court asked to strike Calif. ban on sexual orientation change efforts” is reprinted in its entirety: LOS ANGELES – Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) and Freedom X have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding California law SB 1172 that bans licensed therapists from providing sexual orientation change counseling to children with unwanted same-sex attractions.

In Pickup v. Brown, the 9th Circuit ruled that psychologist-patient conversations about how a patient can change his or her sexual orientation is “conduct” and not protected private speech, thereby deeming certain words and conversations in a mental health counseling context to be unlawful.

“The First Amendment protects free speech for all citizens, including licensed therapists and counselors (more…)

March 14, 2014

The following excerpts are from the article “Gay ‘conversion therapy’ bill withdrawn as advocates pursue regulatory oversight” on the Baltimore Sun website: “Gay rights advocates and the state legislator who introduced legislation this session to ban so-called “gay conversion therapy” in Maryland have withdrawn the bill, saying they will instead pursue regulatory oversight of the controversial practice.” …

“In a joint statement Friday, Cardin and Equality Maryland officials said that in research for the bill, and in talking to “several organizations with expertise in regulatory protections for patients,” they concluded that patients who feel they have been harmed by “conversion” or “reparative” therapy already have avenues to complain to state health occupation boards.” …

March 13, 2014

The following excerpt is from the article “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Gay Conversion’ Therapy for Minors” by Christopher Doyle on the Christian Post website: “… In a senate hearing in February, a representative of the Washington Department of Health, which has jurisdiction over professional licensing and fields approximately 10,000 complaints a year, said that the current staff has 11 years of institutional knowledge and no one was aware of a single complaint alleging that a licensed therapist had attempted to coerce someone into not being gay.” …

“In my clinical experience, I have worked with roughly 50-75 adolescents (mostly young men) who have been distressed by homosexual desires that did not align with their values and life goals. In the vast majority of cases, the youth who entered therapy did not identify themselves as gay, but rather, believed they were inherently heterosexual with unwanted homosexual desires. For these clients, underlying issues for the development of same-sex attractions are identified and resolved over the course of treatment, with outcomes typically consisting of a reduction of homosexual feelings, along a continuum, and an increase in heterosexual feelings.” (more…)

March 10, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “Personal thoughts on the Journey into Manhood weekend” on the North Star website: … “My discussion here is confined to these three important points: (a) what are some reasons I should go, or what things can I expect to learn or gain from the weekend, (b) what red flags are there that could mean I’m not ready, or this won’t be a good experience for me?, or that I don’t need to go/won’t benefit from it, and (c) what expectations should I have for the weekend and–even more importantly–the time following it? In other words, will the weekend really change me, and how? (more…)

March 4, 2014

The following comment by Dr. Robert Gagnon was posted on the PFOX website: “Reparative therapy is not a ‘name it, claim it, pray the gay away’ form of therapy. Quite the contrary. Nor does it presume that one will never again struggle with sexual temptation. Nor does it contend that becoming heterosexual is ‘a primary goal of Christianity.’ It aims are more modest: To help persons with same-sex attractions to deal with emotional wounds that contributed to the intensity of such attractions. In this it is no different from numerous other valid therapies that seek to help Christians who struggle with depression, anger, insecurity, and various other intense sinful desires.”

March 3, 2014

Following are excerpts of Core Issues Trust response to the “Conversion Therapy Consensus Statement” produced by the UK Council for Psychotherapy: “1. … the document’s main argument is that there is “no good evidence this [type of therapy] works and we believe it has the potential to cause harm.” It implies that this approach is based on religious interpretation rather than science. We note the reference to “no good evidence”. In fact the best study that we have did find good evidence of change in people seeking to reduce or eliminate same-sex attractions (see below). We note too the statement that “we believe it has the potential to cause harm”. This statement is premised on the view that sexual orientation is fixed and unchangeable. They may indeed believe this, but where is the science? Their own flawed claim rebounds against them: there is no good evidence that talking therapies cause harm.” (more…)

February 28, 2014

The following excerpts are from the statement “Bad Bills Die” written by Joseph Backholm for the Family Policy Institute: “The Senate Health Care committee failed to vote on two separate bills with significant implications for conscience rights, religious freedom, and parental rights in their last committee meeting before today’s deadline. This signals the likely death for an Abortion Insurance Mandate (HB 2148) as well as a bill to ban Sexual Orientation Change Therapy (HB 2451).” … (more…)

February 28, 2014

The following Voice of the Voiceless statement “Gay Activists lose two states in a row as Washington Senate says ‘No’ to SB 2451” is reprinted in its entirety: Voice of the Voiceless (VoV) just got news that Washington State Senate Bill 2451, which would have banned Sexual Orientation Change Effort (SOCE) therapy for minors, was killed in committee today, making Washington the second state, after Virginia, to say “No” to gay activists who are seeking to take away the rights of clients to pursue therapy for unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA). This victory was achieved, in part, due to some great testimony from VoV Board Members Robin Goodspeed and David Pickup. (more…)

February 21, 2014

The following excerpts are from the article “Opponents of therapy for unwanted same-sex attractions have no scientific backing” on the Christian Post website: “A prominent US psychologist says professional bodies and parts of the UK media are attempting to stop mental health professionals offering help to people with unwanted same-sex attraction, based on ideological grounds and without any scientific evidence to support their case.” …

“Dr. Sutton concludes from his analysis that: “In the absence of clear, reliable and valid scientific evidence, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that professional organisations like the American Psychological Association, the UK Association of Christian Counsellors, various state and national government legislatures, and even media such as The Guardian, are working to prevent mental health professionals from offering educational guidance, counselling and therapeutic care for persons with unwanted same-sex attraction and behaviour based on ideological and not scientific or professional grounds.” (more…)

February 21, 2015

The following excerpts are from the article “Opponents of therapy for unwanted same-sex attractions have no scientific backing” on the Christian Post website: … “Dr. Mike Davidson, Director of Core Issues Trust, says that despite several official requests for scientific evidence that supports the professional bodies’ opposition to therapies for unwanted same-sex attraction, neither has provided any evidence.” …

“Dr. Davidson says that moving forward, it is necessary that national and world medical and mental health associations deal in a professionally responsible manner with the issue of therapeutic choice concerning unwanted same-sex attraction and do so with scientific integrity rather than taking an ideological standpoint. He says persistent warnings from the professional bodies and supported by media organisations, that therapies have the potential to do harm, are misleading and do a disservice to the general public. (more…)