California's 'ex-gay therapy' legal fight signals homophobes' retreat

[marmar]

California's 'ex-gay therapy' legal fight signals homophobes' retreat
A last-ditch effort to stop California's new law against so-called conversion therapy shows how far gay rights have advanced

Jason Farago
guardian.co.uk, Friday 23 November 2012


It's been a good few weeks to be gay in America. We went four for four at the ballot box this month, legalizing gay marriage in three states and blocking a homophobic constitutional amendment in another. Gays can now marry in nine states plus Washington, DC, and seven more states look promising.

Just as significantly, in New York last month, the second circuit court of appeals became the latest tribunal to rule against the Defense of Marriage Act, the law denying federal benefits to married gay couples. And it did so in sweeping fashion: the court's chief judge, a Federalist Society member appointed by the first President Bush, wrote that the constitution's equal protection clause applies to gay people, something the US supreme court has never yet held. If the justices in Washington do the same as the judges in New York, the repercussions will be massive.

And this September, California became the first state in the nation to outlaw "conversion therapy" – basically, trying to make gay people straight – for children and teenagers. Jerry Brown, the governor, calls ex-gay therapy "quackery", but it's actually worse than that. The American Psychological Association, in a 2009 report, found that not only does conversion therapy have no effect on a patient's sexual orientation, but it can also lead to depression, if not suicide. And while it's harmful enough for adults, for more vulnerable teenagers the inculcation of inferiority and sinfulness that conversion therapy relies on can have lifelong effects.

Of all these victories, the prohibition of ex-gay therapy may be the sweetest. California's new law is quite literally a life-saver, and several other states, notably New Jersey, are working on similar statutes. And at a moment when the mainstream equality movement seems to care only about a privileged subset of gays, California has stepped in to protect those who are truly powerless. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/23/california-exgay-therapy-legal-fight