I read the text of AB2943 so you don’t have to… and noticed right away that the bill begins by justifying itself with statements from organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association. The typical statement says conversion therapy is based upon prejudice against LGBTs, seeks to propagate that prejudice and offers false hope that curing sexual perversion is possible. (That last bit enabling consumer protection laws to be applied. That’s as sensible as a doctor saying “I might be able to cure your cancer but the treatment might hurt and not work, therefore I’m not allowed to treat you”.) But these organization themselves previously believed homosexuality to be abnormal until pressure from LGBT organizations changed their policies.
Translation, the justification for AB2943 is a massive circular logic loop of LGBTs forcing organization to say there’s nothing wrong with being LGBT, therefore it’s okay for LGBTs to force organizations to say there’s nothing wrong with LGBT. I’ll fisk some of the highlights.
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2943
(a) Contemporary science recognizes that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, or illness
This one’s just a lie but it needs to be exposed. Not listed among the assenting organizations of “contemporary science” is the Center for Disease Control.
http://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/STD.htm
“Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) have been rising among gay and bisexual men, with increases in syphilis being seen across the country. In 2014, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 83% of primary and secondary syphilis cases where sex of sex partner was known in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men often get other STDs, including chlamydia and gonorrhea infections. HPV (Human papillomavirus), the most common STD in the United States, is also a concern for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. … Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are 17 times more likely to get anal cancer than heterosexual men. Men who are HIV-positive are even more likely than those who do not have HIV to get anal cancer.”
Contemporary science, specifically contemporary social science, assumes the existence of a category called “normal”. LGBT is not what normal humans do–the plug goes in the socket, not the toaster, for 98+% of us. Therefore, LGBT is abnormal. That is a purely scientific statement.
(b) The American Psychological Association convened the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation. The task force conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal literature on sexual orientation change efforts and issued a report in 2009. The task force concluded that sexual orientation change efforts can pose critical health risks to [LGBTs]
I found that report. http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response.pdf
This quotation from page 54 will suffice for the casual reader: The appropriate application of affirmative psychotherapy is based on the following scientific facts: Same-sex sexual attractions, behavior, and orientations per se are normal and positive variants of human sexuality … There are no empirical studies or peer-reviewed research that support theories attributing same-sex sexual orientation to family dysfunction or trauma
It’s a work of hopelessly biased academic fraud. Given that sodomy is healthy, are efforts to end sodomy healthy?
(d) The American Psychiatric Association published a position statement in March of 2000, stating [among other things]: anecdotal reports of “cures” are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm.
Make up your mind. Are anecdotes trustworthy or not?
(g) The National Association of Social Workers prepared a 1997 policy statement, stating: .Social stigmatization of lesbian, gay and bisexual people is widespread and is a primary motivating factor in leading some people to seek sexual orientation changes. Sexual orientation conversion therapies assume that homosexual orientation is both pathological and freely chosen. No data demonstrates that reparative or conversion therapies are effective, and, in fact, they may be harmful..
If homosexual orientation is freely chosen then there would be no market for conversion therapy. But there is, proving that homosexuals themselves believe it is not freely chosen, so their advocates deny freedom of choice to LGBTs in order to claim LGBTs have no choice.
(i) The American School Counselor Association issued a position statement in 2014, stating: .It is not the role of the professional school counselor to attempt to change a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Professional school counselors do not support efforts by licensed mental health professionals to change a student’s sexual orientation or gender as these practices have been proven ineffective and harmful..
We professionals are incompetent at solving the problem, therefore any attempt to solve the problem will be proof of professional incompetence.
(l) The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization, issued a statement in May of 2012, stating: .These supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by international and regional agreements.” The organization also noted that reparative therapies “lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people..
You can trust Big Brother because Big Brother doesn’t trust you. Does a Catch-22 count as circular logic?
(q) California has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
That what conversion therapists want, to. California is protecting LGBTs from those who want to protect LGBTs. Does California have a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of back pain sufferers from chiropractors? Scoliosis victims are normal people!
Sacramento’s real compelling interesting is that homosexuals aren’t born. They’re recruited, most often through homosexual child abuse. Conversion therapy is a direct threat to recruitment… to the enduring sexual violation of the innocent.
The reason for AB2943’s very existence is fradulent.