The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for enforcement of a first-of-its-kind California law that bars psychological counseling aimed at assisting children and teens with unwanted same-sex attraction. The justices turned aside a legal challenge brought by supporters of so-called conversion or reparative therapy. Without comment, they let stand an August 2013 appeals court ruling that said the ban covered professional activities that are within the state’s authority to regulate and doesn’t violate the free speech rights of licensed counselors and patients seeking treatment. California’s law was supposed to take effect last year, but it has been on hold while a pair of lawsuits seeking to overturn it made their way to the Supreme Court. Now that the high court has declined to take the case, the state will be able to start enforcing the law after the 9th Circuit lifts an injunction it put into place during the litigation, an action that is expected to come within days.
This campaign is seeking to smear “conversion” or reparative therapy and criminalize the entire practice nationwide by 2019. Launched by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, #BornPerfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy will work with lobbyists, lawmakers and attorneys around the country to halt and formally criminalize what the NCLR calls “dangerous practices.” “Few practices hurt LGBT youth more than attempts to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through so-called conversion therapy, which can cause depression, substance abuse, and even suicide,” said the NCLR in a statement. This is an absolute lie: as recent studies prove that those children who most self-identify as gay have the highest risk of mental illness:
“Studies of human sexuality have noted high rates of suicidality among homosexual youth, but the problem has not been systematically examined. This work was undertaken to identify risk factors for suicide attempts among bisexual and homosexual male youth. Subjects were 137 gay and bisexual males, 14 through 21 years of age, from the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Forty-one subjects (41/137) reported a suicide attempt; and almost half of them described multiple attempts. Twenty-one percent of all attempts resulted in medical or psychiatric admissions. Compared with non-attempters, attempters had more feminine gender roles and adopted a bisexual or homosexual identity at younger ages. Attempters were more likely than peers to report sexual abuse, drug abuse, and arrests for misconduct.”
“This research identified predictors of past suicide attempts in 194 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, 15 through 21 years of age, who attended social and recreational groups in urban community settings. In comparison to youth who made no suicide attempts, attempters reported that they had disclosed more completely their sexual orientation to others…”
“GLB youth who self-identify during high school report disproportionate risk for a variety of health risk and problem behaviors, including suicide, victimization, sexual risk behaviors, and multiple substance use. In addition, these youth are more likely to report engaging in multiple risk behaviors and initiating risk behaviors at an earlier age than are their peers.”
For a list of abstracts concerning studies on the issue of mental illness in gay youths see: