After years of progrs on gay rights, how did the US bee so anti-LGBTQ+? | US news | The Guardian

Contents:

• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• CAN PEOPLE STOP BEG GAY?
• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?
• HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

Relig fundamentalists who believe homosexualy is a matter of choice nsir obv that gay people n reverse their cisns.

The oppose mp argu that gays are "born that way, " and th that sexual reorientatn therapy is effective, as well as cel and the latter perspective hs closer to the mark, the science of sexualy supports a more measured stance. There are no verified s of formerly gay people pletely riddg themselv of same-sex attractn, but do appear possible for some people who are predisposed to same-sex attractn to expand their sexual repertoire — velop attractns for oppose-sex partners as well, and even opt for the oppose sex exclively. As Diamond noted January the Archiv of Sexual Behavr, femal' sexual fluidy may emerge om the fdg that, across the board, they are sexually aroed by imag of both men and women (whereas men are typilly aroed only by members of their preferred sex) erotic plasticy may expla why women wh same-sex predisposns report better succs adjtg to heterosexual liftyl than gay men do.

"Lastly, gay people aren't really "born that way" the sense of havg same-sex attractns om the moment of birth. Sexual orientatn cements around puberty, and acrdg to Gelf Rieger, a sexual orientatn rearcher at Cornell Universy, " is que possible that there are several fluenc on formg a homosexual orientatn.

CAN PEOPLE STOP BEG GAY?

But nsirg that very few scientists view homosexualy as a problem needg fixg, will the clil reorientatn therapi ever be veloped? Life was already impossibly hard for LGBTQ+ people the east Ain untry, where gay sex is illegal and punishable by life imprisonment. Last month, 44 people, mostly gay men, were arrted at an LGBTQ+ shelter on the outskirts of Kampala and charged wh engagg activi likely to spread an fect disease.

“That is what I’m dreamg of, ” he says, speakg via Zoom om his home of Sonzal Welfare Tst, a gay and transgenr rights NGO, Aijaz works wh some of the most margalised people this Mlim-majory regn of India. “They [village officials] are skippg the ho of lbians and gays livg together bee they are not nsired a hoehold, ” he says – even upl who have adopted panmic has also forced LGBTQ+ people back to fay hom marred by homophobia and stigma. “We’ve seen a precipo drop mental health, ” says Stern, rellg one stance of a young man St Lucia who had spoken to a lol NGO while livg wh his homophobic fay.

AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

Disregardg all evince that the ex-gay movement is credibly damagg to more than 90% of those who unrgo "treatment" (bee they clearly jt didn't believe God enough), Settg Captiv Free wants you to know that you were not "born this way. " Homosexualy is a s that you need to purge om your system, and the only way to do is to follow their three-parts-a-day the app is only downloadable om Google Play (iTun and the 69, 822+ people who petned them don't believe nversn therapy for some reason), there is an abridged versn available on the mistry’s webse. But Hont About Your S (But Not TOO Hont): Adm that you have homosexual tennci, but don’t say anythg else about .

Stop Callg Your Homosexualy an "Alternative Liftyle": It's "Wicked, " "Evil, " and a "S": The are the only thgs you should ever ll om now on, preferably hhed ton. Even better, feel ee to refer to your homosexualy wh water-based metaphors: It's a "broken cistern" that will never satisfy your thirst. Change For the Right Reasons (the Glory Of God): After all, homosexualy is nothg but "lt, porn, and sexual immoraly, " ss that are applible only to gay people and never to straight on.

Always Read Scripture, But Only the Parts We Tell You to: Who knew curg homosexualy uld be so much like dog high school homework? Remove Yourself From Anythg Even Remotely Gay: Don't watch porn (aga, 's only a gay thg), don't go on gay webs, and most of all, certaly don't associate wh gay people. Any of those thgs might make you feel like your homosexualy is a natural part of your inty and n be accepted by those around you.

HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?

Realize That Beg Homosexual Mak You Feel Alone Fet that we told you to shut yourself away om most of the world, and ignore the ia that maybe gay people feel so alone bee of the discrimatory and hateful attus that they face, helped by people like . Rencile Wh Those Who Tried to Help You Stop Beg Gay: All those people who lled you "faggot" and told you that you were gog to Hell? But if at the end of this 60-day therapy, you still have homosexual tennci, then you didn't really believe and you didn't really want to change.

When schools block pro-LGBT s but still allow accs to hate s that nmn LGBT people or urge them to try to “pray away the gay, ” ’s viewpot discrimatn and vlat stunts’ rights unr the First Amendment. The mise of the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act 2013 was followed by the end of the feral ban on marriage equaly 2015. Wispread acceptance of same-sex marriage rights, gay people servg the ary and the need for protectns for LGBTQ+ people followed.

As recently as 2020, the urt, then wh two Tmp appote, led that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protected gay, lbian and transgenr workers. A rash of laws ncerng the teachg of human sexualy school curricula, banng trans stunt athlet and strippg parents of the right to help their genr-variant children obta appropriate re have popped up numero red stat this same-sex marriage is now part of the fabric of Ameri, nservativ have chosen to explo Amerins’ unfaiary wh trans people and piggyback on parental anger over the perceived overreach of Covid-era school closur, nflatg wh an sid sense of “wokens”, the hop of fdg an electorally viable sluiceway for anti-LGBTQ+ most famo of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws is the piece of Florida legislatn banng stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty schools between krgarten and third gra, the so-lled “don’t say gay” law.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

The ernor and his supporters have labeled as a “groomer” anyone who believ children n learn LGBTQ+ people exist, argug that simply by talkg about gay relatnships to a child, you are sexualizg that child.

”To be gay, their view, is to be herently sexualized, a threat to nocence a way that straight Amerins are vehemence has ught even veteran LGBTQ+ advot by surprise. He was followed by Arizona’s ernor, Doug Ducey, who, after barrg mors om genr-affirmatn treatment, wouldn’t even state for the rerd that trans people were Florida lawmaker Michele Rayner-Goolsby, left, hugs her wife, Bian Goolsby, durg a march at cy hall St Petersburg agast the ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

Photograph: Bob Daemmrich/Zuma Wire/Rex/ShutterstockPolicians are supported the media by mentators like Tucker Carlson, who claimed “no one had heard of this trans thg four years ago”, or Charlie Kirk, channelg 1980s fears sayg “gays want to rpt your children” rejuvenated, the right wg is poised to make transphobia and homophobia rnerston of the midterms and 2024 electns, wh promis to liver “don’t say gay” legislatn stat cludg Michigan and New Perks, the print of the Fay Rearch Council, a nservative lobbyg group, veighed agast the ernors of Indiana and Utah for vetog legislatn banng trans women om participatg sports, llg the bills “timely, mastream protectns”. The Republin US reprentative Marjorie Taylor Greene vowed to troduce a feral “don’t say gay” bill if Republins w the Hoe this November, only to one-up herself days later by tweetg that for people to be pro-trans is to be pro-pedophilia. ”The bs-iendly wg of the GOP that would quietly team up wh Democrats to scuttle rabidly homophobic bills is now outnumbered, and legislators a dozen or more stat that lean even farther to the right than DeSantis are takg, the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights legal director, believ Florida is the tt se for a renewed ph for an aggrsive, Christian-natnalist program.

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

”The “don’t say gay” bill, Mter not, is very siar to what’s been passed Rsia, tetherg Amerin nservativ to their thorarian unterparts who have succsfully rolled back mocratic norms across eastern Europe. “I’ve seen this movie before over the last 30 years: The right wg cid to target the LGBTQ muny, whether ’s around marriage or adoptn or trans kids playg sports or bathrooms, ” says the California state senator Stt Wiener, who is gay.

“I thought was really important to ph back on the policy level, and to send a clear signal that California and other stat really re about the kids, ” he believ that “don’t say gay” is “patently unnstutnal” but also ntends that relyg on the judicial system to protect human rights may no longer be a sound optn. Perhaps sexual preference n be changed – and people have the right to engage gay sex and have homosexual relatnships if they choose to do so.

(The fourth optn, that gay people have no choice but to be gay, but should be punished for anyway, is morally unthkable.