Arizona School Punishes Students With Anti-Gay Humiliation |
An Arizona school district punished two male students who were fighting by forcing them to hold hands for 15 minutes in front of their classmates. As they hid their faces from cameras, students teased them and asked, “Are you gay?” The district stated that it does not approve of Principal Tim Richard’s unique discipline idea, noting that it encourages bullying and reinforces anti-gay stigma. Watch an ABC News report about the incident:
Citibank is one of the largest businesses and employers in Uganda, but the company refuses to take a position against the proposed “Kill The Gays” bill. Over 500,000 have petitioned the company, as well as Barclays, to come out against the odious proposal if only to protect its employees and customers in the country. Citibank responded to the petition today, but only reiterated its nondiscrimination policy:
While the laws and cultural norms in some countries where Citi operates differ from commonly accepted global standards for human rights, Citi supports equality without regard for, among other personal characteristics, race, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, age, nationality, or sexual orientation.
“Supporting equality” is a particularly weak statement in response to a bill that would blatantly persecute gay people and their allies with life sentences in prison or the death penalty. Barclays at least took the added step of acknowledging the bill and its opposition:
Barclays has a strong history of supporting all aspects of diversity, both in the workplace and in wider society. Equally, we are proud of playing our part in the development of economies across Africa, and the key role Barclays plays in the lives of millions of our African customers. Barclays is aware of the proposed legislation relating to homosexuality in Uganda and we are engaging at appropriate levels of the Ugandan Government to express our views.
Sign the Change.org petition to encourage these banking giants to use their significant corporate influence to protect the lives of LGBT citizens.
Dr. Colleen Conway-Welch was a member of President Reagan’s original commission to investigate AIDS, and she now says it’s “probably past time to go back” and reevaluate the laws criminalizing HIV per the commission’s recommendations. These recommendations included creating “affirmative duties” for those infected with HIV to disclose their status to sexual partners or be subject to criminal penalties. All 50 states have policies that could allow for prosecuting a person for intentional transmission of HIV, including 39 with HIV-specific criminal statutes. According to Conway-Welch, these laws don’t reflect current science:
CONWAY-WELCH: Most of the criminal laws were put into place in the early 90s because people were scared, and it would make sense to recommend that they go back. In medicine now, there is a real push for evidence-based interventions, and I think that for those laws that were not evidence-based, I think it would be time to go back.
Indeed, laws punishing the possible transmission of HIV serve more to humor vengeance and fuel anti-HIV stigma than to actually curb infection rates. A study released in July showed that HIV criminalization discouraged individuals from getting tested for HIV or seeking care once diagnosed out of fear for being exposed for prosecution. A similar study in Canada found that because of the laws, many will not get tested or even discuss sexual practices with nurses and physicians, and will in fact have higher rates of unsafe sex. Meanwhile, there is little evidence to show that the laws have any beneficial effect in fighting the epidemic.
Protecting people from HIV infection is an important priority, but maintaining a public bias against those who are positive is anathema to the cause. Efforts should focus more on prevention and less on punishment.
The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents 1000 Orthodox Rabbis, has released a statement distancing itself from the Jewish ex-gay ministry JONAH. Former JONAH patients filed suit this week accusing JONAH of “consumer fraud” for marketing the promise of changing their sexual orientation and instead of subjecting them to humiliating and shaming practices. RCA wants a letter it once printed removed from JONAH’s website:
As rabbis trained in Jewish law and values, we base our religious positions regarding medical matters on the best research and advice of experts and scholars in those areas, along with concern for the religious, emotional, and physical welfare of those impacted by our decisions. Our responsibility is to apply halakhic (Jewish legal) values to those opinions. [...]
Despite numerous attempts by the RCA to have mention of that original letter removed from the JONAH website, our calls, letters, and emails remain unanswered… We want it taken down. JONAH said it was a letter of support, but if you read the letter it is not. They took an informational statement and reprinted it, and the use of that as an endorsement is an error.
Though RCA points out that numerous Orthodox leaders have rescinded their support for ex-gay therapy, the letter in questiondoes in fact read as supportive, encouraging rabbis to refer individuals from their congregation to JONAH:
Rabbis may refer any individuals within their congregations who are dealing with unwanted same sex attractions or any families who have a member thereof facing such an issue. Please contact them if you need referrals for therapists who specialize in working with this population or for programs that may be of assistance. JONAH’s numerous support groups may be of value to congregants, either for those struggling with the issue and/or for their families.
Rather than worry about a letter, RCA might consider simply making a clear condemnation of ex-gay therapy. This may be less likely, because the Orthodox community has traditionally been an unwelcoming place for LGBT people, Chaim Levin, one of the plaintiffs in the suit against JONAH, has frequently pointed out.
State Sen. John Moolenaar (R), sponsor of the odious bill.
The Michigan Senate’s Committee on Health Policy has approved a bill that would protect health care professionals who wish to discriminate against the LGBT community. Under the guise of “religious liberty and conscience protection,” Senate Bill 975 would allow health facilities to refuse to provide any health care service for any reason of “conscience,” which includes “religious beliefs, moral convictions, or ethical principles”:
A health facility may assert as a matter of conscience an objection to providing a health care service and may decline to provide a health care service that violates its conscience pursuant to this section. If a health facility asserts as a matter of conscience an objection to providing a health care service under this section, the health facility shall apply that objection equally to all patients that it serves, subject to this act.
The bill waives any civil, criminal, or administrative liability for the facilities that choose to discriminate, so no legal recourse would be possible. Instead, it guarantees damages for any person who is forced to violate their “conscience.” It also dictates that no public official or entity can deny aid or grants to a facility that discriminates based on conscience, which means that if same-sex recognition changes in Michigan, the state would remain obligated to financially support agencies like Catholic Charities, even if they refuse to serve same-sex couples, as transpired in Illinois.
Should SB 975 pass, any doctor or medical professional could refuse to provide any service — be it an abortion, HIV treatment, or even a basic check-up for a gay or trans patient — and the employing facility would be prohibited from taking action against the employee. Given members of the LGBT community already face severe health inequities, including basic access to care, this bill could exacerbate an already dire situation. Health policy should protect patients, not doctors’ “moral convictions.”
New Hampshire Trans Representative Officially Resigns |
Earlier in the week, Stacie Laughton (D) suggested she would try to fight to assume the seat she just won in the New Hampshire State House of Representatives, even though her recent conviction for credit card fraud makes her ineligible. She has now officially resigned.
Michigan teacher Susan Johnson was suspended for three days, two without pay, simply for playing a song about marriage equality in her class. That song, “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, raises questions about how people are treated for being gay. Now, Macklemore has responded to her mistreatment:
I believe that Ms. Johnson getting suspended is completely out of line and unjust. However, I think it’s important for moments like these to be exposed and for us to pay attention and respond. This level of intolerance and fear is still very active in America, but at times is not completely visible. This incident is just one of tens of thousands that have happened across the country where schools have exposed a latent homophobia, preventing safe space for all young people to feel confident in being themselves. It’s clear that Ms. Johnson felt bullying and “gay bashing” were issues that needed to be addressed, and by doing so, was punished.
I wrote the song “Same Love,” not with the expectation that it would cure homophobia and lead to marriage equality across the US (although that’d be awesome). It was written with the hope that it would facilitate dialogue and through those conversations understanding and empathy would emerge. This incident demonstrates how too often we are quick to silence conversations that must be had. Even if people disagree, there is far more potential for progress when people are vocal and honestly expressing their thoughts about gay rights. When we are silent and avoid the issue, fear and hatred have a far greater life span.
It’s discouraging that a song about love and civil rights has led to a teacher getting suspended from her job. But that’s where we are at. For those of us who get a pit in our stomach when reading a story like this, it just makes it abundantly clear there is far more work to be done.
Unfortunately, the school is standing by its action, and is finally speaking out. According to the district, teachers have to submit a completed form about any clip proposed for use in class for approval by a building administrator. In addition, there’s an expectation that teachers identify curriculum benchmarks for every clip “to ensure that instructional materials are appropriate for the course and its students.” Johnson was teaching a performing arts class, so a timely pop song about a relevant social issue for students is easily justified.
The school’s implication seems to be that teachers cannot be entrusted to exercise any creative approaches in their classes or ever incorporate student’s own interests. It also sounds like anything broaching the subject of LGBT issues is not “appropriate,” essentially proving the very point Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were trying to make.
The Family Research Council is engaging in some very interesting damage control spin this week over its present and past support of Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill, which may pass before the end of the year. Earlier this week, Tony Perkins applauded statements by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, but now he is trying to claim that FRC has never supported Uganda’s heightened criminal sanctions for homosexuality:
For years, the African nation has been condemned for its severe laws criminalizing homosexuality. Despite allegations to the contrary, FRC has never supported that policy–or any policy that imposes the death penalty on homosexuals. What we do oppose is the suggestion that gay and lesbian acts are universal human rights. So when Congress introduced a resolution in 2010 denouncing Uganda’s punishment for homosexuality, FRC fought–at the request of some Members–to strike the pro-homosexual “human rights” language from the final measure.
First, it’s egregious enough that Perkins boasts his group’s opposition to the human rights of gays and lesbians, which would include freedom from violence and harassment, freedom to love, and freedom to raise a family. But what’s galling is that his denial of supporting Uganda’s bill is an outright lie. Though it has been scrubbed from FRC’s website, a distinct audio and visual record still exists documenting FRC’s blatant support of the “Kill The Gays” bill, death penalty and all. Jeremy Hooper provides them both; listen to it:
To be clear, in 2010, the Family Research Council described — in Tony Perkins’ own words — Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill as an effort “to uphold moral conduct.” And now, Perkins has the gall to accuse groups like the Human Rights Council and Southern Poverty Law Center of “fostering a culture of hatred and violence,” as if they somehow recruited and encouraged the rogue shooter who opened fire on FRC’s offices earlier this year. Perkins’ interpretation of who is tolerant and who is violent does not reflect reality.
Virginia Commonwealth University Fires Coach For Being Gay |
James Finley coached Virginia Commonwealth University’s women’s volleyball team for eight years, but was fired this month, and according to Finley, it’s because he is gay and new athletic director Ed McLaughlin doesn’t approve. The team finished 3rd in their first Atlantic 10 Conference with a stellar 25-6 record overall, and the players had a perfect graduation score. Nevertheless, McLaughin allegedly said they “wanted to go in a different direction” with “someone to better represent the school.” Finley is fighting the decision, hoping the school’s nondiscrimination policy protects him from this apparently unjust firing.
An openly straight politician publicly flaunts his sexuality
Yesterday, George W. Bush-appointed Judge Robert Jones upheld Nevada’s practice of denying marriage equality to gay couples. Like a similar decision by a Reagan-appointed judge in Hawai’i, Judge Jones goes out of his way to resolve any uncertainties in the law in the light most unfavorable to equality — although, in fairness to Jones, his hands were at least somewhat tied by a 22 year old anti-gay precedent.
Precedent aside, however, Jones’ opinion will be very difficult to defend on appeal. He attacks gay rights in ways that undermine basic protections for racial minorities and women; and he displays an almost quaint naïveté about how politicians present their sexuality to the public. By the end of the opinion, the reader is not simply left with the impression that Judge Jones has never actually met an openly gay person, but that Jones does not spend much time observing heterosexual relationships either.
The most dangerous part of Jones’ reasoning is a section where he claims that, because gay people made significant cultural and political progress in recent years, this somehow deprives them of their ability to seek the full protection of the Constitution:
Today, unlike in 1990, the public media are flooded with editorial, commercial, and artistic messages urging the acceptance of homosexuals. Anti-homosexual messages are rare in the national informational and entertainment media, except that anti-homosexual characters are occasionally used as foils for pro-homosexual viewpoints in entertainment media. Homosexuals serve openly in federal and state political offices. The President of the United States has announced his personal acceptance of the concept of same-sex marriage, and the announcement was widely applauded in the national media. Not only has the President expressed his moral support, he has directed the Attorney General not to defend against legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), a federal law denying recognition to same-sex marriages at the federal level. It is exceedingly rare that a president refuses in his official capacity to defend a democratically enacted federal law in court based upon his personal political disagreements. That the homosexual-rights lobby has achieved this indicates that the group has great political power. The State of Nevada has itself outlawed sexual-orientation based discrimination as a general matter. Congress has not included the category under Title VII’s protections, however. In 2012 America, anti-homosexual viewpoints are widely regarded as uncouth.
Though it is true that Supreme Court precedents accord greater constitutional protection to groups “relegated to such a position of political powerlessness as to command extraordinary protection from the majoritarian political process,” it simply cannot be the case that a group loses its power to invoke the Constitution’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” once they start to gain rights and recognition through the ordinary political process. If this were true, neither African-Americans nor women could seek shelter under the Constitution, as both race and gender equality enjoys far greater protection under federal law that the rights of LGBT Americans. Read more
Welcome to The Morning Pride, ThinkProgress LGBT’s daily round-up of the latest in LGBT policy, politics, and some culture too! Here’s what we’re reading this morning, but please let us know what stories you’re following as well. Follow us all day on Twitter at @TPEquality.
- Maryland same-sex couples can begin applying for marriage licenses on December 6, but they won’t take effect until January 1.
- When the Colorado legislature reconvenes in January, civil unions will be on a fast track to passage.
- A new family history provides more possible insights that President Lincoln was not strictly heterosexual.
- A JROTC instructor at Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama is being investigated for telling students that homosexuality is sinfun.
- After performing a funeral for a young gay man who’d died of AIDS, Rev. Eric Williams became an advocate for those with HIV/AIDS.
- A 73-year-old UK man is still fighting to clear his criminal record for being in a gay relationship in the 1950s.
- Conservative lawmakers in Russia are introducing a country-wide bill to prohibit “propaganda of homosexualism.”
- A Canadian trans student initially banned from using the appropriate restroom has now been told he can use it freely.
- Paris is about to get its first gay-friendly mosque, but the address will be secret.
- More than half of LGBT Italians believing aging is harder for them than for straight people.
In advance of this year’s World AIDS Day on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined a blueprint to continue advancing recent gains in HIV education and treatment, eventually leading to a future AIDS-free generation.
Clinton cited the dramatically dropping number of new infections across the globe, the growing numbers of HIV-positive individuals gaining access to treatment, and the continued advances in scientific research as reasons to be optimistic about eventually eradicating new cases of AIDS for future generations:
CLINTON: Now, make no mistake about it: HIV may well be with us into the future. But the disease that it causes need not be. We can reach a point where virtually no children are born with the virus, and as these children become teenagers and adults, they are at a far lower risk of becoming infected than they are today. And if they do acquire HIV, they have access to treatment that helps prevent them from not only from developing AIDS, but from and passing the virus on to others.
Clinton also pointed out that some communities at risk for contracting HIV — such as drug users, men who have sex with men, and sex workers — are often driven “into the shadows” by societal stigma, shame, and discrimination, and global efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic must work to correct that. Recent research has confirmed that anti-gay stigma helps maintain the HIV epidemic by hampering the effectiveness of HIV advocacy programs, and homophobia continues to impede gay men’s access to HIV services.
Public health officials maintain that early detection of the HIV virus is one of the most important methods of containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, so treatment can begin early and the virus can hopefully be contained. Earlier this month, a government-backed health panel endorsed regular HIV screening for everyone between the ages of 15 and 65, ensuring that HIV testing will now be covered under Obamacare.
The National Football League has set a disappointing standard by refusing to implement its conduct policy when a player blatantly engages in public displays of homophobia. Cleveland Browns linebacker Tank Carder recently used Twitter to call a fan a “faggot” and further explain that, “I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe.”
The Browns responded by saying they do not condone such comments and that they “have spoken with Tank and have made this very clear to him.” In his “apology,” he explained that he is “sorry if you were offended.” He also tried to explain that he thought the person he called a faggot “was bashing team sports. big misunderstanding.” Carder has done nothing else to rectify his offensive remarks, and now the NFL is not doing anything about it either.
The NFL said it had “addressed it with the player” and “made clear to the player that it was unacceptable,” pointing out that he had apologized. But that’s it, in stark contrast to impressive steps that other professional sports organizations have taken in similar situation. Reporting on the Carder controversy, OutSports’ Cyd Zeigler Jr. pointed out the disparities:
Last year, when Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant called a referee a “fucking fag,” the NBA fined him $100,000.
In September, when Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar wore the words “tu ere maricon” (“you are a faggot”) in his eye black, his team suspended him for three games and donated his salary from those games to GLAAD and the You Can Play Project for LGBT athletes.
When Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell heckled fans with homophobic taunts last year, MLB suspended him for two weeks, levied an unspecified fine, and required him to undergo sensitivity training.
When Seattle Sounder Marc Burch called an opponent a gay slur earlier this month, Major League Soccer suspended him for three games, levied an unspecified fine, and required him to undergo sensitivity training.
MLS also recently ended its partnership with the Boy Scouts of America over the group’s anti-gay discriminatory policies.
The distinction is galling. Apparently, the NFL is only concerned about its public image when criminal charges are involved. As one of the most prominent sports in the country, the NFL should hold itself and its players to a higher standard. Punishments for such behavior send a message, and sensitivity training helps minimize the likelihood of future anti-gay outbursts.
NEWS FLASH
UK Sees Highest Gay And Bi HIV Infection Spike Ever |
A new study finds that in the United Kingdom, more gay and bi men were diagnosed with HIV in 2011 than in any year since record-keeping began. It is the first time that the number has surpassed heterosexual diagnoses since 1999. According to the Health Protection Agency, 3,010 gay and bi men tested positive in 2011, and over a fifth of them were also diagnosed with an acute STI like chlamydia and gonorrhea. The National AIDS Trust saw a “worryingly” high proportion of new infections taking place over the past six months.
In just over a week from today, same-sex couples will be able to legally marry in Washington. To prepare for this milestone, the state is preparing gender-neutral paperwork that no longer uses language like “husband,” “groom,” “wife,” or “bride.” This simple change to “Spouse A” and “Spouse B” will prevent same-sex couples from having to designate one partner into an identity that doesn’t match their gender. This should be a simple technicality, but Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr. believes this “sea change” will ripple across society and have a “tremendous impact” on all marriages:
JOHNSON: This is a sea change. This is a big anthropological change. This will change society in Washington and other states forever… The issue becomes, in terms of gender neutrality, in terms of saying ‘I’m a spouse, I’m not a husband or wife, I’m not a bride or groom, I’m someone about to be married’ — where does it go? [...]
It’s not about gay marriage, it’s about what happens to heterosexual marriage and how those partners are defined, and how those relationships go forward in our society. It’s going to have a tremendous, tremendous impact… Watch this, see what happens. This is going to be a big, big, sea change in our society and how the smallest of our children understand relationships between parents, between husband and wife, between mother and father.
Johnson’s bizarre overreaction to a basic government form does reveal some basic assumptions inherent among those who oppose marriage equality. At the root of all anti-gay views is bias toward gender norms and different roles for men and women. Same-sex couples willfully defy this archaic stereotype by proving that the construct of one male breadwinner and one female homemaker is not the only path to success for families. Society can and hopefully someday will function without such sexism, and if that means Johnson will lose some of his male privilege, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
NEWS FLASH
Michigan Teacher Suspended For Playing Marriage Equality Song In Class |
A teacher at Centennial Middle School in South Lyon, Michigan has been suspended for playing the song “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for her class. The song discusses how gays and lesbians are stigmatized and embraces equality for all, but apparently one of her students objected. Susan Johnson was suspended for three days, including two without pay. School administrators refused to comment, saying, “We don’t go on camera here in South Lyon.” She is now considering legal action. Watch the video for the song that created such controversy:
According to a study compiled by Oregon public health officials, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Americans are susceptible to a host of sexual and mental health issues at significantly higher rates than heterosexuals.
In addition to facing higher levels of food insecurity and poverty, the study finds that LGB adults are less likely to have access to health insurance and more likely to face sexual and emotional abuse than their fellow heterosexuals. As per the Oregonian, here are some of the report’s findings:
Nearly twice as many LGB adults report frequent mental distress as hetero adults. One in five LGBQ youth report a suicide attempt in the previous 12 months compared with one in 25 heterosexual youth.
More than one in three LGB adults report ever being sexually assaulted compared with one in eight heterosexual adults.
Twice as many LGB adults reporting ever being hit, slapped, pushed, kicked or physically hurt by an intimate partner in their lifetimes as is reported among hetero adults.
LGB adults are less likely than heterosexuals to have medical insurance.
Other studies have also confirmed that this segment of the American population encounters significant hurdles when it comes to insurance coverage and maintaining proper mental health.
The Family Research Council remainsbitter that the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies it as a hate group. In yesterday’s “Washington Update,” FRC derided SPLC’s lawsuit against Jewish ex-gay group JONAH, defending the harmful therapy for bringing homosexuals “out of bondage” while trying to claim that the legal group is somehow manipulating the gay community for profit:
With its credibility drying up, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is determined to cement its status as the homosexual movement’s greatest ally. Desperate to regain its status in the civil rights debate, the group is following the money to the gay community, where it hopes the partnership will help SPLC regain some of the legitimacy it lost bullying mainstream conservatives. Their latest attempt to claw their way back into the spotlight is a lawsuit aimed at destroying the ex-gay movement. This week, SPLC announced that it is suing a Jewish organization called JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives of Healing) for consumer fraud. They allege that the therapy, which is designed to bring homosexuals out of bondage and into healthy behavior, failed. That’s as ridiculous as suing Weight Watchers because they promised you’d lose weight and you didn’t! The only people guilty of fraud are the ones who claim people with same-sex attractions can’t change. [...]
The bottom line is that SPLC doesn’t seem interested in helping people. Their actions and bank accounts show that the organization is more interested in profiting from them. If the Left truly had homosexuals’ best interest in mind, they would recognize that for many, these attractions are unwanted. For those who struggle, hope is not in limiting avenues for change–but encouraging them.
FRC prefers NARTH’s credibility on ex-gay therapy over the American Psychological Association and all other mainstream medical organizations. It is precisely because of descriptions of homosexuality as “bondage,” a “struggle,” and the antithesis of “healthy behavior” that SPLC categorizes FRC as a hate group. This lawsuit has incredible potential to save many people from shame and harm, while FRC would rather encourage family rejection and the many healthconsequences that come with it. Only in Tony Perkins’ mind has SPLC lost any credibility, but repeating such a lie doesn’t make it any truer.
A new worldwide study of gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM) finds that there are some severe consistent barriers to accessing HIV prevention and treatment services. According to the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), homophobia and stigma serve as barriers to accessing condoms, lubricants, HIV testing, and HIV treatment across the globe, while community engagement and comfort with medical providers facilitated greater access. In addition, the lower a country’s income, the less access MSM in that country have to these important resources:
The report concludes that efforts must be made to ensure gay men/MSN have access to the HIV services required to truly combat the epidemic, including new pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prevention methods:
In summary, the study findings underscore the need to improve global efforts to ensure that gay men and other MSM have access to basic HIV prevention and treatment services. Structural, community/interpersonal, and individual barriers and facilitators to service access must be addressed at multiple levels; interventions must both disrupt the negative effects of barriers and support the protective effects of facilitators. When considering PrEP implementation, study findings indicate an urgent need for the dissemination of more and better information regarding HIV prevention strategies generally and PrEP in particular.
From the narratives of MSM who participated in this study, it is clear that local and global advocacy efforts are needed to create enabling sociopolitical environments that will increase access to HIV-related services and improve MSM health overall. Securing the human rights of MSM is essential to HIV prevention and treatment strategies, new and old.
The study’s focus groups from Africa noted that many providers proselytize against homosexuality instead of providing HIV prevention, diagnostic, or treatment services. This shaming demotivates MSM to access care in areas where HIV is most rampant. Previous studies have shown that abstinence-only programs (which typically demand celibacy of MSM) and anti-gay stigma and criminalization contribute to higher HIV rates.
NARTH's Dr. Julie Hamilton was introduced as an "expert."
Dr. Drew was not the only television doctor talking about ex-gay therapy on Wednesday. Dr. Oz dedicated his entire show to the “controversy,” providing ample time to those who profit from the harmful therapy to promote their quackery unchallenged. Representatives from NARTH and People Can Change were presented as “experts” who were offering one side of a debate that the medical community has already settled.
GLAAD, GLSEN, and PFLAG all condemned the episode, explaining how thoroughly the practice of ex-gay therapy had been debunked. GLSEN Executive Director Dr. Eliza Byard participated in the show, but explained that she and other LGBT advocates were not informed NARTH would be represented — let alone featured. During his final thought, Dr. Oz argued that he believed the sides needed to talk to each other, then followed up on his blog that only after the show did he have the epiphany that therapists should affirm gay identities:
Some guests argued that they have been changed thru these treatments, but I was overwhelmed by the pain of individuals hurt by the experience. After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus. I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments.
My biggest epiphany occurred after hearing where the opposing groups found some common ground. The guests who appeared on my show on either side of this debate agreed that entering into any therapy with guilt and self-hate is a major error. Trying to change who you are instead of loving who you are leads to broken spirits and broken hearts. Encouraging self-acceptance is the only way to help alleviate the shame experienced by those who are struggling with their sexuality – and help them reach a place where who they are matches who they want to be.
It should not require an open, unchallenged airing of harmful lies to agree with the established medical consensus. There is no way for self-acceptance and ex-gay therapy to coexist; NARTH and others rely upon shame. Their business depends upon clients having “unwanted sexual attractions” and believing the faulty promise that the attractions can be treated. Because of the visibility of his show and the expertise entrusted in him by his viewers, Dr. Oz performed a massive disservice by treating the issue of ex-gay therapy as an open question.
Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out notes that they offered Dr. Oz’s producers to provide America’s top scientists who deal with sexual orientation, but they “arrogantly declined” the assistance.
The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents 1000 Orthodox Rabbis, has 
Michigan teacher Susan Johnson was 
The Family Research Council is engaging in some very interesting damage control spin this week over its present and past support of Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill, which may pass before the end of the year. Earlier this week, Tony Perkins 
In just over a week from today, same-sex couples will be able to legally marry in Washington. To prepare for this milestone, the state is preparing 
The Family Research Council 
