Dr. Caitlin Ryan at the Marian
Wright Edelman Institute at San Francisco State
University
California Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for
Minors – 10/1/12
Therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation of minors who say they are gay
has been outlawed in California, the first state to adopt such legislation. California
Gov. Jerry Brown announced he had signed the bill on Sunday.
The bill’s sponsor, Calif. State Sen. Ted Lieu, said the so-called “conversion
therapy,” “sexual orientation therapy,” “reparative therapy,” or “sexual
orientation change efforts” — amounts to “psychological child abuse.”
“No one should stand idly by while children are being psychological abused,
and anyone who forces a child to try to change their sexual orientation must
understand this is unacceptable,” Lieu said in a statement released
Sunday… Photo
Read more:
More:
"Reparative Therapy" or "Conversion Therapy" –
To Change Sexual Orientation - Lack Medical Justification,
Threaten Health - Are Ethically Unacceptable
Press Release
"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. Photo
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
Position Statement - May 17, 2012
“CURES” FOR AN
ILLNESS THAT DOES NOT EXIST
Purported therapies aimed
at changing sexual orientation lack medical justification and are ethically
unacceptable
"Reparative
Therapy" or "Conversion Therapy"
Excerpt:
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.
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
“Gay Families' Inequality” (Videos)
Most of Europe doesn't recognise
this family
Zack Wahls, His Two Moms,
& The Future of Same-Sex Marriage – 2012
Most of Europe doesn't recognise this
family – (Video)
– 27 November 2012
“…throughout all the laugher, the
lessons and the love …you learn that your parents are only children grown up –
and only then do you realize …how difficult the world really is and how truly
thankful you are for their sacrifice to love each other and to love
you”
UK - Parliament 'less likely to listen to
Church over gay marriage after decision over women bishops' - 22 November 2012
France pushes ahead with gay marriage - 23
November 2012
Zack Wahls, His Two Moms, & The Future
of Same-Sex Marriage – (Video) - May 30, 2012
Zach Wahls Speaks About His Family | Video
- ABC News - Feb 3, 2011
Related link:
'Invisible Parents' Short Film Highlights
Gay Families' Inequality - 11/05/2012
Gay Marriage -
Morgan Freeman –
“Dawn of a New
Day for Marriage Equality" (VIDEO) – 11/25/12
America stands at
the damn of a new day.
Freedom, justice
and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union.
Now across our
country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to
marry the person they love.
And with historic
victories for marriage, we’ve delivered a mandate for full equality.
The wind is at our
back. But our journey has just begun.
Join us
Morgan Freeman Narrates New HRC Spot on Next Steps in Marriage Equality – 11/24/12
Morgan Freeman Gay Marriage Ad (VIDEO) –
11/25/12
Commentary: Morgan Freeman lends his voice
in support for marriage equality – 11/25/12 Photo
Related Links:
In an interview with ABC News’
Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution”
that led him to this decision, based on conversations with his staff members,
openly gay and lesbian service members, and his wife and daughters… Read
more:
&
Michelle Obama – “Kids who now feel
like, for the FIRST TIME, if they're gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, that
they feel like they have a place.” 9/26/12
First Lady Talks LGBT
Youth: “We’re Here for Our Kids”
“I'm probably more hopeful than
I've ever been because I can see the changes and I can see it in our kids,” she
said. “I get to see so many great signs of this country's growth. Kids who now
feel like, for the first time, if they're gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender,
that they feel like they have a place. … One kid came up to me yesterday on the
photo line and he said, I would have committed suicide if it wasn't for what
your husband did.” … Read more & view video Photo
SALLY FIELD - Receives HRC's Ally For
Equality Award, Delivers Emotional Speech On Gay Son Sam – 10/07/12
…She went on to note, "But Sam was different, and his journey to allow
himself what nature intended him to be was not an easy one. As his mother, I
consider it one of the great privileges of my life to be part it."
"There are so many children who struggle to understand and embrace their
sexuality in families who do not welcome them, with parents that somehow find
it acceptable to shut them out their hearts and their homes, and that I find
unacceptable." Photo
But she drew the biggest cheers after she told the HRC crowd, "You've
changed and are changing the lives of little boys and girls who realize
somewhere along the way they're just different from their other brothers and
sisters...
Read more/view video clip:
"Reparative
Therapy" or "Conversion Therapy" – To Change Sexual Orientation
- Lack Medical Justification, THREATEN HEALTH - Are ETHICALLY UNACCEPTABLE –
9/1/12
SEXUAL ORIENTATION is less about sex and more about LOVE, being one with
another human being - Attachment Theory
“Nothing in life is more
precious than the intimate relationships we have with love ones.” LOVE &
RELIGION – 2009
by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
AUSCHWITZ -- CHRISTMAS 2008 - Benedict XVI -- A flashback far more
severe than in --- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
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 7
GAY 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
GAY? - J. EDGAR HOOVER and BENEDICT XVI - Homophobic Men - Repressed
Homosexual Feelings – Paranoia Projection - a "tragic story…HOW DANGEROUS
SEXUAL REPRESSION IS." 12/02/12
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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