Freedom to choose conversion therapy, which is rooted in hateful and harmful ideologies perpetuated by homophobes, should not be a choice offered to LGBTQ people in the first place.
In a recent letter to the editor, Wayne Lela considered it an insult to the “intelligence of people” that California legislators are considering Assembly Bill 2943, which would make it illegal for adults to receive conversion therapy.
Frankly, it’s an insult to intelligence that people still believe in the so-called effectiveness of this therapy, decades after the American Psychiatric Association ruled out homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Lela, founder of Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment, classifies sexual and gender identities straying from heterosexuality as disorders and encourages people to ask their legislator to drop the “anti-choice bill.”
Also, if you haven’t already heard, the two new genders are officially “heterophobic homosexuals” and “normal heterosexuals” and a new sexuality, sadism.
Obviously no skewed ideas of gender and sexuality there. People with these beliefs have no valuable input to offer people who are LGBTQ, let alone advise them to seek conversion.
Conversion therapy, a discriminatory practice that aims to change a person’s sexual and or gender identity, can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness and suicide as stated by the Human Rights Campaign.
Nowhere in the gay agenda does it include converting people to a desired sexuality via electroshock therapy, nausea-inducing drugs and other violent methods, so they can’t be the deviant ones here.
There is already enough trauma and self-hatred caused by internalized homophobia, sometimes lifelong, and people want to give others the choice to risk their health and well-being even more?
And for what? Wanting to fix someone that doesn’t need fixing?
Queer love is beautiful and deserves support and recognition, not the alternative to “convert” for the sake of homophobes’ comfort.
Instead of maintaining this glorified view of heterosexuality, acknowledge that being lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender does not indicate disease, illness or disorder.
Give LGBTQ people the freedom to build a life rooted in self-acceptance and love, which is possible to achieve through plain ol’ therapy. Hold the conversion.
Counseling for LGBTQ minors and adults does exist and is the healthier, better option than the “freedom” to learning how to repress your identity.
It is already illegal for minors to receive conversion therapy in California by licensed mental health counselors, so there’s no logic in banning a violent practice for minors and then deciding that it is an acceptable practice available to adults.
Young, legal adults can still be vulnerable to others in a position of power over them and who convince them to seek such treatment.
The bill states that “‘courts, including in California, have recognized the practice of sexual orientation efforts as a commercial service’ and therefore, conversion therapy ‘may constitute unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices.'”
Turns out the heterosexual agenda includes risking LGBTQ lives for not only personal views, but monetary gains as well.
People deserve a chance to heal, especially the ones with the most internalized homophobia and hatred for themselves.
Don’t buy into the supposed freedom of choice at the cost of other people’s safety.
