One of the biggest lies - out of so very many - that Christofascists organizations continue to peddle is that on can "pray away the gay" and/or be cured of homosexuality through fraudulent "therapy" typically administered by quacks and charlatans, often hiding from regulation behind the pretense of being "Christian ministries." Lunatic Michelle Bachmann and her closeted husband run such a program under the guise of being a "Christian counseling" center. The lie serves two purposes: (1) it rakes in lots of money, and (2) it is used to bolster the Christofascist claim that since sexual orientation is a "choice," no legal protections are needed for LGBT individuals. True, some gays suffering from internalized homophobia and religious brainwashing will pretend - both to themselves and others - that they are "cured," but the list of those who have later admitted the lie is a long one. The practice needs to be banned and thankfully, the United Kingdom is poised to do just that, a nationwide ban. Here are highlights from Gay Star News:
A UK Government survey could lead to making the controversial ‘gay cure’ practice illegal, Gay Star News can reveal.
The Home Office will publish the results of a National LGBT survey later this year. It includes an analysis of how much conversion therapy is happening in the country. Previously the Government rejected calls to make the practice illegal, saying it had done enough to stop the practice. But now the Home Office will use the results to explore new measures, to stop the practice.
A government spokesperson calling ‘gay cure’ therapy ‘bogus’ tells GSN: ‘This Government is absolutely clear that being LGBT is not an illness to be cured. The practice of conversion therapy is wrong. . . . . We have already been working with the main registration and accreditation bodies for psychotherapy and counseling practitioners, including the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), to develop a Memorandum of Understanding to put a stop to this bogus treatment."
Paul Twocock, Director of Campaigns, Policy and Research, Stonewall UK says: ‘It is good that the Government is so clear in recognizing that more needs to be done to tackle the bogus, deeply harmful practice of conversion therapy. All forms of “therapy” that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are unethical and unacceptable. Lesbian, gay, bi and trans people are not ill.
Malta became the first country to ban ‘gay cure’ therapy in 2016. And now eleven states in the US have banned the cruel so-called ‘therapy’, including in Washington and Hawaii last week.
Raymond Buys was left starving after torture where he had to eat his own feces. Severely malnourished, dehydrated, with burns and wounds all over his body. He lay in intensive care for four weeks until he died. He was just 15. Just 10 weeks before, the teen’s parents signed him up in 2011 for the Echo Wild Game Rangers course in South Africa in perfect health with the intention of ‘making him a man.’
Writing for Gay Star News, editor-at-large Joe Morgan says: ‘Many people believe ‘gay cure’ camps are basically full of repressed gay dudes sitting around praying all day. And then going into each others bunks to have sex. But even if you are not murdered in the attempt to make you ‘manly’, the vast majority of the people sent to these camps are vulnerable teens. ‘I shudder to think about the LGBTI teens whose families sent them to find a ‘cure’. Leaving traumatized, and later committing suicide. The number is countless.
Of course, the third reason Christofascists support these awful programs is because it helps them avoid admitting that the Bronze Age beliefs on human sexuality are simply untrue and wrong. Harming others is preferable to threatening the fantasy world beliefs.
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