Measure would make it virtually impossible to get therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction in California

Suffering from unwanted same-sex attraction and want psychological help? Better hurry if you live in California. A bill currently being considered in the state legislature would make “sexual orientation change efforts” almost impossible to get for adults — and illegal altogether for minors.

“Senate bill 1172 would ban children under 18 from undergoing so-called sexual orientation-change efforts and would require adults seeking such treatment to sign informed consent forms indicating they understand the potential dangers, including depression and suicide, of reparative therapy and that it has no medical basis,” the measure’s sponsor, state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, said in a press release. 

Lieu’s bill would also create a new cause of action in civil law, permitting lawsuits to be brought against therapists offering “sexual orientation change efforts” if the treatment occurred “without first obtaining informed consent or by means of therapeutic deception, or if the sexual orientation change efforts were conducted on a patient who was under 18 years of age at any point during the use of the sexual orientation change efforts.”

“To obtain informed consent,” says Lieu’s bill, “a treating psychotherapist shall provide a patient with a form to be signed by the patient that provides informed consent. The form shall include the following statement:

Having a lesbian, gay, or bisexual sexual orientation is not a mental disorder. There is no scientific evidence that any types of therapies are effective in changing a person’s sexual orientation. Sexual orientation change efforts can be harmful. The risks include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.

Medical and mental health associations that oppose the use of sexual orientation change efforts include the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Counseling Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

In addition, says SB 1172, “Under no circumstances shall a patient under 18 years of age undergo sexual orientation change efforts, regardless of the willingness of a patient’s parent, guardian, conservator, or other person to authorize such efforts.”

Lieu, a self-identified Catholic, introduced the bill at the request of Equality California, a pro-homosexual lobbying group.

“I can honestly say this is one of the most outrageous, speech-chilling bills we have ever seen in California — and that’s saying a lot,” said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative legal group that strongly opposes the bill.

“SB 1172 blames those who believe change is possible for gay suicides, guilt, substance abuse, relationship problems, and a host of other ills,” said Pacific Justice Institute staff attorney Matthew McReynolds, who attended an April 23 hearing on the bill before the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. “As if all that were not enough, the bill claims that sexually-confused youth who experience ‘family rejection… face especially serious health risks’ and the state has a ‘compelling interest’ to protect their health. The logical implication from these two assertions is that the state is giving itself the power to take kids away from parents who do not affirm the kids’ sexual confusion.”

Lieu’s bill cleared the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on a 5-3 vote along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. It is now scheduled to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, possibly as soon as May 8.

“For many years gay activists have been trying to convince the public that homosexual attractions cannot be changed,” said the National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality (NARTH) in a statement opposing SB 1172. “Since the evidence proves otherwise, they then moved on to trying to convince us that change therapies are ‘dangerous,’ but once again even the American Psychological Association agrees that no such evidence is available. Now in what is apparently a move of desperation they are trying to accomplish through fines and sanctions aimed directly at individual clients and their therapists what they could not accomplish through misinformation.”

NARTH is a 1000-member international association of psychology professionals who offer counseling to those with same-sex attraction who seek help.

“NARTH seeks to support the many homosexual men and women who are profoundly distressed by their condition,” says NARTH. “Homosexuality is experienced by them as completely contrary to their value system and their conviction that all men and women would normally be heterosexual were it not for disturbances in their early lives.”

“We acknowledge that many homosexual men and women do not wish to change their psychosexual adaptation, and we respect their wishes not to seek therapy,” the statement continues. “Furthermore we do not wish to diminish the rights of homosexually oriented people in society. However, we believe that treatment should be offered to those who voluntarily seek it.”

But Lieu calls such treatment “junk science” that must be stopped. “Under the guise of a California license, some therapists are taking advantage of vulnerable people by pushing dangerous sexual orientation-change efforts,” he said.

According to a legislative analyst’s review of the bill for the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, the following organizations issued a joint letter opposing SB 1172:

California Psychological Association
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors
California Psychiatric Association
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Among other things, the professional organizations noted that, under SB 1172, the state is trying to “micromanage the work of individual therapists.”

Practitioners, they said in the joint letter, are already subject to regulation by licensing agencies that determine guidelines for appropriate professional and ethical conduct, and a “statutory ban on types of therapy is not the right venue and there is very little precedent in state law to make an outright ban on a specific type of therapy.”

 

READER COMMENTS

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:11 AM By JLS
Lieu is a “junk catholic”, not a real one.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:57 AM By slow17motion
You are aware that this “therapy” is complete hogwash and actually CAUSES harm. There’s nothing wrong with homosexuality. Trying to change it is futile and the Christian organizations that try to “pray the gay away” are ridiculous. I mean, they have no actual common practices and the results are historically atrocious. Just stop it.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 4:20 AM By Dan
Given that Califronia is in control of the democrats, it seems this bill is destined to pass. The only hope is the fact that Lieu’s claim of “junk science” is open to emprical analysis. NARTH should have in its files enough data to shed light on this shameful lie. The people helped by NARTH need to come forward . Time also for the American Psychological Association to step up to the plate, if NARTH’s claim is true. If the Association has indeed found no evidence for Lieu’s charge, then it should require its name be dropped from the consent form, and take action against the bill. From where I sit, if the democrats succeed in pushing this bill through and it becomes law, I would expect the state through its gay activists to pursue a costly war against christians as it has set itself up as a god. I cannot imagine anything other than that Christian teaching on homosexual acts will be criminalized. And can you imagine the lawsuits this will invite by individuals who may have sought help from NARTH, or a pastor or priest, decided the therapy/counseling did not work for them, and “discovered” thereafter that NARTH et al. had ruined their lives?

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 4:24 AM By Mark from PA
According to this article this bill doesn’t make sexual orientation therapy “almost impossible to get for adults.” It just makes them have to sign a form with the statements that you listed. They just have to be aware of the risks of such therapies but they still can choose to have the therapy. In regards to children, I believe that children should be protected from being forced by their parents to get such therapies as there is risk involved. In some instances abuse is involved here so the children need to be protected.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 5:30 AM By hoary
Let’s see. Its easier for a 14 yr old girl to get an abortion than to seek this theapry. Truly, the inmates have taken over the asylum.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 5:56 AM By Sue in soCal
California keeps voting for these people so we get the government we deserve.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 6:04 AM By JMJ
And once again, another alleged ‘catholic’ that is working his way into hell. God’s Word is very clear on those that can’t get into Heaven, and among those listed and why we won’t be able to get a lawyer in Heaven, are the group under the title: LIARS, and seeing by this very dangerous man, he is a liar or hopefully just someone completely ignorant or completely blind about the truth; as homosexuality and all of it’s various names, is deathstyle that is chosen, and it is called SIN. +JMJ+

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 6:49 AM By Jo Ann 
Please Mr. Lieu tell me this isn’t so. How much more of this garbage can we take. He is not a Roman Catholic! He should be fearing for his eternal soul. Repent. What ever kick-back your receiving, give it back. Your soul is not worth the exchange

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 7:03 AM By straight licensed co
It seems perfectly reasonable that clients in a vulnerable place of conflict between their sexual identity and cultural/religious identity are protected from spiritual ambulance chasers by being allowed informed consent based on best current science and practice guidelines. Stop trying to promote and impose these harmful and insupportable beliefs about sexual diversity onto people who need genuine help to resolve conflict, from informed non-exploitative professionals, on their journey to integrate their sexual and spiritual lives.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 7:17 AM By tom Byrne
If they get away with telling therapists they can’t counsel people away from a “lifestyle”, what’s to stop them from telling religion teachers like myself the same thing? “They came for the therapists, but I was not a therapist…..”

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 7:36 AM By Laurette Elsberry
Another “Catholic” selling out his faith.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 8:17 AM By Bud 
Strange but totally believable for California. While they accuse everyone else as bigots and haters of homosexuals. Now they demand law changes to force anyone so repulsed by their fake claims from wanting to escape the contentions of the ultra gay self-haters passing it off on others who don’t even know what it’s about. Homosexuals of all types suffer the same conditions that they want to prevent a few others from obtaining. They will never understand, they are equal already but just want to change the dictionary on what marriage is and why it is!

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 8:35 AM By Ygnacia
Homosexuality is an area of deep woundedness in a person – it is a huge disservice to disallow treatment and healing.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 8:40 AM By Tom in San Jose
Who is Lieu’s bishop? He should be speaking up to set the record straight on Lieu’s “Catholicity”.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 8:57 AM By JLS
Modernist Catholic instruction presents Catholicism as a commodity to be traded in the marketplace. This character demonstrates this clearly.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:02 AM By JLS
This bill would give the state the authority to define human nature and human identity. This would thus prohibit any competition, say, by individuals to define themselves or by religions such as Christianity to define people as being made in the image and likeness of God, or to contradict how the state would define God. Welcome to the Anti-Christ.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:05 AM By contrary
I suppose it will be illegal to read certain parts of the Bible which describe homosexual behavior as as sin. Should we let Mr. Lieu re-write the illegal passages, or should we simply use a pair of scissors to remove the illegal passages? (Genesis 19, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:22, Judges 19:22-23, Wisdom 14:26, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9 , 1 Timothy 1:10, and Jude 1:7).

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:16 AM By peter
tom Byrne – Sexuality is not a “lifestyle”.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:23 AM By Maryanne Leonard
NPR had a wonderful one-hour-long program presenting the history of how the homosexuality was taken off the list of disordered mental conditions in the basic diagnostic manual used throughout the field of psychology and psychiatry. Of course the reason was that the head of the project charged with renewing the manual was a psychiatrist who led a double life as a married man with children and as an active homosexual! This one, somewhat obscure homosexual, together with his gay lovers in the field who backed him up, has changed our society far more than Freud or Jung has, and you see the results all around you today.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:27 AM By Ray
Hmmm. The state allows a person to undergo sexual preference change, but does that person really become the opposite sex? Perhaps in appearance only. Schools allow persons who think they are transvesites to dress anyway they want. Using this bill’s “junk logic”, these change therapies are ‘dangerous: Quote from the requirements of the form: “The form shall include the following statement: “Sexual orientation change efforts can be harmful. The risks include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.” This applies to the cases I mentioned as well.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:43 AM By goodcause
Government enters the treatment room to predetermine the outcome of a medical issue. Ridiculous law, advocacy based rather than medically based.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 9:54 AM By Sarah
Many Catholics vote Democrat. Catholics keep voting these radical, pro-homosexual and pro-abortion candidates into office as governor and legislators, then howl when they pass immoral and unscientific legislation. What do you expect? Before the next election study a candidate’s past record and study the Democrat party’s platform and see if these people are whom you want controling your life.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 10:12 AM By Catherine
More disgraceful actions from those who feel quite comfortable to call themselves Catholic. Mr. Lieu’s ancestors would be so very ashamed of his betrayal of moral values.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 10:16 AM By tom byrne
Peter: to choose to give in to temptations to do evil is indeed a “lifestyle” choice, even if the temptations are not. No one is a sinner for being tempted. He sins because he chooses freely to act against God’s law. That’s what I teach my students.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 10:25 AM By Abeca Christian
This is horrible and an injustice! The human dignity is compromised with such evil bills. Sometime I am at loss of words because this is just getting worst to help reach out to homosexuals. That is why I gave up, why even bother! It’s best to move to another state where it’s not as bad as in California because we can still see some miracles. But I would hate to leave this state and hand it over to the “gay’ activists!

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 10:28 AM By Catherine
Maryanne Leonard, BINGO! Now you see why an underhanded troll wanted to keep you silent! Keep up the very good work!

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 11:29 AM By Dan
“You are aware that this “therapy” is complete hogwash and actually CAUSES harm.” Slow17motion, this statemetn of yours is certainly open to empirical verification. It would be instructive, I think, to ask for documentation of your claim. Certainly the people at NARTH keep records, and though I am sure they are confidential, why not go online and share your claims with them? You might find the reply interesting.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 11:46 AM By MIKE
Sarah, You are correct – prior to voting, one must always check the public statements and public voting record of all candidates. PUBLIC VOTING RECORDS do not lie. There are a few good Democrats, but most adhere to their pro-abortion Party Platform. Elected officials appoint people of like mind to theirs in addition to passing immoral legislation – this is how the immoral cancer spreads.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 11:59 AM By Canisius
PA tell me why should parents be prohibited from protecting their own children from something they know to be immoral. Please cite with details the instances of abuse, you cant you know why, because there arent any. You just want to use the excuse of “protecting children” to see this law passed.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:11 PM By Brian S
Mark from PA – A similarly-worded “informed consent” form could be composed by those opposed to abortion and required from those seeking abortions. Would you support that?

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:20 PM By JLS
**”The form shall include the following statement: “Sexual orientation change efforts can be harmful. The risks include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.”**: Wow, this describes liberal politicians to a “t”.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:22 PM By JLS
peter, we’re on the same page at last, when you say that “sexuality is not a lifestyle”: Correct, peter, gayness is a death style.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:24 PM By JLS
So many of these Catholic educated people (supposedly men and women) rise to the top of politics by perverting Catholicism, that one can wonder if they do it in government because they were so bad at it in Church.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:25 PM By Anne T.
So putting body parts where they do not belong is pschologically sound and red is green and black is white and a horse is a fish.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:26 PM By peter
i agree Maryanne. Changed for the better.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:37 PM By Ronnie
slow17motion states: You are aware that this “therapy” is complete hogwash and actually CAUSES harm. There’s nothing wrong with homosexuality….Tell that to those who are successfully recovering from this disordered orientation. Some are married to women and have children and others belong to “Courage” and lead chaste lives…But for those who are in denial about the real harm coming from this lifestyle, there’s nothing further to say except there is healing through Jesus if you open your heart to the truth….

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 12:56 PM By Anne T.
A man or woman finding out that they can no longer fool around with their lover because their husband or wife found out causes depression too. A thief gets mighty depressed too if he is told a house he wants to rob is secure. Should we not tell them it wrong because they might “kill” themself or is it just a ploy to get their way.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 2:00 PM By Ruth
slow17motion is allowed to post their trash and truth about AB Niederauer not being fit to serve is censored? I will not donate one cent to this pseudo ‘Catholic’ website. The gay friendly editor should be fired!

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 2:09 PM By Dana
suefromsocal, I don’t agree…NO ONE deserves candidates like this! He has no understanding of the rule of law, constitutional democracy nor does he have even the remotest common sense. Mr. Doughboy should stick with something he understands…and there surely must be something! But politics that affect millions of normal people? (I’m shaking my head no and forgive me yet again, rolling my eyes)

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 2:25 PM By Delilah
Same sex attraction is an attachment disorder plain and simple. It can be over come. It is NOT genetic. Pax

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 2:26 PM By Mark from PA
Brian S, yes, I feel that informed consent forms should be required for those obtaining abortions. They should know exactly what the risks are and what they are doing. Women need to be given support and discouraged from having abortions.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 2:33 PM By Anne T.
Peter, change for the better? Tell those who died from AIDS or have incurable STDs or anal cancer that it is a “change for the better. That is all I am going to say about it any more.

Posted Monday, April 30, 2012 3:54 PM By Mark from PA
Canisius, I will give you an instance of abuse. A man that I know made the mistake of telling his father he was gay when he was a young teen. After this he was frequently beaten by his father, as his father wanted to beat the devil out of him. When he was 16 his father had a man rape him so he would know how terrible gay sex was. Until that time the young man had been a virgin. After that his father forced him into reparative therapy. It was so horrible that he wanted to kill himself. He refused to continue with this “therapy” in order to save his life. He knew 2 men that did kill themselves because of reparative therapy.