Obama to Call for End to ‘Conversion’ Therapies for Gay and Transgender Youth

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Source: N.Y. Times

WASHINGTON — A 17-year-old transgender youth, Leelah Alcorn, stunned her friends and a vast Internet audience in December when she threw herself in front of a tractor-trailer after writing in an online suicide note that religious therapists had tried to convert her back to being a boy.

In response, President Obama this week will call for an end to such psychiatric therapies aimed at “repairing” gay, lesbian and transgender youth, White House officials said. His decision on the sensitive issue is the latest example of his continuing embrace of gay rights.

In a statement to be posted on Wednesday evening alongside a WhiteHouse.gov petition begun in honor of Ms. Alcorn, Mr. Obama will condemn the psychiatric practice, sometimes called “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, which is supported by some socially conservative organizations and religious doctors. The petition has received more than 120,000 signatures in three months.

“We share your concern about its potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer youth,” the statement, written by Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, says, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times. “As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/us/politics/obama-to-call-for-end-to-conversion-therapies-for-gay-and-transgender-youth.html?_r=0

[47of74]

1. Good. The hacks that push this crap should be in prison for a very long time.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. That would include Marcus Bachmann....

[awoke_in_2003]

14. He's so gay...

that Richard Simmons tells him to tone it down

[Hekate]

2. Kick Rec Gratitude Sorrow -- and again, Gratitude

for Leelah and all those harmed by this quackery

for Barack Obama, my president

[Initech]

3. Conversion therapy is a form of torture and should be recognized by the UN as such.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Snake oil psychobabble.

Hey Obama....



And thank you..

[libodem]

5. Effing Good!

Yay! 'bout time.

[romanic]

6. Sad.

That "therapy" such as this was even allowed to exist. Go get em Obama.

[marym625]

7. I am very happy that the White House has made this decision.

A statement from President Obama will cause a conversation and hopefully help some States pass laws ending this horror.

However, I believe more should be done. A federal bill should be introduced outlawing this ridiculous and harmful "therapy."

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. The fundies will claim this is an attack on their faith.

[WestSeattle2]

10. Only those deeply ignorant of human sexuality can believe

that conversion therapy works. It does not. The fact that many conflate "different" with sick, or wrong, in 2015, does not reflect well on the quality of education regarding our bodies.

Human sexual orientation spans a broad spectrum, from 100% heterosexual to 100% homosexual. All of us fall onto this spectrum somewhere. Who we choose to have sex with really is a matter of what feels natural.

Which is why so many religious people claim that sexual orientation is a choice. Since they may be 75%, 80% or 95% heterosexual, they "choose" not to act on their homosexual fantasies and desires. They "pray away the gay", which of course is utter nonsense. They're engaging in sexual activity that feels natural to them, so making a "choice" to ignore their homosexual fantasies is easy.

Likewise, for people who are predominantly homosexual, having sex with others of your own gender is natural. Having sex with opposite gender people isn't natural at all. Bisexuals feel natural having sex with both genders.

None of this is wrong, or sick, or perverted. It's human sexuality - and it's JUST SEX.

[Aristus]

11. Thank you, as always, Mr. President, for doing the right, just, and humane thing.

The science-deniers will turn a deaf ear, of course. But those who are open-minded and seek the truth may help reduce the number of lives broken and destroyed through this despicable pseudo-science.

From a FLAG...

[LittleGirl]

12. My cousin

Last edited Sat Apr 11, 2015, 12:49 AM - Edit history (1)

attended those conversion therapies at the local church in AL and he said, it didn't work. Everyday, he woke up gay.

Love that guy.
edit: spelling

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. Is he ok?

Hope he survived the "therapies" intact.

[LittleGirl]

16. Yes, he's fine

Although, he didn't come out until after his father passed away because his father would have taken him out back and shot him, if he had known. That's how bad it is down there.

[Ineeda]

13. But, but...

religion and capitalism and freedoms and such like....

[tomm2thumbs]

17. Psychology Today no longer accepts gay conversion therapy ads

The magazine has also deleted any medical practitioners who provide such treatment from its professional listings.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/psychology-today-no-longer-accepting-ads-gay-conversion-therapy