Jury groundbreakg SPLC su fds gay ‘nversn’ program is unnscnable and dulent | Southern Poverty Law Center

Contents:

• NEW JERSEY BANS GAY NVERSN THERAPY
• A COURT IS FORCG THE FORMER CONVERSN THERAPISTS TO PAY MILLNS OVER “EX-GAY” ABE
• $3.5M PENALTY RESTATED GAY-CONVERSN THERAPY SU AFTER DEFENDANTS BREACH SETTLEMENT TERMS
• NEW JERSEY: GAY CONVERSN THERAPY GROUP TO CLOSE
• GAY NVERSN THERAPY URT SE BEGS: 'JONAH LIED – THEY MA WORSE'
• JURY GROUNDBREAKG SPLC SU FDS GAY ‘NVERSN’ PROGRAM IS UNNSCNABLE AND DULENT
• N.J. GOV. CHRISTIE TO SIGN BILL BANNG GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• 'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' GROUP ACCED OF D NEW JERSEY LAWSU
• GAY RIGHTS ADVOT HOPEFUL AFTER CHRISTIE SIGNS BILL BANNG NVERSN THERAPY
• NEW JERSEY 'GAY CONVERSN THERAPY' BAN UPHELD
• NEW JERSEY JUDGE L 'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' IS NSUMER D
• 'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' PROVIR ORRED TO SHUT DOWN AFTER LAWSU
• NEW JERSEY'S BAN ON GAY NVERSN THERAPY IS A VICTORY OVER RELIG NUTS
• ​JUDGE ORRS NEW JERSEY "GAY NVERSN" NONPROF TO CLOSE
• THE LEGAL BATTLE FOR GAY CONVERSN THERAPY IS A LOSG ONE

NEW JERSEY BANS GAY NVERSN THERAPY

NEW YORK (Rters) - New Jersey Republin Governor Chris Christie on Monday signed to law a measure to prevent therapists om unselg gay and lbian youths to change their sexual orientatn, makg his the send U. REUTERS/John Grs/FilThe state senate approved the measure June, puttg on the sk of Christie, who is seekg re-electn this fall and also wily nsired a Whe Hoe ntenr for the Republin Party medil and psychiatric rearch that sexual orientatn is termed at birth, the law bans state-licensed unselors, therapists and social workers om practicg a method of talk therapy that opponents have said is eply damagg to the self-teem and inty of gay youths. ”Former New Jersey Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey, who stepped down om office 2004 a gay sex sndal, praised the measure, sayg was based “sound psychiatric rearch.

Opponents of the New Jersey law have promised a legal fight as Tomicki of the League of Amerin Fai said both the New Jersey and California laws ged on a parent’s right to ci the bt treatment for his or her Stevenson, executive director of Garn State Equaly, a gay rights group and leadg proponent of the measure, said there were mov to ban the practice Massachetts and New York. Bars Jr., led that JONAH uld not legally prent homosexualy as a "disorr" but did not terme whether JONAH had actually ma that claim to s clients. " SPLC lawyers said they are nfint that evince at the trial, set for June 1, will show that JONAH has ed engaged such had prevly led that several proponents of "ex-gay" therapy will not be allowed to ttify as expert wns at the trial.

A COURT IS FORCG THE FORMER CONVERSN THERAPISTS TO PAY MILLNS OVER “EX-GAY” ABE

They clud Joseph Nilosi, a psychologist who found the Natnal Associatn for Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy, as well as other proment voic the movement, such as Christopher Doyle, Jam Phelan, and John Diggs.

The judge held that their opns are based on the false premise that homosexualy is a disorr, wrg that "the theory that homosexualy is a disorr is not novel but -- like the notn that the earth is flat and the sun revolv around -- stead is outdated and refuted. "Today's lg affirms that JONAH did d s clients by tellg them not only that homosexualy was wrong, but that uld be cured, spe overwhelmg scientific evince that shows such attempts at "reparative therapy" are effective and harmful to those subjected to . “This se was always about protectg vulnerable people and fai agast the purveyors of dulent, harmful and effective so-lled gay-to-straight nversn therapy, ” said Stt McCoy, SPLC’s terim puty legal director of LGBTQ Rights and Special Ligatn.

Beyond studi foced solely on reparative therapy, broar rearch clearly monstrat the signifint harm that societal prejudice and fay rejectn has on lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people, particularly youth.

$3.5M PENALTY RESTATED GAY-CONVERSN THERAPY SU AFTER DEFENDANTS BREACH SETTLEMENT TERMS

For example, rearch on the issue of fay acceptance of LGBTQ youth nducted at San Francis State Universy found that "pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:.

"Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Health Dispari: Executive Summary of a Policy Posn Paper From the Amerin College of Physicians. This rolutn specifilly not that ACA oppos portrayals of lbian, gay and bisexual dividuals as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn.... In 1999, the Governg Council adopted a statement ‘opposg the promotn of reparative therapy as a cure for dividuals who are homosexual.

"Our AMA… oppos, the e of 'reparative' or 'nversn' therapy that is based upon the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or based upon the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientatn. In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issu, which stat that “there is no published scientific evince supportg the efficy of “reparative therapy” as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientatn. The potential risks of “reparative therapy” are great and clu prsn, anxiety, and self-stctive behavr, sce therapist alignment wh societal prejudic agast homosexualy may rerce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.

NEW JERSEY: GAY CONVERSN THERAPY GROUP TO CLOSE

Many patients who have unrgone “reparative therapy” relate that they were accurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy dividuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfactn.

The possibily that the person might achieve happs and satisfyg terpersonal relatnships as a gay man or lbian are not prented, nor are alternative approach to alg wh the effects of societal stigmatizatn discsed... Therefore, APA oppos any psychiatric treatment, such as “reparative” or “nversn” therapy, that is based on the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or is based on the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his or her homosexual orientatn.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Amerin Psychologil Associatn reaffirms s posn that homosexualy per se is not a mental disorr and oppos portrayals of sexual mory youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn;.

GAY NVERSN THERAPY URT SE BEGS: 'JONAH LIED – THEY MA WORSE'

"Lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenred and qutng (LGBTQ) youth often beg to experience self-intifitn durg their pre-adolcent or adolcent years, as do heterosexual youth. However, the crease media mpaigns, often upled wh ercive msag om fay and muny members, has created an environment which lbians and gay men often are prsured to seek reparative or nversn therapi, which nnot and will not change sexual orientatn. Aligned wh the Amerin Psychologil Associatn's (1997) posn, NCLGB [NASW's Natnal Commtee on Lbian and Gay Issu] believ that such treatment potentially n lead to severe emotnal damage.

Specifilly, transformatnal mistri are fueled by stigmatizatn of lbians and gay men, which turn produc the social climate that prsur some people to seek change sexual orientatn.

Servic that purport to "cure" people wh non-heterosexual sexual orientatn lack medil jtifitn and reprent a ser threat to the health and well-beg of affected people, the Pan Amerin Health Organizatn (PAHO) said a posn statement lnched on 17 May, 2012, the Internatnal Day agast Homophobia. “The most important fact about 'reparative therapy, ' also sometim known as 'nversn' therapy, is that is based on an unrstandg of homosexualy that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health profsns. The Amerin Amy of Pediatrics, the Amerin Counselg Associatn, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, the Natnal Associatn of School Psychologists, and the Natnal Associatn of Social Workers, together reprentg more than 477, 000 health and mental health profsnals, have all taken the posn that homosexualy is not a mental disorr and th there is no need for a 'cure.

JURY GROUNDBREAKG SPLC SU FDS GAY ‘NVERSN’ PROGRAM IS UNNSCNABLE AND DULENT

Furthermore, so-lled treatments of homosexualy n create a settg which prejudice and discrimatn flourish, and they n be potentially harmful (Rao and Jab 2012). 5 ln judgment agast a nversn therapy practice that forced clients to strip naked, cuddle wh olr men, ll each other anti-gay slurs, and beat pillow-effigi of their mothers orr to turn them straight or cisgenr. The lawsu started 2012, when several former clients and their parents acced Jews Offerg New Alternativ to Homosexualy (JONAH) of d for sellg a service that do not exist: changg a person’s sexual orientatn or genr inty.

He and others said that they had to shower naked together and then engage activi like puttg on a bldfold while others shouted slurs like “faggot, ” “homo, ” “psy, ” and “queer” at them. The judge said that JONAH’s practic were based on “obsolete and discreded scientific theori” about homosexualy and ced mental health anizatns’ opposn to nversn therapy.

N.J. GOV. CHRISTIE TO SIGN BILL BANNG GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

But even now, 2021, JONAH is still fightg the lg and tryg to keep practicg nversn therapy bee they believe that homosexualy is a “sexual viatn.

At Manalapan and Marlboro, people who said they were members of Gays Agast Groomers read nearly intil statements on the “sexualizatn” of children by trans people. On Facebook, they’ve reposted Parents Defendg Edutn, which, acrdg to Media Matters, was “found to promote the ongog sre mpaign agast the supposed teachg of ‘cril race theory’ schools”; the Pacific Jtice Instute, which pared same-sex marriage to Nazi fascism and promoted anti-gay nversn therapy; Moms for Liberty, whose members have approvgly quoted Hler (and then fend ) and ma threateng remarks about gunng down librarians; and the Alliance Defendg Freedom, which seeks to recrimalize “homosexualy” and forcibly sterilize trans people. But I did disver that she quired a nservative Facebook group if anyone had nnectns to Gays Agast Groomers, so she uld brg the anizatn to a school-board meetg.

'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' GROUP ACCED OF D NEW JERSEY LAWSU

18, 2015A unselg group New Jersey that promised to help men overe homosexual attractns through “nversn therapy” has agreed to shut down permanently a settlement announced Friday.

Earlier this year, a jury found that the claims of the group, Jonah, that homosexualy was a curable disorr amounted to nsumer d.

GAY RIGHTS ADVOT HOPEFUL AFTER CHRISTIE SIGNS BILL BANNG NVERSN THERAPY

A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 16 of the New York edn wh the headle: New Jersey: Gay Conversn Therapy Group to Close.

A platiff the untry’s first nsumer d lawsu agast so-lled gay nversn therapy shared wh a New Jersey jury on Wednday his feelgs of elatn the moment he was told eight years ago that he uld be “cured” and turned to a straight man. Benjam Unger told the urt Jersey Cy how he relled the light he felt 2007 when, as a nfed gay 19-year-old who had grown up a strict Orthodox Jewish fay Brooklyn, he was assured by the gay-nversn group Jonah that there was a solutn to his prediment.

The landmark trial that opened urtroom 908 of the state’s superr urt marks the first time the US that nsumer protectn laws have been ed to challenge gay nversn – otherwise known as reparative, reorientatn or ex-gay – therapy, which participants are told they n be cured of their sexual orientatn. Usg Jonah’s theraptic techniqu, found science wh statistics to prove , his wounds uld be healed and he would cease beg gay, Unger said he was promised. “He told me if I stayed the gay liftyle I would be a very dark, lonely place where I was more likely to bee a pedophile, ” Unger said.

NEW JERSEY 'GAY CONVERSN THERAPY' BAN UPHELD

Goldberg, a former Wall Street executive who was nvicted of mail d 25 years ago, set up Jonah, then lled Jews Offerg New Alternativ for Homosexualy, 1998 as a nversn service ially tailored to Jewish muni the regn.

They are married to women, or datg women, and some of the men are jt happy to be gay but still thankful to Jonah for removg the shame and huiatn they were feelg. They were d – they paid money to the fendants to change them om gay to straight but all they got was junk science and discreded so-lled ‘cur’. There is a long-standg scientific nsens that homosexualy is not a disease or disorr but a normal variatn of human sexualy, ” Dielli judge pridg over the se, Peter Bariso, has already led pre-trial heargs that should be proven that Jonah scribed homosexualy as a medil or mental – as opposed to relig – disease or disorr, that would be a vlatn of the state’s nsumer d act.

NEW JERSEY JUDGE L 'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' IS NSUMER D

The theory is that gay men missed out on father physil affectn when they were young and that’s one of the reasons they are gay.

'GAY NVERSN THERAPY' PROVIR ORRED TO SHUT DOWN AFTER LAWSU

In a landmark victory, a state jury New Jersey found today that a “nversn therapy” program offerg servic claimed uld change clients om gay to straight was dulent and unnscnable.

NEW JERSEY'S BAN ON GAY NVERSN THERAPY IS A VICTORY OVER RELIG NUTS

The jury led that JONAH, s founr, Arthur Goldberg, and unselor Alan Downg vlated New Jersey’s nsumer d law by claimg their unselg servic uld cure clients of beg gay.

In a blisterg opn that garnered ternatnal media attentn, Bariso wrote that “the theory that homosexualy is a disorr is not novel but – like the notn that the earth is flat and the sun revolv around – stead is outdated and refuted. Christie To Sign Bill Banng Gay Conversn Therapy: The Two-Way The law would make New Jersey and California the only two stat to ban the therapy. Chris Christie ntu to chew nventn: The Associated Prs reports that he will sign a bill banng therapy that seeks to turn gay teens straight.

​JUDGE ORRS NEW JERSEY "GAY NVERSN" NONPROF TO CLOSE

The AP adds: "In a signg note acpanyg the bill that will be ma public Monday, Christie said he believ people are born gay and that homosexualy is not a s.... The jury the se found unanimoly on June 25 that by offerg servic claimed uld turn gay people straight, JONAH mted nsumer d and engaged unnscnable mercial practic. Other nversn therapy provirs would be well-advised to exame what happened to JONAH, and to abandon their foolish efforts to make gay people straight.

Rulg that their opns were based on the false premise that homosexualy is a disorr, Bariso wrote that “the theory that homosexualy is a disorr is not novel but – like the notn that the earth is flat and the sun revolv around – stead is outdated and refuted.

THE LEGAL BATTLE FOR GAY CONVERSN THERAPY IS A LOSG ONE

JONAH orchtrated vlent role-play exercis, enuragg clients to beat effigi of their mothers, who were sometim blamed for their sons’ homosexualy. A group that claimed to be able to “cure” homosexuals and turn them straight will be sued on Wednday a New Jersey urtroom for vlatg the state’s nsumer protectn act. Acrdg to the legal plat, the lears of Jonah ma a number of false and discreded claims that amount to, prevly known as Jews Offerg New Alternativ for Homosexualy, prented gay orientatn as a matter of choice and “learned behavr”.

Its lerature ced the plat said that “anyone n choose to disengage om their same-sex sexual fantasi, aroals, behavr and inty” article posted on the Jonah webse lled “How do I walk away om homosexualy” said that through “trospectn and healg past wounds, we heal the unrlyg of our same-sex attractn. ”Conversn therapy, also known as reparative, reorientatn or ex-gay therapy, has been wily dismissed over many years by profsnal bodi such as the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn and Amerin Psychologil Associatn. “You’re such a fag, homo, queer boy, ” clients were told a different of the platiffs, who is likely to give evince, alleged the legal plat that he was told to wear a bber band around his wrist and snap himself whenever he felt attracted to another trial is expected to last several weeks.