January 2, 2013

Excerpt from the JONAH website: “I am really disappointed in the biased slant the Dr. Oz show took with regard to Reparative Therapy( November 2012). With 3 men representing ‘Reparative Therapy’ and 7 against, including a gay celebrity icon and a ‘Harvard’ grad, it’s quite disturbing there appears to be is no such entity as ethical and even-handed journalism on this issue.”

“I am a man that has been actively involved in Reparative Therapy for about 5 years after playing around secretly through a tumultuous marriage. I was married for 14 years and I’m a father of 4 children, ages 8-14. Not only has my life been incomprehensibly enriched by my journey, I have a peer group of dozens and dozens of men who all believe in this process and whose lives have been enriched themselves through Reparative Therapy. My personal story is a bit lengthy and colorful… with many highs and lows… but overall, I’m so much happier now than ever. I have an amazingly large support group, including my family who all know my story. …”

December 21, 2012

Chuck LiMandri is the lawyer representing Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing against the lawsuit filed against them by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mr. LiMandri recently debated a gay journalist who supports the action by the SPLC. The gay journalist claimed he was born a homosexual and efforts to change homosexuality were quackery. LiMandri pointed out that even gay organizations admit homosexuality is not innate and that sexuality is fluid. LiMandri also charged that the SPLC lawsuit was purely political because people who change their sexual orientation undermine the foundational precepts of the gay rights movement. The link to the video of the interview is here.

December 21, 2012

Excerpt from the Liberty Counsel: “San Francisco, CA – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the California ban on change therapy (SB 1172) from going into effect when it granted an injunction pending the appeal in Pickup v. Brown. The law was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013, and would have banned any counseling to minors seeking to diminish or eliminate unwanted same-sex sexual attractions, behavior or identity.”

… “’Without this emergency injunction, the State of California would essentially barge into the private therapy rooms of victimized young people and tell them that their confusion caused by the likes of a Jerry Sandusky abuser is normal and they should pursue their unwanted same-sex sexual attractions and behavior,’ Staver continued.”

December 19, 2013

Reprint of FCDF–NEWS UPDATE For Tuesday, January 29, 2013: The new religious liberty lawsuit in which FCDF is representing Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) is beginning to heat up and get considerable publicity. This is the lawsuit in which the extremist Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is seeking to prevent people with unwanted same-sex attractions from getting the help they voluntarily seek. Please see the latest television interview on this important case. Read the rest of this entry →

December 19, 2012

Excerpt from the Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH): “December 19, 2012 — The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF) announced today that it has accepted the role of lead defense counsel for Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing(JONAH) in a precedent-setting lawsuit. FCDF is a national public interest law firm that represents people whose freedom of conscience has come under attack. JONAH is a faith-based, nonprofit organization that offers assistance to men and women seeking to resolve their sexual conflicts, including unwanted same sex attractions. JONAH has been unjustly sued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) who claims that homosexuality is permanently fixed and that people cannot be helped in overcoming their unwanted same-sex attractions. …”

December 19, 2013

Excerpts from the JONAH website: “As I contemplate my new life with a woman I love, I recognize the distorted views I internalized because of the sexual abuse I received from my father and from the innumerable sexual relationships I had with other men. I have often said about the sexual experiences I had with my father as I was growing up … the ones late at night in my bedroom … left me feeling like Kleenex: grabbed, groped, used, and then tossed aside without further thought. Initially as a 9 year old boy and later as a young man until about my 30th birthday, I would romanticize these experiences as his version of love for me because he could not show his love to me any other way. …” Link to the testimony.

December 14, 2013

Excerpt from a summary on the NARTH website: “… The report finds that STDs continue to threaten the health and well-being of millions of Americans, particularly gay and bisexual men and young people. Trend data available for the first time this year show that primary and secondary syphilis cases – the most infectious stages of the disease — are increasing among gay and other men who have sex with men, who now account for more than 70 percent of all infections. …” The CDC report can be linked here.

December 13, 2013

Ex-gay and reparative therapist David Pickup was interviewed by Jenifer London on a SOCAL CONNECTED video. London pointed out that reparative therapists are at odds with the broader psychological community. The video also featured Dr. Terry Gock, a past president of the APA Society for Study of LGBT Issues. Another ex-gay in the video is Aaron Bitzer. He testified that reparative therapy desexualized his attractions for men. He believes the lack of a close relationship with his father is at the root of his same-sex attractions. He said he is still attracted to some men, but the attraction is to get to know them as men and not to have sex with them. Before his reparative therapy his attraction to men was sexual.

December 12, 2012

Excerpt from Dr. Julie Hamilton’s statement on the NARTH website: “… Here is a summary of the information that was edited out of the recent daytime talk show: 1. What is this therapy and how does it work? First, we know from the research that people are not simply born homosexual. Researchers on both sides of the debate have acknowledged that, as does the American Psychological Association. It seems clear that homosexuality is a complex combination of nurture and nature. It is also clear that homosexual attractions are NOT a choice. While there are many options for help available, NARTH represents licensed, ethical therapists who practice mainstream approaches to therapy in their offices.”

December 6, 2012

NARTH has made the video of Matt Staver’s address to the 2012 NARTH Conference available on their website. Matt Staver, J.D. is the chairman of Liberty Counsel defending NARTH therapists’ right to help those with unwanted same-sex attractions and the right of those with unwanted same-sex attractions to get professional help to change those attractions. The video can be linked here.