March 20, 2014

The following excerpt is from the article “Maryland and Minnesota … Reject Change Therapy Bills” on the VoV website: “While [Maryland Delegate Jon] Cardin claimed that the reason the bill was withdrawn was due to the existing regulatory oversight protections that are already in place to protect youth from “harmful conversion therapy,” the real reason was because of the bill’s lack of support within his own party. In reality, the unconstitutional notion of taking away the rights of individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions did not sit well with Maryland legislators, and with Cardin engaged in the race for Attorney General, he was not about to take a chance that this bill would fail. The timing of the press conference (Friday) was also indicative that Cardin wanted very little attention on the withdraw of this bill.”

March 21, 2014

The following excerpts are from the article “California accused of discriminating against Christians” on the World Net Daily website: “When California lawmakers passed a law preventing licensed therapists from discussing with their clients how to eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, their intent was to discriminate against the Judeo-Christian belief that homosexuality is sinful, charges a new brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.” …

“‘By omitting the APA Report’s qualified definition of ‘acceptance and support’ to include the patient’s ‘values, beliefs and needs,’ SB 1172 shows a legislative intent to prevent the patient’s values and beliefs from guiding the psycho-therapeutic treatment.’” Read the rest of this entry →

March 19, 2014

The following excerpts are from the article “Nobody is ‘born that way’ gay historians say” written by David Benkof and published on The Daily Caller website: … “Are gays indeed born that way? The question has immense political, social, and cultural repercussions. For example, some of the debate over applying the Constitution’s equal protection clause to gays and lesbians focuses on whether gayness is an inborn characteristic. And the major argument gays and lesbians have made for religious affirmation has been, ‘God made me this way.’”

“Thus, if it’s proven sexual orientations are not innate, much of the scaffolding upon which today’s LGBT movement has been built would begin to crumble. Read the rest of this entry →

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 Read the rest of this entry →

March 15, 2014

The Winter 2014 PFOX newsletter has the first part of a testimony by Steve and Janice Graham. “When Steve and Janice’s son confessed his struggles with homosexuality and internet pornography, they rallied around him with love, and found him the help he was seeking.” Regina Griggs of PFOX hopes the story of these two parents and their son will “offer you a ray of hope and the strength to persevere through your challenges.”

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.” Read the rest of this entry →

March 11, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin” on the Homosexuals Anonymous website: … “We are supposed to love the sinner, but hate sin (i.e. what he/she does or fantasizes about). At first glance this sounds perfectly right. And yet I’ve come to really dislike that statement and I ask my brothers and sisters to refrain from using such commonplaces, especially when it comes to people with same-sex attractions. And this for the following reasons:” …

“3. … Throughout my whole “gay” time (which was many, many years!) I had the feeling that this is not only how I am, but most of all who I am. This is my identity – Read the rest of this entry →

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? Read the rest of this entry →

March 7, 2014

The following excerpts are from the article “Judge not satisfied Boris Johnson told full story about ban on ex-gay bus advert” on the Christian Concern website: “A High Court Judge has ordered the Mayor of London to provide full, unedited copies of internal documents ‘in order to get to the bottom’ of his decision to ban a bus advertisement by a Christian charity that helps people place their Christian identity over their same sex attraction.”

“Mrs Justice Lang who presided at the original appeal against the ban, today said, ‘I am still not satisfied that the full story is being told.’ Her comments follow the revelation of emails between the Mayor’s office and Transport for London (TfL) which were not seen by the Judge at the first hearing. The emails were only revealed following the case after Core Issues Trust (CIT), issued a Freedom of Information request.” Read the rest of this entry →