In a surprising move, a California legislator announced that he is dropping his efforts to have certain types of LGBT-related counseling declared “fraudulent” and “deceptive.”
Assembly Member Evan Low released a statement on his website to announce that, after meeting with numerous religious leaders who were concerned about the bill, he will re-work the legislation for a future legislative session.
Today is the last day of the year for the Legislature to give final approval to bills and send them to Gov. Jerry Brown. Throughout the process, the Legislature heard from Pacific Justice Institute and countless others explaining the bill’s unconstitutionality. Among other things, the bill called into question whether core religious doctrines such as sin, repentance, and spiritual transformation would be deemed fraudulent in the counseling context by the State.
The legislation declared that same-sex attraction and sexual orientation are normal, and any efforts to change them are “deceptive” and “fraudulent.” Earlier this summer, in a case in which PJI was involved, the U.S. Supreme Court disapproved the leading precedent from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on which AB 2943 relied.
Brad Dacus, president of PJI, commented, “We are immensely relieved that this latest threat to religious freedom in California has been taken away for at least this year. This should be a great encouragement to the faith community in California that active engagement with lawmakers can still make a difference. We will continue to be vigilant in battling similar legislation to ensure that the First Amendment remains robust.”
Some legislators expressed that they received more calls about AB 2943 than any other bill in the Legislature this year, and some staffers stated that they had never seen anything like the hundreds of people who came to committee hearings at the Capitol to speak against the bill.
The bill’s sponser states that he’ll be re-reworking the bill. In short, this means that he’ll submt another version of it which will attempt an end run around the U.S. Bill of Rights.
Democrats will never stop trying to normalize the abnormal. Gays won’t stop until they can force everyone to acquiesce to the view that gayness is normal. It is not. That it is desirable. It is not. That it is healthy. It is not. That it deserves equal treatment in all respects. It does not. That people who oppose its normalization are bigots. They are not.
Anonymous—- I agree! What is also a big mistake, is to discourage any scientific information that could be gained, in gay therapy sessions– to better understand help them! And to someday even find a cure! Homosexuals also do not need to necessarily believe in, or try, any particular kinds of medical treatments, related to HIV, AIDS, and homosexuality– it’s their choice!
Anonymous you hit the nail on the head that liberals are trying to normalize the abnormal. We live in a world where good is evil and evil is good. Brothers and sisters in Christ turn to a God of love and mercy or face God’s wrath and judgement. Jesus Christ King of Kings Lord of Lords True God and True Man is coming back soon like a thief in the night. Repent and convert! Pray America Pray. Pray Pray Pray!
He was undoubtedly told by attorneys that the bill, if approved, would never pass Constitutional muster, blacken the eyes of the progressive agenda, demoralize his constituency and energize MAGA zealots. He’d be handing conservatives another supreme court victory….
Note to California voters: When an agenda driven politician is so possessed by the power granted him through progressive fundamentalists that he is willing to suspend rational thought and advance a bill like this…let him.
Gov. Jerry Brown, at various times when young, said that he was gay, but then changed his mind, saying he was heterosexual. Finally, he got married to a woman, and has seemed happily married to her, for many years! Did he go through some sort of “therapy,” which changed his life, from gay to heterosexual?? In many cases, LGBT’S do not seem completely clear, as to their condition!
Children experiment when little and often pick up bad habits because they do not know all the consequences. They should not be labeled for a lifetime as later in life when guided in the right way, they turn out just fine and avoid those vices. Others, for some reason, do not and often end up with a shortened life span, or a lifetime of bad health.
Lowe did the right thing. He would have had to have arrested an awful lot of people — Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims and those of no religion. No one can force all people to keep their mouths shut as to what they really think. If he tries to do that, sooner or later there will be a huge backlash.
Clarification: I meant he did the right thing in withdrawing AB 2943.