Liberty Counsel Threatens Lawsuit if California Bans "Ex-Gay" Therapy for Minors

I have noted several times the progress of legislation in California which would ban anyone under 18 years of age from being subjected to bogus "ex-gay" conversion therapy - a form of therapy condemned by the American Psychological Association.  "Ex-gay" conversion therapy, a/k/a reparative therapy is a big deal to the Christianists because claiming that gays can "change" is a key part of their effort to block LGBT civil rights.  They realize that once the general public understands that sexual orientation is immutable, not changeable,  and not merely a "behavior" as the Christianists claim, the Christianist efforts to bar gay rights and gay marriage will be seriously damaged.  Perhaps fatally so.  Hence all the money poured into the snake oil peddling "ex-gay ministries.  Here's a sampling of the flying spittle and batshitery via Liberty Counsel's website:

[T]he California legislature passed a bill that prohibits minors from receiving change therapy counseling regarding same-sex attractions. The bill, now headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, bans any counseling or therapy that seeks to reduce or eliminate same-sex attraction or guide children away from gender confusion.

"If the bill is signed into law, Liberty Counsel will sue on behalf of counselors, parents, and minors who provide, refer, or who receive and have found change therapy to be beneficial," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.

The bill defines "sexual orientation change efforts" as any practice that is designed to reduce or eliminate same-sex attraction. Such broad language will prohibit any counseling that does not affirm and encourage experimentation with or acceptance of same-sex attractions, regardless of whether those feelings and attractions are unwanted by the counselee. The bill not only prohibits this type of treatment, but it makes it an ethical violation for any counselor or therapist to engage in it.?

"If the governor signs this law, mental health professionals will find themselves in a catch-22," Staver said. Therapists have an ethical obligation to help clients deal with conflict. If a counselee is experiencing conflict between religious beliefs and same-sex attractions and wants to prioritize these beliefs over such attractions, the counselor is ethically obligated to directly help the client or refer for help. Under this bill, the counselor will be forced to disregard the client’s religious beliefs or change them. This bill will harm minors, undermine parental rights, and interfere with the rights of counselors. This bill and the ethical codes of all of the licensing boards in California are on an inevitable collision course," said Staver. "The licenses of countless mental health professionals hang in the balance."?

That's right, the law could result in charlatans who engage in "ex-gay" conversion to lose their licenses.  Frankly, I cannot think of a better result.  Ditto for calling misguided and harmful religious beliefs what they really are.  Any therapist who places ignorance and religious bigotry and superstition ahead of the welfare of his/her patients ought not to be a therapist.  It's hard to describe my abhorrence of Mr. Staver and his organization which I view as a pestilence on the state of Virginia and most certainly on the city of Lynchburg.  Mr. Staver and his followers continue to cling to the anything but inerrant Bible as their justification for marketing hate and intolerance and pushing a fraudulent form of therapy that does nothing except support their anti-gay political agenda.