PFOX Idiocy: Billboard Features Gay Non-Twin

PFOX - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays - the Christofascist funded small group of "ex-gays for pay" is a never ending clown car/train wreck.  It's as if the Three Stooges were in charge of PFOX's constantly bungled efforts.  Just in time for the holiday season, PFOX put up a billboard adjacent to busy I-95 in the Richmond area that purports to show identical twins and makes the false claim that no one is born gay.  The problem?  The model whose photo was used int he billboard is (i) not a twin, and (ii) is a proud gay.  Greg Quinlan - PFOX's tortured, self-loathing "ex-gay for pay" president makes a buffoon out of himself and PFOX yet again!  Here are highlights from Huffington Post:

A new wrinkle has emerged in the controversy over an "ex-gay" group's Virginia billboard which purportedly depicted a set of "identical twins."

Model Kyle Roux, who hails from South Africa, says he was shocked that his image was used in the Virginia-based ad, especially because he identifies as an "out and proud" gay man, NBC affiliate WWBT first reported.

"It just seems like there no place in today's world for an organization that is promoting this as being some kind of deviant or distasteful lifestyle, because I've lived my life openly gay and happy for my entire life," Roux, who added that he is not a twin as the billboard proclaims, told the news station. 

The ad, which appeared recently beside I-95 in Richmond, depicts two men, one dressed in a suit and the other in a white T-shirt, and says: "Identical twins: One gay. One not. We believe twin research studies show nobody is born gay."

A representative for PFOX did not respond to The Huffington Post's initial request for comment.

As noted in a prior post, the researcher behind the twin study that PFOX cites says that PFOX is misreporting and twisting the findings of his work - something PFOX seems to do constantly.

Quote of the Day - The Sad Truth About "Ex-Gays"

Every legitimate medical and mental health association in America deems sexual orientation as something that unchangeable and condemns so-called reparative therapy peddled by "ex-gay ministries" and unethical therapist who are either out to make a quick buck off of religiously tormented gays and/or their families.  These "ministries" always have what I call "ex-gays for pay"  who will claim that they have "changed" and are no longer homosexual.  It's usually the same small group of tortured self-loathing individuals who were losers in their lives, often falling into drug and alcohol abuse, who are willing to lie for money.  These sick individuals without exception blame their sexual orientation for their problems when, in truth, most of their psychological damage stems from religious brainwashing they received in childhood or from family rejection.  As noted many times on this blog, there are far more former "ex-gays" than those who continue to sell their souls and integrity to these foul ministries.  Now, PFOX, a totally Christofascist financed organization, has brought the ex-gay lie to Richmond, Virginia by placing a billboard sign - the image is above - next to busy I-95.  The billboard distorts actual scientific research as noted by the New York Daily News:

The nonprofit’s president is Greg Quinlan, who claims to be a former gay man who renounced his sexual identity in 1993. His group frequently touts their belief that homosexuality is not a biological trait, but an emotional disorder, according to Qinlan’s biography on PFOX’s website.

In a statement shared to PFOX’s blog, a spokesperson stood by their billboard and cited a Northwestern University Department Of Psychology study interpreted to show that if identical twins shared the same genes, they would either both be gay or not at all. The study’s author, J. Michael Bailey has even argued against PFOX’s intepretation in an interview with LGBT Science.

 If anyone has an emotional disorder, it is Quinlan who, like most ex-gays and Christofascists is pretty much lying whenever his lips/their are moving.  In a Playboy interview, Dan Savage summed these people up well.  Here are a few on target quotes:

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and almost every other faith have constantly tried to insert themselves between your genitals and your salvation, because then they can regulate and control you. Then you need them to intercede with God, so they target your junk and stigmatize your sexual desire. If you have somebody by the balls or the ovaries, you’ve got them.

Look at Marcus Bachmann, Michele Bachmann’s husband. Anybody who has gaydar—anybody who has eyes—looks at him and sees a tormented closet case who has externalized his internal conflict and is abusing other people, doing his reparative-therapy bullshit. It’s so sad and pathetic. A lot of the self-destructive behaviors gay people are prone to drifting into are directed inward, and then you have these shitbags like Marcus Bachmann for whom it’s all directed outward. Marcus Bachmann is the photo negative of the guy on the last bar stool in the gay bar, drinking and smoking himself to death, except instead of destroying himself, he’s destroying other vulnerable queer people in an effort to destroy the queer inside himself.

You can’t beat the gay out of a kid, but you can kill that gay kid trying. One result is that once you’ve assembled yourself to appease your sports-obsessed father, to fool your peers, your girlfriend…once you put that together, it creates a cognitive bifurcation. The pride you take when you do fool people, when you put together this bullshit version, this Potemkin kid who isn’t you, and people buy it and you’re like, Oh wow—there’s power in that. There was for me. But some kids are crushed by it. The guys I knew who were self- or otherwise destructive were guys who believed they were terrible, that there was something wrong with them. The guys who were healthier believed there was something wrong with everybody else. I was that guy. I thought, I’m fine. My church is crazy. My parents are crazy. Everyone in my Catholic grade school is crazy. Everyone in this neighborhood I live in is fucking nuts. But I’m fine.

[W]hen I realized I was gay, it brought me into conflict with what my church was telling me. I didn’t just move two steps over and find the affirming Lutherans. I looked at the whole religion racket and it kind of fell apart, especially when I saw how much it was torturing gay kids.

As always, Savage holds no punches and the entire interview deserves a read.  Unlike Savage, I did "just move two steps over" and became a Lutheran after belatedly coming out in mid-life, although now I am more of a mindset that religion - even gay friendly faiths - is a racket.  If you want "fellowship" join the Moose Club, a country club, a yacht club or even a non-church affiliated charity group (it'd probably be cheaper!).  As for helping the sick, poor and the hungry, I say do that rather than build huge church buildings and related complexes that only serve members of the church "club."

Liberty Counsel Seeks to Bully Virginia Universities Into Providing "Ex-Gay" Propaganda

As the Christofascists see themselves rapidly losing the battle against LGBT equality they are becoming ever more shrill in their efforts to maintain the totally repudiated myth - manufactured, of course by the Christofascists - that sexual orientation is a "choice" and that gays can "change."  As noted many times on this blog, for many years duping legislators and judges into believing this cynical myth was a key component of the Christofascist jihad against LGBT individuals.  Now, despite the fact that every legitimate medical and mental health association condemns reparative therapy, the lunatics at Liberty Counsel are trying to force Virginia's universities to disseminate "ex-gay" propaganda.  Candidly, any university that is stupid enough to do so will likely be inviting lawsuits against it in the event these "ex-gay" efforts lead to suicides and other serious mental health damage.  The religious fanatics cite "unsafe zones" but the only truly unsafe zones are within the confines of "ex-gay" ministries.  The Washington Times looks at this deranged effort by those who themselves ought to be in mental institutions.  Here are highlights on the batshitery:

Arguing that some Virginia universities’ sexual-minority centers are engaging in “viewpoint discrimination,” a conservative law firm is taking steps to ensure materials on ex-gay services are offered to students this fall.

Details of this effort are laid out in a lengthy report released Monday by Voice of the Voiceless, a group representing former homosexuals and people with unwanted same-sex attractions.

The report concludes, after visiting seven public Virginia universities, that campus centers are “unsafe zones” for students who aren’t sure they are gay or who want to escape homosexual thoughts and behaviors.

A spokesman for the University of Virginia declined to comment on the issue Friday, but provided The Washington Times with a relevant January letter from outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rita W. Beale to Liberty Counsel.

The letter said UVa’s sexual-minority center had been “repurposed” last year and is not a “limited public forum.” The university therefore “declines to display and/or distribute Voice of the Voiceless‘ materials.”

“Bullying and intolerance against the ex-gay community does exist,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, adding that her group’s efforts to provide information on campuses are often “met with resistance and intolerance.”

Mental health professionals warn that ex-gay therapies can cause serious problems, like depression, anxiety and self-destructive behaviors in people, Mr. Besen said. Universities would be “putting themselves in legal jeopardy” if they exposed students to materials that caused them to hurt themselves, he said.

The report’s proponents “are on the losing end of legal arguments,” said Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director for Lambda Legal, claiming that campus LGBT centers have not been created as public forums, so there’s no basis for a First Amendment challenge.

I hope the universities continue to rebuff these delusional efforts by Liberty Counsel and PFOX, a front group funded by a who's who of anti-gay hate groups and staffed by "ex-gays for pay."

PFOX Unwittingly Showcases Parental Child Abuse

As this blog has noted countless times at this point, EVERY legitimate medical and mental health association in America condemns so-called reparative therapy and concludes that gay conversion efforts do not work.  Even former ex-gay poster boy John Paulk and the former president of Exodus International have admitted the claims of "change" are little more than lies and self-delusion.  But that doesn't stop parasite "ex-gay" ministries from preying on the gullible and pandering to parents who are more concerned about what people will think about them than they are for the welfare of their child.  These parents, in my view, are the height of selfishness.  They ought to be charged with child abuse.  Right Wing Watch looks at the batshitery that is the norm for PFOX - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays - which is a far right Christofascists organization staffed by self-loathing "ex-gays for pay" like Greg Quinlan.  Here are story excerpts - Note the traits that supposedly make one susceptible to homosexuality and the number of discredited quacks cited as "experts":

A recently released spring newsletter [PDF] of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) includes an essay by Steve and Janice Graham, who describe their efforts to rid their son of his “destructive” homosexuality.

Quoting ex-gay therapist Charles Socarides’ claim that coming out amounts “to a kind of murder of the family,” the Grahams write that they believed their son is gay because he started “looking at body builders online” and had “personality traits (high intelligence, curiosity, overconfidence, and a tendency to overanalyze) [that] made him more susceptible to porn and homosexuality.”

“To us, homosexuality is a deviation, a disorder, a willful rebellion, or a combination of these,” they write, adding that their son’s ex-gay therapist told him to “tell us every homosexual feeling or thought he experienced each day.”

The newsletter also features articles on Mother’s Day and President Obama’s supposed attempt “to ‘queer’ America” and promote “homosexual addicts.”

When our son admitted his problems with homosexuality, we took him to see a psychiatrist—but it was too upsetting for him. He thought we believed he was crazy. We didn’t know what to think. We were in shock—and a bit of denial.

In his book, A Freedom Too Far, Dr. Charles Socarides describes how we felt during this time: 

“Announcements like this that our kids have suddenly decided [or in our son’s case, become convinced] they’re gay amount to a kind of murder of the family. Parents can’t imagine things that are worse. It’s something like a premature Alzheimer’s disease; there’s no more real communication, no more sharing of experience, now, or ever. Some great parents can say that this is okay. But, deep down, they know they are deluding themselves. This can mean the end of hopes and dreams for their kids—that they will some day experience the extreme joys that have been repeated over and over again since civilization began, that they will become parents. And make them grandparents. To know that this isn’t going to happen—well, it’s a sadness.”

 …
Years later, our son’s therapist concluded he wouldn’t have struggled with homosexual tendencies had it not been for the pervasive homosexual influence of the internet. In other words, he was fed a gay identity. It began with the power of suggestion—by our son looking at body builders online. Having endured a lot of teasing from his peers, he was curious about his male body. He wondered if he had what it took to be a “real man.”

Many parents today back off when their child tells them they’re “gay.” This never occurred to us. To us, homosexuality is a deviation, a disorder, a willful rebellion, or a combination of these. It isn’t anyone’s true self. As Michael Glatze notes, “The whole gay identity is completely a fabrication. You’re not a homosexual; you’re a heterosexual with a homosexual problem. It’s literally all in your mind.”

In “Seven Ways to Recruit-Proof Your Child,” Scott Lively writes “it’s never too late for a child to recover his innate heterosexual orientation.” He cautions: “it will take much more work than taking preventive action would have.”

 

I can only imagine the psychological damage done to the child of these insane and self-centered parents.  From 37 years of trying to "change," I know that this bullshit doesn't work and all it does in cause internalized self-hate and self-loathing.  I pity the child of these horrible people.

Utah Files Anti-Gay Brief in Marriage Case Appeal

I guess that since the state involved is Utah it should be little surprise that the state's brief in support of Utah's ban on same sex marriage makes it pretty clear that the state's view is that gays are inferior and basically, therefore, not entitled to equal rights under the U.S. Constitution.  The brief is a little bit more diplomatic in how this argument is couched, but the bottom line take away is that straights are superior to gays and, thus entitled to rights that gays do not merit.  Hopefully, the 10th Circuit will see through this smoke screen and call Utah's argument out for what it really is: thinly veiled anti-gay animus.  One might almost think that the brief had been written by the National Organization for Marriage or Family Research Council.  Note the insane claim that same sex marriage will discourage straight men from marrying. A column in Think Progress looks at this basically bigoted argument.  Here are excerpts:

The new 120-page court brief that Utah officials have filed to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is rife with familiar arguments, and at least one novel legal argument that is particularly offensive. But hidden among all the claims about states’ rights and the well-being of children are statements that reveal an underlying assumption that heterosexuality and different-sex relations are simply superior to homosexuality, bisexuality, and any kind of same-sex relationship.
Here are a few examples from throughout the brief:

Don’t Be So Quick To Call Sexual Orientation A “Fundamental Identity”

In a footnote towards the end of the brief, Utah questions one of the conclusions drawn by the plaintiffs, the same-sex couples suing for the right to marry. They had referred to the Supreme Court case of Lawrence v. Texas, which in 2003 overturned laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activities (and anything else that might be considered “sodomy”). Utah took issue with their description:

Though not relevant to the issues presented, Plaintiffs characterize Lawrence as holding that “sexual orientation is a fundamental aspect of human identity that the state has no legitimate interest in punishing or attempting to change.” Lawrence doesn’t say that, and Plaintiffs have no page citation for such a holding. More important, Utah is not trying to punish nor attempting to change anyone’s sexual orientation.

It’s true that those exact words are not found in Lawrence, but the decision does acknowledge homosexuality as something more than just a sexual act: “When sexuality finds overt expression in intimate conduct with another person, the conduct can be but one element in a personal bond that is more enduring. The liberty protected by the Constitution allows homosexual persons the right to make this choice.”

The Marriage Ban Does Not Discriminate Based On Sexual Orientation, Anyway

In an interesting rhetorical trick, Utah’s lawyers use another footnote to claim that there’s no discrimination taking place because everybody is equally allowed to marry a person of the opposite sex. This argument is usually reserved for arguing that banning same-sex marriage doesn’t discriminate on the basis of sex, but here, they claim that it even proves that there is no discrimination based on sexual orientation:

As noted above, Utah law allows every person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, to marry a person of the opposite sex. Thus, as a technical and logical matter, Utah law cannot be said to classify on the basis of gender or sexual orientation… Of course, for reasons discussed in the text, this Court need not decide whether man-woman marriage laws “discriminate” on the basis of sexual orientation.

Gay People Can Just Marry The Opposite Sex

It’s one thing to claim that the law doesn’t discriminate because gay people can still marry someone they aren’t oriented toward, but another footnote actually suggests that they should do just that:

In fact, some gays and lesbians have chosen to exercise their fundamental right to marry a person of the opposite sex. E.g., Brief of Doug Mainwaring et al.; Brief of Parents And Friends Of Ex-Gays & Gays; see also voice(s) of hope,http://www.ldsvoicesofhope.org/. Obviously, that would be a very difficult choice for gays and lesbians who have already formed or wish to form an abiding, loving relationship with someone of the same sex. But it does highlight the difference between the man-woman marriage definition and a law prohibiting certain people to marry at all — such as a restriction on marriage by inmates serving life sentences.

Note the three citations: 1) Doug Mainwaring, a Tea Party activist who claims to be gay, but is married to a woman, has children, and campaigns against marriage equality; 2) PFOX, an organization that advocates for ex-gay therapy, and 3) Voices of Hope, a Mormon website featuring the testimonials of individuals who acknowledge that they’re gay (or possibly bi, under the umbrella of “same-gender attraction”) but have chosen to be chaste or to marry a person of the opposite sex.

Utah suggests that, even though it may be “very difficult,” people with a same-sex orientation could choose to live the heterosexual lifestyle. Also, if they’re bi, they probably should.

Banning Same-Sex Marriage Encourages Bi People To Go Straight

In another footnote, Utah blatantly promotes biphobia by suggesting that the ban on same-sex marriage helps encourage bi people to live a straight lifestyle. . . 

Utah Has ‘”A Powerful Interest In Parenting By Heterosexuals”

the language suggests that the ban on same-sex marriage law is designed to be pro-heterosexuality. Here’s how the brief claims that overturning the ban would discourage straight guys:

Similarly, Professors Hawkins and Carroll note that redefining marriage in genderless terms would signal to heterosexual men, especially, that they are optional, not central to the well-being of their children, and would thus tend to alienate some heterosexual men from the institution of marriage. Abandoning the gendered definition of marriage would thus likely result in fewer and shorter marriages of heterosexuals, less parenting by heterosexual fathers, more conception by heterosexuals outside of marriage, and less self-sacrificing by heterosexual fathers.

Denying protections to gay or bi fathers somehow ensures that straight fathers are less likely to abandon their families. The argument is nonsensical enough in the context of same-sex vs. different-sex parenting, but with sexual orientation labels it sounds even odder.

The heterosexism on display reveals the very animus that the lawyers are attempting to deny.

 

Second "Ex-Gay" Group Challenges Virginia Colleges Over Lack of Fraudulent "Ex-Gay-Therapy"

With every legitimate mental health and medical association condemning "ex-gay" reparative therapy, the states of New Jersey and California outright banning the practice for those under 18 years of age (additional states may follow suit), and Exodus International closing and admitting that few if anyone was actually "changed" by the witch doctor like "ex-gay" therapy the group promoted, hate group backed "ex-gays" are apparently getting desperate to find a way to remain even remotely legitimate.   Hence the recent move by two "ex-gay" groups to try to intimidate Virginia colleges and universities into providing "ex-gay" information to students.  One can only hope these colleges and universities - or perhaps more importantly, their liability insurance carriers - refuse to knuckle under to these threats and intimidation.    Promoting a discredited and dangerous "therapy" that is based solely on religious dogma would seem to be a liability lawsuit waiting to happen.  Again, with more and more Americans recognizing that the "choice" and "change" myths promoted by Christofascist are lies, fraudulent "ex-gay" ministries are desperate to try to change the playing field to regain a shred of legitimacy.  GayRVA looks at these efforts to intimidate public colleges and universities.  Here are highlights:

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is asking Virginia legislatures to stop funding “gay-transvestite centers at Virginia’s public universities,” claiming state funds are being used to “indocronate” youth into changing their faith.

Today’s announcement comes as a response to an undercover investigation produced last month by the ex-gay group Voice of the Voiceless which concluded that LGBTQ resource centers at Virginia state universities are discrediting the ex-gay community.

In a press release by PFOX their executive director Regina Griggs said these centers deny change is possible by refusing to accept ex-gays exists.

“Virginia taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund hatred and discrimination against ex-gays and people of faith,” Griggs said in the press release. “These biased and discriminatory lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/questioning centers hide ex-gay resources and insist that students adopt a ‘gay-only’ mentality that rejects those who have changed their orientation from gay to straight while celebrating those who have changed their gender identity.”

Griggs said PFOX provides ex-gay brochures urging tolerance to these resource centers at many Virginia state universities but these LGBTQ centers refuse to make these resources available to students seeking guidance.

Ric Chollar is Associate Director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) Resources at the Northern Virginia college of George Mason University (GMU).
GMU was specifically criticized by Voice of the Voiceless when Chollar, who is also a licensed clinical social worker, told the undercover investigator to seek a Metropolitan Community Church and read, “The Lord is my Shepherd, and He Knows I’m Gay.”

“It wasn’t that I directed him to go just there,” Chollar said. “All throughout the interview I was trying to be very careful as I think all of us are in not giving advice or direction but instead presenting options and linking whatever suggestions and whatever possibilities come from the piece of himself that he is talking about.”

“The value we place is around encouraging students towards mental health, and towards happiness and towards success as students,” Chollar said about there being no evidence of ex-gay therapy being successful.

The American Physiological Association has publicly state ex-gay therapy does not work, and often is more harmful than anything else. A report was released in 2009 that detailed the results of their work.

“Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation,” said Judith Glassgold, Psy.D., chair of the APA task force that examined sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). “Contrary to the claims of SOCE practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions.”

If one does their homework, it quickly becomes clear that PFOX is funded almost solely by anti-gay hate groups and its national board of directors includes a who's who of hate merchants, some of whom make a plush living peddling lies.  In my opinion, "ex-gay" therapy needs to be banned nationwide.  In my view, the nastiest whore has more integrity than the folks at PFOX and Voice of the Voiceless.  If students are conflicted by their sexual orientation, they need to get legitimate therapy and over come the sick religious brainwashing that the Christofascists and their minions disseminate.

This situation also underscores why Mark Herring must be elected as Attorney General.  If his religious extremist opponent, Mark Obenshain is elected, Obenshain would likely pressure Virginia colleges and university to provide fraudulent "ex-gay" materials to students.  Countless young lives could be damaged as a consequence.

"Ex-Gays" Loons File DOMA Brief

 

For those unfamiliar with Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays ("PFOX") it is an organization founded by and financially bankrolled by leading Christofacists organization - some of which are registered hate groups - that exists for the sole purpose of maintaining the myth that sexual orientation is a "choice" and something that can be "changed."  While PFOX constantly talks about the thousands and thousands of "ex-gays" that allegedly exist, the only ones that are ever visible are those on "ex-gay" ministry payrolls.  The DOMA and Proposition 8 cases before the U. S. Supreme Court have brought forth a veritable avalanche of amicus brief filings by every nut-bag Christofascist organization imaginable.  Thus, it is no surprise that PFOX has joined the list of religious extremists submitting delusional briefs in the cases.  

As the American Bar Association copy of the PFOX's brief shows, PFOX seeks to deny equity for LGBT Americans.  A quick read of the brief shows it to be a regurgitation of the standard discredited "research" used by the Christofascists to avoid a finding that sexual orientation is immutable and that, therefore, any gay laws should be given strict scrutiny in terms of rationale and discriminatory impact.  If the law clerks at the U. S. Supreme Court are smart, the PFOX brief will be immediately "round filed."  Joe Jervis has an apt description of the PFOX batshitery:

Parents & Friends Of Ex-Gays (PFOX) have filed a Supreme Court brief against the overturn of DOMA. The group is headed by lifelong homosexual Greg Quinlan, who also chairs the anti-gay New Jersey Family Policy Council. In the brief PFOX cites the 2009 DC Superior Court ruling that "ex-gays" are to be afforded anti-protection discrimination as a distinct sexual orientation. The brief goes on to declare that nobody is born gay, that homosexuality is "chosen," and that all the members of PFOX can be found trolling the glory holes at dirty bookstores and truck stops with Eugene Delgaudio on any given night.*

PFOX goes on to cite NARTH, whose co-founder was busted for hiring lithe young Latino prostitutes, and JONAH, who is being sued for asking male clients to expose their genitals and grope themselves in order to "get in touch with their masculinity." Also cited is "ex-gay counselor" Richard Cohen, who asks clients to beat a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming, "Why, Mommy? Why did you make me gay?" 

Such is the "science" used by the Christofascists to avoid admitting that religious based bigotry, and religious based bigotry alone is what is behind DOMA and Proposition 8.  There is no other objective, rational basis for either law.

.  

California Bans "Repartive Therapy" For Minors

Over the screams and shouts of the Christianist snake oil merchants who make a living preying on the parents of LGBT youth who are willing to pay big bucks to "cure" their gay child, the California legislature has enacted a ban therapist using the debunked "reparative therapy" on those under the age of 18 years.  Frankly, the ban should have banned the use of the fraudulent and down right dangerous practice for everyone, but at least this action is a start in the right direction.  No doubt the Christofascists will now be terrified that other states may summon the nerve to likewise protect minors from charlatans. Should that happen, PFOX and NARTH might go out of business. The Chicago Tribune has details. Here are excerpts:

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California's state Assembly approved a bill on Tuesday to prohibit children and teenagers from undergoing a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality, moving the state closer to becoming the first to impose such a ban.

The 51-21 vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say the so-called conversion therapy has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder.

Opponents of the practice say such attempts to change sexual orientation can cause depression and lead to substance abuse and suicide.

Several openly gay legislators championed the bill in emotional speeches during the floor debate, citing their own childhood experiences.

If [Governor Jerry] Brown signs the bill into law, California would become the first state in the nation to outlaw such therapy for minors.

Republican opponents of the measure said politicians should not step in and regulate what they consider to be a matter for medical boards to decide. They also said the bill encroaches on the rights of parents to make choices for their children.

"That's why parents have children -- to hand down their legacies, their belief systems, the way they want their children raised," Assembly member Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield, said during the floor debate.

Using Grove's theory, I guess it's also fine for parents to teach their children to be racists and anti-Semites too.  Having a child does not give one the right to submit that child to harmful beliefs and/or treatments

PFOX Foams at the Mouth Over Californai Ban on Reparative Therapy

I realize that I write frequently about the "ex-gay" snake oil merchants - many of whom have no career or respectability (at least in lunatic Christofascist circles) other than through their ex-gay for pay positions.  The California legislation that would ban all reparative therapy for those under 18 and require pointed disclosure for patients (victims is a better term) over age 18.  Now, with the California bill moving forward through the state Senate (it has already passed the Assembly), the snake oil merchants are going berserk.  A case in point is the totally disingenuous and totally Christian Right funded Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays ("PFOX").    No legitimate medical or mental health association supports the use of reparative.  That's right ZERO legitimate associations.  Think Progress looks at the utter batshitery being sewed by PFOX and, in my view, the self-loathing ex-gay for pay, Greg Quinlan.  Here are some article highlights:

As SB 1172, a California bill to protect children from the harms of ex-gay therapy, continues to advance, those who defend the junk science are responding more and more desperately. PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) is a fringe group that claims to advocate for the rights of avowed ex-gays, asserting that those who have repressed their sexual orientation are victimized by LGBT activists — they are victims, but for a very different reason. The group wrote to Sen. Ted Lieu (D) last week, attacking him for sponsoring a bill that “smacks of fascism and ex-gay bashing” and harms children:

Sponsoring legislation endorsed by the gay lobby to ensure that children only receive gay-affirming therapy is an act of childhood endangerment and an unconstitutional attempt to deny parental rights everywhere  .  .  .  

You endanger youth by denying their right to receive therapeutic help, promoting homosexual behavior to sexually confused youth, and conveniently ignoring the facts about the psychological and physical health risks of sodomy.

[T]he greatest danger to children is when their identities — their very lives — are not only stigmatized by their families, but forcibly rejected through these outlandish “therapies” that have no basis in psychological research. Family rejection has significant consequences for LGBT youth, including poor academic performance, depression and substance abuse, and homelessness. In fact, LGBT youth who struggle to come out at school or home are more likely to contract HIV. PFOX may object to affirmation of gay, lesbian, and bisexual identities, but the American Academy of Pediatricians has called for such affirmation for decades, because it is in the best interest of children’s mental health. Parents have no “civil right” to subject their children to the abuse of ex-gay therapy.

A Change.org petition is rallying support for Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign the bill should it pass the Assembly and Senate, which it seems poised to do by the end of this month. The first of its kind, this anti-ex-gay therapy bill would revolutionize the dignity LGBT people have in society by protecting young people from harmful stigma.

I suspect that PFOX's real concern is that passage of this legislation might set the stage for more states enacting the ban and (i) protecting youth from damaging, religious based lies, and (ii) making it more difficult to be duped by frauds like Quinlan.  Should that happen, then the ex-gays for pay might have to - oh, the HORROR - find real jobs and stop preying on religiously tortured LGBT individuals and their families.

Maryland Schools Finally Say "No More" to Fraudulent "Ex-Gay" Group

For years now the Christianist funded "Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, a/k/a PFOX has been working to disseminate its bogus junk science based ex-gay propaganda in the Montgomery County, Maryland schools.  Never mind that every legitimate medical and mental health association states that the ex-gay myth is a lie and potentially very harmful.  Thankfully, the school division has belatedly said "No" to allowing PFOX's poisonous and fraudulent in the public schools.  This step has required that other legitimate materials likewise be banned from distribution to students, but the school division decided that it was a trade off worth making.  A piece in The New Civil Rights Movement looks at this action which has slammed the doors on PFOX's fraudulent, witch doctor like propaganda.  Here are highlights:

The Montgomery County, Maryland School Board made just such a sacrifice on behalf of their students this summer. An organized band of predators with their own virulent form of creeping crud, is stalking their gay and questioning middle school and high school students. The group, known as PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex Gays, is actively targeting at-risk kids who are confused about sex and sexuality. PFOX not only tells kids who feel an attraction to someone of the same-sex that something is wrong with them, they tell their parents that sexual preference is a choice, and if they would just turn their children over to the tender mercies of PFOX, they will put them straight; and they do this at the very time in the teen’s life when psychologists say the support of the parent is critical for his (or her) successful future.

The Montgomery School District did not want to be complicit in that message, in fact they required a disclaimer saying nothing about the PFOX program was endorsed by the school, but PFOX had burrowed itself into a legal loophole. Montgomery County schools had a longstanding community outreach program that allowed local businesses and non-profit groups to send home fliers with the students four times a year. It was envisioned as a way local businesses could offer special deals, or groups could organize after school activities. But for six long years, PFOX used the program to send out it’s misinformation fliers, trumpeting their “success” while doing who knows what damage to gay and questioning kids and their families.

Parents complained. Students complained. The local media would run stories about PFOX every time they sent out one of their fliers, causing even Montgomery County residents without school-aged children to complain too. Joshua Starr, the new Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, called the PFOX fliers “reprehensible” and “deplorable” when a student challenged him on the subject at a meet-the-new-boss town hall meeting. 

[T]his June, the Montgomery school board finally decided it was better that no one be allowed to send out fliers than to continue to allow PFOX to plague the families in the district for another school year. On a 6-1 vote, the school board ended the flier program for all the middle schools and high schools in the district.

Now we wait for the PFOX response. Their leadership is angry. Peter Sprigg, who sits on the group’s board of directors, sniped, “I don’t think censorship is the message that we should be teaching students in a free society.” Sprigg says with a straight face the PFOX message is not homophobic nor is it hate speech, which is the only thing the federal judge told the schools they could reject.

Will PFOX seek revenge by targeting 5 to 11-year-olds? The school flier program is still operating in the elementary schools.   .   .   .   .    So make your predictions. Will PFOX attempt to send their garbage science home through the grade-schoolers? If they try, will the Montgomery County School Board again take a stand to protect the vulnerable kids in their charge? We will certainly be watching when the school bell rings in the next round of this prize fight come September. PFOX and the resistance of the Montgomery School Board, will remain On Our Radar.

One can only hope that the school division will take whatever future actions needed to keep PFOX's lies and deliberate misinformation away from school children.  Subjecting students to such lies is in my opinion nothing short of child abuse.

Cat Fight Develops Between "Ex-Gay" Myth Proponents

UPDATED: Religion Dispatches also has a good piece on what the Christianists consider to be Alan Chamber's hersey.  Here's a sampling:

Chambers acknowledged that most Exodus members are single and remain so, that those who are married are trying to salvage an existing marriage rather than starting new, straight ones, and that homosexual desire stays homosexual desire. “In the past,” he said, “we’ve been aligned with organizations that believe feelings can completely change, temptations can completely go away. We now believe that’s an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation that can cause a lot of damage.” Rather than insisting on change, the organization now claims to help support those who wish to align their sexual lives with their religious faith. “We’re here to support those who are in conflict at the place where their sexual attractions meet their faith,” Chambers said.

This is not to say that Exodus can necessarily be trusted to independently take those and other positions in support of the life and liberty of gay people in a responsible and timely fashion. But it does suggest that Exodus is changing, is engaged in an actual conversation with gays and lesbians, and is receptive to efforts to keep it a little more honest and hold it a little more accountable. That change may be tentative, its direction may be uncertain, it may well be motivated by money, and suspicion, of course, is warranted. But dismissing that change is inaccurate

Needles to say hate groups such as Family Research Council and American Family Association are beside themselves.   Personally, I suspect that Chambers - like Warren Throckmorton who used to advocate that change was possible - has seen the hand writing on the wall.  With all legitimate medical and mental health associations condemning "reparative therapy" it is only a matter of time before these bogus ministries and therapists who perpetuate the change myth are either shut down by state regulators or hit with major lawsuits.  Thus the issue is either move away from the disingenuous change myth or be shut down and put out of business over the longer term.

ORIGINAL POST: One of the things that gives me perverse pleasure is watching the Christofascists get in a cat fight amongst each other when someone finally briefly acknowledges reality and makes an "the emperor has no clothes" statement that draws attention to the lies and disingenuousness of their former compatriots.  A case in point? Exodus International's recent admission that gays cannot change their sexual orientation.  This is utter heresy to the "family values" organizations and professional Christians who have pour tons of money and crafted a relentless propaganda campaign to try to convince the public, but more importantly, politicians that being gays is a "choice" or a "behavior" as opposed to in immutable characteristic - an immutable characteristic that would support non-discrimination laws just like race, national origin and gender.   It's also heresy to the psychologically disturbed "ex-gays for pay" who see their livelihood going down the toilet if they can't prey on those tortured by toxic religious belief to line their wallets and bank accounts.  The New York Times looks at the in fighting now overtaking this group of charlatans as Exodus International belatedly begins to accept scientific reality.  Here are some excepts:

For more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, which holds that homosexuals can be “cured” through Christian prayer and psychotherapy.

Exodus leaders claimed its network of ministries had helped tens of thousands rid themselves of unwanted homosexual urges. The notion that homosexuality is not inborn but a choice was seized on by conservative Christian groups who oppose legal protections for gay men and lesbians and same-sex marriage. 

But the ex-gay movement has been convulsed as the leader of Exodus, in a series of public statements and a speech to the group’s annual meeting last week, renounced some of the movement’s core beliefs. Alan Chambers, 40, the president, declared that there was no cure for homosexuality and that “reparative therapy” offered false hopes to gays and could even be harmful. His statements have led to charges of heresy and a growing schism within the network.

In a phone interview Thursday from Orlando, Fla., where Exodus has its headquarters, Mr. Chambers amplified on the views that have stirred so much controversy. He said that virtually every “ex-gay” he has ever met still harbors homosexual cravings, himself included. Mr. Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said that gay Christians like himself faced a lifelong spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it. 

He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr. Chambers said he believed that those who persist in homosexual behavior could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven.

Mr. Chambers’s comments come at a time of widening acceptance of homosexuality and denunciation of reparative therapy by professional societies that say it is based on faulty science and potentially harmful.

A bill to outlaw “conversion therapy” for minors has passed the California Senate and is now before the State Assembly. Earlier this year, a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, apologized for publishing what he now calls an invalid study, which said many patients had largely or totally switched their sexual orientation.

Some in the ex-gay world are more scathing about Mr. Chambers.   “I think Mr. Chambers is tired of his own personal struggles, so he’s making excuses for them by making sweeping generalizations about others,” said Gregg Quinlan . . . 

Many of the local ministries in Exodus continue to attack gays and lesbians, said David Roberts, editor of the Web site Ex-Gay Watch, and they often have close ties with reparative therapists. He speculated that Mr. Chambers was trying to steer the group in a moderate direction because “they were becoming pariahs” in a society that is more accepting of gay people. 

Mr. Chambers said he was simply trying to restore Exodus to its original purpose when it was founded in 1976: providing spiritual support for Christians who are struggling with homosexual attraction. 

He said that he was happy in his marriage, with a “love and devotion much deeper than anything I experienced in gay life,” but that he knew this was not feasible for everyone. Many Christians with homosexual urges may have to strive for lives of celibacy.  But those who fail should not be severely judged, he said, adding, “We all struggle or fall in some way.”

As one who tried to "pray away the gay" for 37 years and experienced profound self-hate and self-loathing when I could not "change" I know full well what a line of utter bullshit the "ex-gay" myth is in fact.  What religiously tortured gays need to do is find a new church and/or denomination as opposed to trying to change the unchangeable.  If those who in my opinion are psychologically disturbed such as Greg Quinlan want to delude themselves and pretend that they have "changed," it's their right to do so.  But they need to cease disseminating lies and trying to convince legislators that sexual orientation is not an immutable characteristic.  I also believe that straight spouses need to think twice before they marry an "ex-gay" who despite the best of intentions simply can never be straight.