Press Release
Spitzer Issues Apology for Study Supporting REPARATIVE THERAPY - 6/15/12 - Robert Spitzer, M.D. - has now RENOUNCED the findings that “REPARATIVE THERAPY” could help gay people change their sexual orientation
Spitzer's Apology Changes 'Ex-Gay' Debate – 5/21/12 – NPR -- …CONAN: Do you think homosexuality is a choice? SPITZER: Is a choice? No, for sure, that's the one thing I have no doubt about, it's no choice. CONAN: And in a distinguished career, this has been, I guess, an unfortunate last chapter. SPITZER: Well, it's unfortunate in one sense, but I feel very relieved and very grateful to the many people who have told me or written to the New York Times that I Did The Right Thing, and I think I did. Photo
"THERAPIES" TO CHANGE SEXUAL ORIENTATION
LACK MEDICAL JUSTIFICATION
AND
THREATEN HEALTH
Washington, D.C., 17 May 2012 (PAHO/WHO) — Services that purport to "cure" people with non-heterosexual sexual orientation lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a position statement launched on 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia. The statement calls on governments, academic institutions, professional associations and the media to expose these practices and to promote respect for diversity.
Twenty two years ago, on May 17, the World Health Assembly removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders when it approved a new version of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
"Since homosexuality is not a disorder or a disease, it does not require a cure. There is no medical indication for changing sexual orientation," said PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago. Practices known as "reparative therapy" or "conversion therapy" represent "a serious threat to the health and well-being—even the lives—of affected people."
The PAHO statement notes that there is a professional consensus that homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality and cannot be regarded as a pathological condition. However, several United Nations bodies have confirmed the existence of "therapists" and "clinics" that promote treatment intended to change the sexual orientation of non-heterosexual people.
The document notes that no rigorous scientific studies demonstrate any efficacy of efforts to change sexual orientation. However, there are many testimonies about the severe harm to mental and physical health that such "services" can cause. Repression of sexual orientation has been associated with feelings of guilt and shame, depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
As an aggravating factor, there have been a growing number of reports about degrading treatments, and physical and sexual harassment under the guise of such "therapies," which are often provided illicitly. In some cases, adolescents have been subjected to such interventions involuntarily and even deprived of their liberty, sometimes kept in isolation for several months.
"These practices are unjustifiable and should be denounced and subject to sanctions and penalties under national legislation," said Dr. Roses. "These supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by international and regional agreements."
To address the problem, PAHO makes a series of recommendations for governments, academic institutions, professional associations, the media, and civil society, including:
· “Conversion” or “reparative” therapies and the clinics offering them should be denounced and subject to adequate sanctions.
· Public institutions responsible for training health professionals should include courses on human sexuality and sexual health in their curricula, with a focus on respect for diversity and the elimination of attitudes of pathologization, rejection, and hate toward non-heterosexual persons.
· Professional associations should disseminate documents and resolutions by national and international institutions and agencies that call for the de-psychopathologization of sexual diversity and the prevention of interventions aimed at changing sexual orientation.
· In the media, homophobia in any of its manifestations and expressed by any person should be exposed as a public health problem and a threat to human dignity and human rights.
· Civil society organizations can develop mechanisms of civil vigilance to detect violations of the human rights of non-heterosexual persons and report them to the relevant authorities. They can also help to identify and report people and institutions involved in the administration of “reparative” or “conversion therapies.”
PAHO, which celebrates its 110th anniversary this year, is the oldest public health organization in the world. It works with its member countries to improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO.
Read more:
World Health Organization
“CURES” FOR AN ILLNESS THAT DOES NOT EXIST
Purported therapies aimed at changing sexual orientation lack medical justification and are ethically unacceptable Photo
"REPARATIVE THERAPY" or "CONVERSION THERAPY"
Reported violations of personal integrity and other human rights
As an aggravating factor, “conversion therapies” have to be considered threats to the right to personal autonomy and to personal integrity. There are several testimonies from adolescents who have been subject to “reparative” interventions against their will, many times at their families’ initiative. In some cases, the victims were interned and deprived of their liberty, sometimes to the extent of being kept in isolation during several months.6 The testimonies provide accounts of degrading treatment, extreme humiliation, physical violence, aversive conditioning through electric shock or emetic substances, and even sexual harassment and attempts of “reparative rape,” especially in the case of lesbian women. Such interventions violate the dignity and human rights of the affected persons, independently of the fact that their “therapeutic” effect is nil or even counterproductive. In these cases, the right to health has not been protected as demanded by the regional and international obligations established through the Protocol of San Salvador and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
Read complete position statement - May 17, 2012
Spitzer Issues Apology for Study Supporting REPARATIVE THERAPY - 6/15/12 - Robert Spitzer, M.D. - has now RENOUNCED the findings that “REPARATIVE THERAPY” could help gay people change their sexual orientation
Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing GAY ‘CURE’ – 5/18/12
Spitzer's Apology Changes 'Ex-Gay' Debate – 5/21/12 – NPR -- …CONAN: Do you think homosexuality is a choice? SPITZER: Is a choice? No, for sure, that's the one thing I have no doubt about, it's no choice. CONAN: And in a distinguished career, this has been, I guess, an unfortunate last chapter. SPITZER: Well, it's unfortunate in one sense, but I feel very relieved and very grateful to the many people who have told me or written to the New York Times that I Did The Right Thing, and I think I did. Photo
TWO exclusive VIDEO: Dr. Robert Spitzer retracts his infamous "ex-gay" study – May 30, 2012
GAY CONVERSION THERAPY DEVASTATED MY FAMILY - CHANA WILSON – 6/25/12 - REPARATIVE THERAPY, which attempts to make gay people straight, is not just futile -- It often causes serious harm, including increased depression, self-hatred, and even suicide. It can devastate not just a gay individual, but entire families…
Gay Baby Boomers Waiting for More Apologies - Jeffrey Sharlach – 6/01/12
Facing the Truth About Reparative Therapy and America's War on Gay Teens - Tomas Mournian – 5/22/12 …The reparative therapy described in "Hiding Out" and my later related reportage chronicled torture practices that were coercive and, in many ways, the same as what was happening in the Iraqi torture sites. Reparative therapy or torture? Humiliation, isolation, extreme physical positions, and forced confessions were as common at Teen Help (a now-defunct umbrella organization that referred parents to reparative-therapy facilities that has been exposed on WWASPS Survivors Network) as at Abu Ghraib…
California Senate Votes To Ban Gay ‘Conversion’ Therapy – 5/30/12
The Lies and Dangers of Reparative Therapy – HRC - May 2012
Many right-wing religious groups promote the concept that an individual can change his or her sexual orientation, either through prayer or other religious efforts, or through so-called "reparative" or "conversion" therapy. The limited research on such efforts has disproven their efficacy, and also has indicated that they can be affirmatively harmful. Beyond studies focused solely on reparative therapy, broader research clearly demonstrates the significant harm that societal prejudice and family rejection has on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, particularly youth. Furthermore, there is significant anecdotal evidence of harm to LGBT people resulting from attempts to change their sexual orientation. Based on this body of evidence, every major medical and mental health organization in the United States has issued a statement condemning the use of reparative therapy…
Research on the Impacts of Reparative Therapy, Harms Caused by
Societal Prejudice
Organizational Positions on Reparative Therapy
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
American Counseling Association
American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
American Psychological Association
American School Counselor Association
National Association of Social Workers
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO): Regional Office of the World Health Organization
Catholic Archbishop of Seattle Hunthausen issues a letter against homosexual discrimination - July 1, 1977 …publicly defends the rights of gays and lesbians.
1985 - Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle – His emphasis is on renewal, Vatican II and the “guidance of the Holy Spirit” – He is Attacked by Ratzinger/Benedict XVI – who ARBITRARILY DISAGREES with Vatican II
Ratzinger’s letter to Hunthausen – 9/30/1985
…Ratzinger’s letter is a vision of the Church which he expresses explicitly and repeatedly…a demonstration of Ratzinger’s personal possession of expert power. According to this vision, there is a clear, consistent and true teaching of the Church which can be known and passed on (the authentic tradition is singular). The duty of the hierarchy in relationship to this teaching is to defend it and pass it on untainted with error.
(Contrast this with Hunthausen’s emphasis on renewal, Vatican II and the “guidance of the Holy Spirit.”) This is where Hunthausen has fallen short. As Ratzinger sees it, confusion and a lack of clarity about where the Church stands have been allowed to settle into many aspects of archdiocesan pastoral practice…This, Ratzinger proposes, is the business at hand, the set of issues which Hunthausen is to address in his leadership of the archdiocese and in his exchanges with the Holy See (Rome controls the agenda). Photo
Notably, an issue that Ratzinger does not mention is Hunthausen’s controversial stand on nuclear weapons…
Despite Ratzinger’s invocation of the Second Vatican Council, he acknowledges here no earthly forms of authority arising outside of the Church. On the contrary, extraecclesial sources of knowledge are depicted here as posing a threat to the proper catechesis and pastoral service of the faithful: “The Church should be understood as more than a merely social entity, governed chiefly by psychological, sociological and political processes,” Ratzinger writes. “An anthropology which is dominated by the tentative conclusions of the human sciences could well undermine many pastoral initiatives, however well intentioned.” Juxtaposed with the remarks about the limits of the “human sciences” is a catalogue of references to teachings of the magisterium, which offer the kind of sure teaching absent in the extraecclesial disciplines. Thus, if Hunthausen is unclear himself about the way forward, he is invited to have reference to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1976 Declaration on Sexual Ethics, the documents of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, the revised Code of Canon Law, the Congregation’s 1975 Instruction, Inter Insigniores, etc. (These documents signal the Holy See’s possession of superior legal and expert power.) The technical nature of this presentation highlights the fact that this is a communication between one bishop and another. It also underscores Ratzinger’s view that this is an intraecclesial matter that Hunthausen is expected to address with intraecclesial resources...
Read more:
Chapter 6 - Narrative and Analysis Of The Rome-Hunthausen Case: The Early Stage (1978-September 1986)
Conflict in the Catholic Hierarchy: a study of coping strategies in the Hunthausen affair, with preferential attention to discursive strategies 2003 - by Timothy Peter Schilling
Full PDF
Reference to Second Vatican Council - In 1962, Pope John XXIII, named Man of the Year in 1963 by Time magazine, opened the Second Vatican Council with the intention of internally renewing the global Roman Catholic church. When asked about his motivation for convening the council, Pope John XXIII moved to the window and threw open the sash — his rationale being, "I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in." The Council published 16 documents and produced many visible changes in Catholic life and doctrine. Most basically, it began to open up Catholic thought and doctrine, leading to a less hierarchical governance, increased roles for the laity, Masses spoken in native languages rather than intoned in Latin, and an openness to the practice of beliefs and practices of other Christians and Jews — as in the declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae… Photo
Read more & access related links:
Vatican Crackdown – Archbishop HUNTHAUSEN of Seattle, Washington for Supporting GAYS & LESBIANS – by Ratzinger’s (Benedict XVI) … CRUEL & DEMEANING treatment of Hunthausen – to effectively - INTIMIDATE - fellow prelates - 1983
Gay Marriage – Benedict XVI & Hitler’s Rejection of Modern Science - Public Propaganda to Systematically Dehumanize Whole Groups of People – including Children
Benedict XVI Rejection of Human Sciences (e.g. psychology) – Repeating - Hitler’s Rejection of Modern Science
As SCIENCE moves forward on Research & Understanding Homosexuality -- RATZINGER/BENEDICT XVI Ignoring Science - Sanctions Ignorance & Silence Promoting discrimination of Homosexuality – A Timeline
Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) … efforts to PREVENT the EVOLUTION in Church Teaching toward ACCEPTANCE of HOMOSEXUALS - Milestones in campaign to hold the doctrinal - beginning 1984 - July 30, 1999
Archbishop Weakland’s - 1986 - Warnings to Vatican inquisitor – valuing RIGIDITY OF DOCTRINE over PEOPLE – Mistreatment of Archbishop HUNTHAUSEN – 9/28/1986 ---
…He contended that previous efforts to monitor and safeguard Catholic doctrine have been undertaken in an atmosphere where ``amateurs-turned-theologians easily became headhunters and leaders were picked (on the basis of) the rigidity of their doctrine, so that often second-rate and repressive minds, riding on the waves of fear, took over.
``Religion under such circumstances then can become an ideology that tolerates no obstacle and that values ideas more than people,`` he wrote...
GAY RIGHTS – US President Obama Appreciates Fr. Marty Kurylowicz’s Perspective on Gay (LGBT) Rights | US Catholic Clergy Supportive of GAY RIGHTS – Are Attacked, Silenced and Removed for the past 30 years by Ratzinger / Benedict XVI - 1983 Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle
Kurylowicz Comes Out - By Charles Honey - June 28, 1997 - …A spokeswoman for the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference said Kurylowicz's coming out to his congregation, first in a newsletter then from the pulpit on Holy Thursday, is "UNPRECEDENTED." "No one knows of anyone who has spoken of this from the pulpit," said Sister Mary Ann Walsh…"It was one part [being gay] of myself that was just closed off," says the youthful-looking 47-year old. But the feelings persisted. "Just like any heterosexual, those feelings are always there," explains Kurylowicz, who speaks with a nervous but friendly intensity. "You're shamed by it every time they come up. Then you (start) running away. You stop being who you are. You become something that you think others will find more acceptable." Kurylowicz became a workaholic…Kurylowicz says his decision was triggered by a report that homosexually oriented CHILDREN as young as 4 realize they're DIFFERENT. He was moved by the pain those CHILDREN feel… "Then I realized they don't have a voice, and I'm the one [a CATHOLIC PRIEST] that's supposed to say something," Kurylowicz says. "That's why I couldn't walk away from it."…
Impending Rules on Gay Priests Create Catholic Divide - October 8, 2005 - …Rev. Martin Kurylowicz came out to his Sparta parish eight years ago, he said he had struggled for years with his homosexuality… the struggle would be made harder for many others if the Vatican issues new rules that reportedly would ban gays from becoming priests… “Kids as young as 4 or 5 know they're DIFFERENT," said Kurylowicz, a psychotherapist… "They grow up with this pervasive guilt, which sabotages their growth and motivation." The result is thousands of dollars in therapy to accept their natural orientation, he said, adding, "DOES THE VATICAN WANT TO TAKE THAT ON, LIKE THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY HAD TO TAKE ON FOR THE DAMAGE IT CAUSED CONSUMERS?”… - 10/8/05
Parishioners Supportive Of Gay Priest - By Charley Honey - March 29, 1997 - The Rev. Martin Kurylowicz got lots of hugs after Good Friday services at Sparta's Holy Family Catholic Church…He spoke up after attending a national conference on gay issues and the Catholic Church in early March. He was disturbed by accounts of homosexual CHILDREN feeling isolated and parents feeling they did something wrong. "I just couldn't walk away from it," he said. "I couldn't deny the pain." He hopes his admission will raise awareness of violence against homosexuals…
Fr. Hans Küng - Benedict XVI “AUTHORITARIAN SYSTEM" parallels Germany's Nazi dictatorship | UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE - Oath of Allegiance to Hitler| CRUSHING any form of Clerical Dissent | Catholic theologian - Hans Küng … Urges confronting - Catholic hierarchy CORRUPTION - 10/5/12
AUSCHWITZ – Benedict XVI’s CHRISTMAS 2008 -- A flashback far more severe than in --- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – December 26, 2008 – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz Photo
Seattle WA - Catholics defy bishops to pray for Gay Marriage – "AUTHORITY NEVER SUPPLANTS CONSCIENCE" - 10/29/12
…"Catholics believe Christ's primary message is one of love, and Catholic social teaching teaches us that God loves everybody. We are standing up for centuries of Catholic social teaching."…
Gay Marriage – Maine’s bishop Malone follows Benedict XVI & drops SCIENCE as part of a WELL-INFORMED CONSCIENCE – Against Pope John Paul II – To Never Separate - SCIENCE and RELIGION ---
“SCIENCE can purify religion from error and superstition; RELIGION can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.”
RC hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges falsely accused gay priests, WATERGATE? – 12/17/09
Benedict XVI 30 years of Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups
Children Learn Through Play
3 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTS ABOUT GROWING UP GAY
A partial list:
1. Sexual orientation is set either just before birth or very soon afterwards
References:
Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality - American Psychological Association
The Science of Sexual Orientation - Researchers Focus on Twins (Video)
Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation
Sexual Conversion Therapies - by Jack Drescher, M.D.
Sexual Conversion Therapy - Ethical, Clinical and Research Perspectives (2002) -
edited by Ariel Shidlo, PhD, Michael Schroeder, PsyD, and Jack Drescher, MD
Sexual Orientation & ‘Reparative Therapy’
by Jack Drescher, MD – video
Bibliography for Facts about Sexual Orientation
Major - Medical and Mental Heath Associations
Policies & Position Statements - Regarding Sexual Orientation
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association, AGLP
APSAA, American Psychoanalytic Association
American Psychological Association
American Counseling Association
American Medical Association
American Academy of Pediatrics
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)
Gender Identity Research and Education Society - UK
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Social Workers
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
2. Early psychological development – in a social environment that is anti-gay – causes significant harm to the child’s ability to be in relationships, with others, a job, etc.
References:
Sexual orientation is less about sex and more about love, being one with another human being. Attachment Theory - - LOVE & RELIGION
Attachment Theory
Mary Ainsworth: Attachment and the Growth of Love – video
ATTACHMENT THEORY - our first relationship with our carers acts as a LIFELONG TEMPLATE, moulding and shaping our capacity to enter into, and maintain, successful subsequent relationships with family, friends and partners...
Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man
Jack Drescher, M.D. in his book Psychoanalytic Therapy & The Gay Man
describes the complexities related to growing up gay; from his research of developmental narratives of gay adults retrospectively recalling their feelings being gay began in early childhood. These gay feelings had remained constant, and were resistant to being altered. Dr. Drescher explains the contrast of how social norms impact the psychology of the early childhood developmental years of a heterosexual boy and a homosexual boy.
Being Homosexual: Gay Men and Their Development – by Richard A. Isay M.D.
Argues that homosexuality is biologically innate, suggests a natural developmental path for homosexuals, and discusses the problems faced in long-term gay relationships
The overstimulation of everyday life: I. New aspects of male homosexuality
Sidney H. Phillips
Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, USA
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 49:1235-67. 2001
Western heterosexual culture surrounds the homosexually inclined boy in a climate of erotic overstimulation that powerfully affects his development and adult sexual adaptation. This assertion is illustrated through a case presentation of a homosexual man who shared a bed with his brother from childhood into adolescence. Analysis of the patient's transference enactment—repeatedly falling asleep on the couch—gradually revealed the psychic impact of this everyday overstimulation: the creation of a tantalized inner world of longing. The regular occurrence and developmental understanding of adolescent homosexual boys' unrequited love affairs with adolescent heterosexual boys are described and explored. Finally, the overstimulation of everyday life is proposed as a new model for understanding certain behavioral aspects of male homosexuality, such as the avoidance of rough-and-tumble play in childhood and homosexual cruising.
Homosexuality: coming out of the confusion
Sidney H Phillips
Int J Psychoanal 84:1431-50. 2003
In this paper, Dr. Phillips describes the complications of how the historical context of social norms can significantly influence the classification of the components of homosexuality by clinicians causing them to be blind to their own biases. Mindful of our susceptibility to this kind of phenomenon, Dr. Phillips calls to task these biases that pathologize homosexuality simply because it is not consistent with heterosexuality and therefore to be classified as a mental disorder. He offers an alternative description of homosexuality from his clinical research that is consistent with other researchers of early childhood psychological development of children who grow up to be gay.
The Psychology of the Closeted Individual and Coming Out – Jack Drescher, MD
Many LGB individuals report developmental histories with difficulty acknowledging their homosexuality, either to themselves or to others. This is because, starting in childhood, LGB individuals are often subjected to antihomosexual attitudes, not only from strangers, but also from their own families and communities (Drescher, Stein and Byne, 2005). The childhood need to hide may persist into adulthood, leading many LGB individuals to conceal important aspects of themselves…Read more
Gay Conversion | Religious Conversion - Transforms the Damned into the Saved | COVERING - Kenji Yoshino – 2002 - The Yale Law Journal
Resource Links -- Conversion Therapy
Policy Statements of Professional Organizations
Rockway Institute - Alliant International University
3. Gay teen suicide – Family Acceptance Project - shows relationship between a lack of family acceptance of a gay child and the rate of substance abuse, suicide and others problems
References:
Groundbreaking Study Finds Family Acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Adolescents Protects Against Depression, Substance Abuse and Suicidal Behavior in Early Adulthood – by Caitlin Ryan, PhD, December 6, 2010 - FAMILY ACCEPTANCE PROJECT.
Dr. Caitlin Ryan: Reducing Risk and Promoting Well-Being for LGBT Youth: The Critical Role of Family Support – 2009 – podcast
Dr. Caitlin Ryan: Commitment, Intentionality, and Hard Work: What It Takes To Do Culturally Competent, Ground-Breaking Research 2010 – podcast
Family Acceptance Project™ website:
Dr. Caitlin Ryan – Mental Health Matters: How does the “Family Acceptance Project” work? – 2011
Family Acceptance Project™ - Helping diverse families understand how to support their LGBT children – videos
Family Acceptance of LGBT Youth Protects Against Suicide, Depression & Substance Abuse and Predicts Better Health & Self-Esteem
School Victimization of Gender-Nonconforming LGBT Youth Linked with Depression and Quality Of Life In Adulthood
Best Practice Guidelines for Serving LGBT Youth in Out-of-Home Care
Family Acceptance Project™ Resource Links:
San Francisco State University Related Programs
LGBT Family-Related Organizations
LGBT Youth Organizations
School-Related Resources
Gender-Related Resources
LGBT Legal Advocacy Organizations
Online Resources for LGBT Youth
Hotlines
Adolescent Health
National LGBT Organizations
LGBT Health-Related Organizations
Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling - By Caitlin Ryan and Donna Futterman
UA professor Stephen T. Russell to Explore LGBT Suicide Risk – 2008
Homophobic families harm gay teenagers, study claims - 2008
Internalized Homophobia and Relationship Quality among Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals - David M. Frost and Ilan H. Meyer - 2009
Journal of Counseling Psychology 2009, Vol. 56, No. 1, 97–109
New Report Shows Inequalities for Children with LGBT Parents
Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Preventing Suicide among LGBT Youth by Effie Malley - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Homophobia Is Killing Our Youth – 2009
Gay Bullying Deaths and Religion: Are Believers the Problem or the Solution? 2010
For Many Gay Youth, Bullying Exacts a Deadly Toll – 2010
Gay bullying and Catholic responsibilities – 2010
Homophobia in the Church: What Catholics Are Doing About It, and What Still Needs to Be Done – 2010
“Most religious denominations continue to condemn homosexuality as sinful and
provide a rationale for marginalizing LGB people.” - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Social Environment - Although the social environment itself has not been defined as a risk factor for suicide, widespread discrimination against LGBT people, heterosexist attitudes, and gender bias can lead to risk factors such as isolation, family rejection, and lack of access to care providers. Risk factors may interact in unhealthy ways—for example, internalized homophobia or victimization may lead to stress, which is associated with depression and substance abuse, which can contribute to suicide risk. This risk may be compounded by a lack of protective factors that normally provide resilience, such as strong family connections, peer support, and access to effective health and mental health providers…
Herek and colleagues (2007) describe a framework to understand the social environment for sexual minorities. The framework integrates the sociological idea of stigma with the psychological idea of prejudice. Through stigma, society discredits and invalidates homosexuality relative to heterosexuality. Institutions embodying stigma results in heterosexism, and heterosexual individuals internalizing stigma results in prejudice. The United States legal system has faced challenges by sexual minorities and sympathetic heterosexuals that have led to significant changes. However, the legal system continues to reinforce stigma through discriminatory laws and the absence of laws protecting sexual minorities from discrimination in employment, housing, and services. A minority of states had antidiscrimination laws as of 2005, and most of these only referred to employment and not to housing or services. Most religious denominations continue to condemn homosexuality as sinful and provide a rationale for marginalizing LGB people…
See no Race, See no Gay: What Proponents of a Gay-Blind Approach to Bullying in the Schools can Learn from Race Relations - by Kira Hudson Banks, Ph.D. and Nestor L. Lopez-Duran PhD,
2010 - Psychology Today
Bullying, gay teen suicides, and a need for a solution – 2010 - Nestor L. Lopez-Duran, PhD. - clinical child psychologist and researcher, University of Michigan
Bullies and Victims: Boys will be boys or a symptom of distress? 2009 -Child Psychology Research
http://www.child-psych.org/2009/10/bullies-and-victims-a-risk-for-psychopathology.html#comment-47375
The cruelties of STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE on CHILDREN are often subtle, unspoken, unrecognized, and even normalized, regarded by many people as natural or “just the way things are.” Daniel J. Christie - Peace, Conflict, and Violence:
Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Pope’s child porn 'normal' claim sparks outrage among victims -122110
Related links:
John Jay Report: On Not Blaming Homosexual Priests – 51711
"No public figure talks more about child safety but does little to actually make children safer than Pope Benedict" 112611
The New John Jay Report on Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church – “The researchers conclude that there is no causative relationship between either celibacy or homosexuality and the sexual victimization of children in the Church.” 51811
Facts about Homosexuality and Child Molestation - Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D.
Roman Catholic Hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges falsely accused gay priests, WATERGATE? – January 2, 2010
GAY MARRIAGE - Benedict XVI Dismisses Science Reason – Natural Law | Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely | PART 1
You can fool all the people some of the time, and
GAY MARRIAGE – Understanding – NATURAL LAW & How it can be used? – With or Without - Reason & Rational |To Support - Benedict XVI & amp; Hierarchy’s Vague & Negative Statements Against Homosexuality | PART 2
You can fool all the people some of the time, and
some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Abraham Lincoln
GAY MARRIAGE – “Doublespeak” Benedict XVI - IRRATIONAL Shift Blame Gays – Evading UN Accusations Global COVER-UPS Child Sexual Abuse “…a COMPLETE FAILURE to take responsibility” | PART 3
GAY MARRIAGE – Non-Violence is Key - Use of Violent Confrontation Strategies - The Moral Arguments of People Who Are Being Unjustly Treated Become Irrelevant – The Use of Violence Only Creates More Violence | PART 4
GAY MARRIAGE – Propaganda Tactics|B16’s Naturalistic fallacy & Homosexuality - Dehumanizing, Depriving Civil Rights, Silencing Gays - Covering Up B16 Crimes Against Children 30+yrs? |PART 5
What Can Catholics do Today to – Help Protect all Children?
GAY MARRIAGE – Catholic Truth ≠ Benedict XVI & hierarchy’s SPIN - Unsubstantiated Antigay Teachings & Disregard for Children – Silent Catholics COLLUDING w/B16 – Continually Hurting Kids!!! | One – Letter & Many – Copies | Anne Rice | PART 6
GAY MARRIAGE – Homosexuality for Catholics or anyone? "WHY IT IS A 'GIFT' FROM GOD!!!" And when we accept and value this gift from God – we are able to experience love like never before, and we are able to love. | PART 7GAY MARRIAGE – UNIDENTIFIED - Internalized Homophobia - Benedict XVI, Hierarchy & Blind Followers - GAY-BASHERS UK & US | UK Blair & Cameron Legalization of Gay Marriage | Kids Are Being Hurt!!! | PART 8
Ecclesiastes 1:5 (New International Version)
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
Ecclesiastes 1:5 (New American Standard Bible)
5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again.
1 Chronicles 16:30 (New International Version)
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
1 Chronicles 16:30 (New American Standard Bible)
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Psalm 93:1 (New International Version)
1 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty
and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
Psalm 93:1 (New American Standard Bible)
1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Psalm 96:10 (New International Version)
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
Psalm 96:10 (New American Standard Bible)
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity."
Psalm 104:5 (New International Version)
5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
Psalm 104:5 (New American Standard Bible)
5 He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.
Injustice anywhere is a
threat to
Justice everywhere
Martin Luther King
The Nobel Peace Prize 1964
Martin Luther King Jr.
What you cannot do is accept injustice.
From Hitler – or anyone.
You must make the injustice visible
– be prepared to die like a
soldier to do so.
Mahatma Gandhi
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.”
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6
Important note: No disrespect meant to Pope Benedict XVI or the hierarchy, the one and only concern is the safety and well-being of children.
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
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