One of the recent efforts of the American Christo-fascists has been to export their fraudulent "ex-gay" ministries to Europe, especially the UK. Now, doctors in the UK have joined the American Psychological Association and branded such "cure" ministries harmful. One can only hope that this move will increase the likelihood that therapists who engage in such bogus efforts may lose their licences and it may be easier for individuals harmed by such programs to sue them for negligence and malpractice. Ultimately, I'd like to see governmental social service departments start charging parents who force teens into these false and harmful ministries prosecuted for child abuse - just like those who withhold proper medical treatment from children and youths. At some point science needs to trump religious based ignorance and protect minors form what amounts to deliberate emotional and psychological harm. Here are some highlights from Pink News:*
The annual meeting of the British Medical Association has declared that therapies to 'cure' gay people of homosexuality are harmful.
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The body met in Brighton yesterday and more than two-thirds of doctors present backed a call for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and other mental health standard-setting bodies to reject the treatments and ban their use in codes of practice.
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Health departments should also investigate alleged cases of conversion therapy being funded by the NHS, the meeting agreed.
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Tom Dolphin, the proposer of the motion and the vice-chair of the BMA's junior doctors committee, said: "Sexuality is such a fundamental part of who a person is that attempts to change it just result in significant confusion, depression and even suicide. You can’t just wish away same-sex attraction no matter how inconvenient it might be."
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Earlier this year, gay journalist Patrick Strudwick published an expose of 'ex-gay' therapists and began a campaign group to persuade medical bodies to condemn the treatments. . . . Mr Strudwick told the Independent that the BMA's declaration was a "watershed moment in the struggle for gay equality".
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