November 14, 2012

Excerpts from the article on NARTH’s website: “When CDC statistics on HIV diagnoses in 2010 are put into a comparison ratio …, the risk of HIV infection for MSM was approximately 150 times greater than for men who did not have sex with men. In addition, the CDC stated that the rate of primary and secondary syphilis among MSM is “more than 46 times that of other men and more than 71 times that of women.”[ … “As the present analysis underscores, politicians and regulatory boards that ban access to professional efforts to modify unwanted same-sex attractions and behaviors among minors may well be unnecessarily sentencing some of them to serious medical risks. It is tragically ironic that political efforts to prevent alleged harm to minors from sexual-orientation change efforts appear likely instead to increase their exposure to highly established harms such as HIV.”

November 13, 2012

Excerpts from the article on Mercatornet.com : “When CDC statistics are analyzed using the estimate of the MSM population at 4 percent of the American male population and assuming the other 96 percent who do not have sex with men are heterosexual, the risk of HIV infection from sexual contact for MSM was approximately 150 times greater than the heterosexual male population in 2010. … the 1993 Alan Guttmacher Institute study on male sexual behavior estimated the MSM population at 1.8 to 2.8 percent of the U.S. male population. If the CDC figure is correct, these two figures suggest that the percentage of MSM to the American male population has doubled in the last twenty years.”

November 9, 2012

Dr. Mike Davidson book The Right to Decide: Seeking justice for choices around unwanted same-sex attractions was recently published. The book is a compilation of storied of those who have walked away from homosexuality. Excerpt from the Introduction: “Yet my own conviction is that this new society in the UK, in its determination to redefine marriage, family and parenting, is about to disrespect profoundly and to violate individuals who have chosen, or will chose … to walk away from homosexuality.” Link to the book.

November 9, 2012

Dr Mike Davidson of Core Issues Trust has started a petition to the United Kingdom’s Department of Health in support of those with unwanted same-sex attractions who seek professional help to change their sexual orientation. The petition reads: “Ideological decisions to refuse adult individuals seeking professional psychotherapeutic help to reduce unwanted same-sex attractions, are a violation of personal autonomy and personal rights. No credible, incontrovertible evidence exists to prove that homosexuality is inborn, and is unchangeable in all cases. Married men, who wish to stay in their married relationships with a woman, should not be denied the opportunity to reduce homosexual feelings, if that is their desire. Professionals should not be penalised for assisting them, when this is the genuine desire of their client and a reasonable personal goal.”

October 31, 2012

In an article that surprised many moral conservatives and reparative therapists the New York Times told the story of several men with same-sex attractions that benefited significantly from reparative therapy. The stories of unwanted same-sex attractions by Blake Smith, Aaron Bitzer and Jeremy S. were treated with respect from a newspaper that historically has only respected gay political viewpoints. Even reparative therapist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi and a young man just seeking reparative therapy were portrayed in a positive respectful manner. The article can be found by clicking on its title, which follows “‘Ex-Gay’ Men Fight Back Against View That Homosexuality Can’t Be Changed.”

October 9, 2012

(World Net Daily) Excerpt from Liberty Counsel Chairman Mathew Staver’s interview on World Net Daily radio: “‘It’s absolute political correctness and immoral behavior and immoral and just bankrupt thinking that has led to this. They are legislating a specific kind of morality, and that morality is only that homosexuality is good and that same-sex attractions are nothing to ultimately be resisted. Even if you don’t want them, even if you don’t want to act on them, so what? Too bad. You’ve got to be counseled to act on them anyway. That’s just absurd. If anything is quackery, it’s the quackery of the California Legislature and the governor that ultimately has the audacity and the hubris to think that they can interfere between a client and the counselor’s relationship.’” Link to the World Net Daily article and radio interview.

October 4, 2012

(Christian Concern) Excerpt: “The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has written to its members warning them of its opposition to ‘reparative’ therapies. Such therapies are intended for those who experience same sex attraction but want help to change. This move from the BACP will make it difficult for those counsellors who want to offer this kind of therapy and also remain members of the association. … Lesley Pilkington, a Christian counsellor who is trained in reparative therapy, has pointed out that it is the client’s choice to receive such therapy and as such it is a human right. Link to the Christian Concern article.

October 3, 2012

(abcnews.go.com) Excerpt: “A college student who claims he once had same-sex attractions but became heterosexual after conversion therapy has filed a lawsuit against California, which has enacted a law that bans so-called ‘gay cures’ for minors. The lawsuit, also joined as plaintiffs by two therapists who have used the treatments with patients, alleges that the law banning the therapy intrudes on First Amendment protections of free speech, privacy and freedom of religion. The student, Aaron Blitzer, who is studying to be a therapist in that field, said the law would prevent him from pursuing his career, according to court papers filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.” Link to the ABC NEWS article.

October 1, 2012

(World Net Daily) The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) will seek an injunction to prevent the implementation of SB 1172 – the California law that will prohibit therapists from providing sexual orientation change efforts to minors. An October 1st World Net Daily article quoted Mathew McReynolds of PJI, “The bill claims that sexually confused youth who experience ‘family rejection … face especially serious health risks’ and the state has a ‘compelling interest’ to protect their health. The logical implication from these two assertions is that the state is giving itself the power to take kids away from parents who do not affirm the kids’ sexual confusion.” The Liberty Counsel will also be filing a lawsuit against the bill on behalf of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Link to the World Net Daily article. Link to the statement by the Pacific Justice Institute.

October 1, 2012

(NARTH.com) Excerpt: “NARTH is saddened but not surprised by this unprecedented legislative intrusion and will lend its full support to the legal efforts to overturn it. California citizens and especially parents should know the indifference that supporters of this bill have toward their freedom of choice, as reflected in Senator Lieu’s recent acknowledgement that, ‘The attack on parental rights is exactly the whole point of the bill…’ The Senator went on to equate the harms to minors of smoking and alcohol abuse, which have been documented over decades of research, with the reported harms of sexual orientation change efforts, the prevalence of which the American Psychological Association admits we have no way of knowing.” (more…)