Universities across the country have LGBT Resource Centers to provide support services and programming that help create a safer and more inclusive learning environment for LGBT students, but Texas conservatives are taking aim at these facilities. Wednesday night, the Texas A&M University Student Senate voted 35-28 to pass what was renamed the “Religious Funding Exemption Bill,” which allows students to  opt-out of paying the portion of their student fees that goes toward the campus GLBT Resource Center — about $2 — if they have religious objections.

Apparently, the bill was expanded at the last minute so that it didn’t simply target the GLBT Resource Center, but the impracticality remains. After all, as an editorial in the student newspaper The Battalion points out today, a student could make an argument to “morally oppose” any campus service. University officials, who have final approval over any budget changes, explained that students are disallowed from paying the University Advancement Fee. Moreover, Student Body President John Claybrook has not decided if he might veto the bill, though he did win his position running against the bill’s sponsor, Thomas McNutt. Given that it passed with a narrower vote than was expected, it may not have the support to override such a veto.

Though it’s unclear this student-led attack on LGBT Aggies is enforceable, the state legislature is considering a broader change that very well could. Texas Rep. Bill Zedler (R) has filed an amendment to the state’s appropriations bill to cut funding for public universities that have “Gender and Sexuality Centers and Related Student Centers.” The amendment offensively claims that the centers promote behaviors that have a high risk for disease:

An institution of higher education may not use money appropriated to the institution under this Act, or any property or facility of the institution funded by appropriations under this Act, to support, promote, or encourage any behavior that would lead to high risk behavior for AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, or any sexually transmitted disease.

Many LGBT resource centers work directly with campus health services to promote safe sex practices and overall sexual health for all students — even those who aren’t LGBT. Zedler is simply implying that anything gay is therefore unhealthy, a stigmatizing stereotype not based on reality. Rep. Wayne Christian (R) attempted a similar measure blocking support for LGBT services in 2011, but Democratic opposition forced him to withdraw it. Texas lawmakers are considering several other bills this term that target schools for supporting LGBT students and employees.

There is one glimmer of good news for LGBT students in Texas. While A&M’s student government was busy voting for a religious right to discriminate, the University of Houston’s student government unanimously passed a resolution opposing Zedler’s amendment.

This past December, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints published a new resource about homosexuality, suggesting that it was moving away from its harshest condemnations of gay people. The counsel it included acknowledged that same-sex attractions are not chosen, and seemed to embody a “love the sinner, hate the sin” not unlike the Catholic Church’s. However, the so-called Center for Gender Wholeness, founded by Mormon ex-gay therapists, has launched a new resource that reinforces some of the most tired and offensive myths about homosexuality and encourages Mormons to subject their loved ones to the shame-based treatment.

Here’s just a sampling of the many bizarre claims and dangerous tips provided on the site. (Note: All of the resources are geared toward male homosexuality, because “the Center for Gender Wholeness does not have expertise in working with female homosexuality.”)

• Gay people are more likely to have a history of experiencing trauma and emotional and psychological problems.
• Among the supposed “causes” of homosexuality are unhealthy childhood relationships with females, distorted concepts of gender, feeling incongruent with one’s own gender, problems in relationships with other males, sexual conditioning, sexual abuse, certain biological and physical issues, and certain emotional and psychological problems. [Obviously, this approach completely conflates transgender identities, despite gender identity being a completely independent variable from sexual orientation.]
• People trying to help their gay friends should ask about how they have acted on their attractions, but should be careful not to give them ideas of behaviors they haven’t tried.
• Therapy is “necessary” if an individual “reports unsuccessful attempts to diminish their same-sex attractions.”
• Mormons should encourage (opposite-sex) marriage as a solution to same-sex attractions.
• Mormons should recognize “the hope window,” when people with same-sex attractions are most optimistic about change.
• Therapy can help resolve the “issues that underlie unwanted same-sex attraction.”
• Treatment can include an addiction recovery program and medication.
• The therapists apparently use “brainspotting” to determine “where a person is holding trauma or other negative experience in their brain.”

The promotion of this therapy seems to conflict with what the Mormon Church now says about homosexuality, and the small-text disclaimer at the bottom of the screen is telling:

This site was not created by, or with support from, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Center for Gender Wholeness (CGW) is not affiliated with the LDS Church. The contents of this site represent the veiws [sic] of CGW, which is solely responsible for its content.

Still, the site is designed to look like it’s official guidance from LDS, including detailed resources for training Church leaders on ex-gay therapy.

The American Psychological Association has found that ex-gay therapy is not only ineffective, but reinforces stigma and can thus have harmful effects. The proper therapeutic response when people are struggling with being gay is affirmation — which is coincidentally the name of the organization that supports LGBT Mormons.

Last week, the Colorado Division of Insurance became the second state agency in the week to issue a bulletin stating that discrimination in health coverage on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status is impermissible under state law. The bulletin is the latest in a series of decisions by states and employers clearly stating that no person should be denied health care or coverage based on who they are.

The bulletin clarifies that existing law in Colorado prohibits discriminatory practices by insurers, including:

• Denying coverage to a transgender person for medically necessary care that would be covered under current standards for any other individual
• Charging more for health insurance based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

One Colorado and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative have been working closely with the Colorado Division of Insurance to seek legal clarification in response to input from Colorado’s transgender community. And the result reflects the growing movement toward equitable health insurance policies at the state and federal level.

Ending discriminatory policies that deny transgender people access to medically necessary care reflects basic values of fairness, and it also aligns with the consensus among major medical associations that transition-related health care is medically necessary for many transgender individuals and that determination of what care an individual patient needs properly rests with medical providers, not insurance companies.

Read the full bulletin and the FAQ from One Colorado and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee voted to advance a bill that would ban ex-gay therapy for minors. Among the testimony the committee heard was a powerful pronouncement from high school senior Jacob Rudolph, who declared, “I am not broken, I am not confused, and I do not need to be fixed.” Rudolph has been petitioning Gov. Chris Christie (R) to announce his support for the bill, but Christie said after the committee’s vote that he was still undecided about the harmful treatment and wouldn’t make up his mind on the legislation until it arrived at his desk. Now he’s clarified that he opposes ex-gay therapy, according to spokesman Kevin Roberts:

ROBERTS: Gov. Christie does not believe in conversion therapy. There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth.

The statement stops just short of indicating whether he intends to sign the legislation, but it’s a powerful endorsement nevertheless. Christie admitted in 2011 that he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is thus not a sin. Still, he vetoed marriage equality legislation, so his actions as governor do not quite align with his respectable basic understanding of homosexuality.

Jacob Rudolph (Photo Credit: Thomas P. Costello)

In January, Jacob Rudolph came out as an LGBT teen to his fellow seniors at Parisppany High School in New Jersey and received a standing ovation in a video that quickly went viral. He has since launched a petition urging Gov. Chris Christie (R) to support a proposed ban to ex-gay therapy for minors. On Monday, Jacob testified on behalf of this bill before the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee, which voted to advance it. Powerfully declaring his identity as a bi teen, he told the panel about some of the responses he received to his viral coming out video:

RUDOLPH: Like every other LGBT person, I am not broken, I am not confused, and I do not need to be fixed. I did not choose my sexual orientation, but what I did choose was to pretend to be somebody that I was not. I came to terms with myself that I was bisexual when I was in the 9th grade, but I was truly afraid to share with anyone else who I really was. High school is challenging enough for teens who are straight, but it is even more challenging for LGBT teens, because they have to risk alienating their friends, being subjected to taunts and physical violence, and having their families reject them. [...]

The video of my speech was posted online and has since received nearly 2 million hits. Of all the responses I have received, however, the ones that meant the most to me were those that were sent by five teenagers from various locations across the United States. Each of those five teenagers had something in common: they had made preparations to commit suicide before watching my video, yet after watching my video they all decided against it. Some of these teens had been rejected by their families, who’d believed they had chosen to be gay, and these families refused to accept them for who they are.

It is beyond baffling to me that anyone might actually believe that sexual orientation is a “lifestyle choice” that can be altered if desired. Even more disturbing, however, is that there are organizations whose sole mission is to “cure” LGBT individuals of their orientation through the truculent practices that have been deemed dangerously harmful and ineffective by the American Psychological Association and other meritable groups.

Watch his full testimony:

Those advocating for ex-gay therapy claim there is no evidence that it doesn’t work. Unfortunately for them, there is no evidence that it does work, and there is evidence that it’s harmful.

Today, the DC Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB) issued a bulletin clarifying key protections for transgender people in the District of Columbia. The bulletin provides a clear directive to insurers that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression is not an acceptable business practice in Washington.

The bulletin prohibits insurance companies from some of the most egregious practices that have been used to lock transgender people out of health care coverage, including:

• Denying, cancelling, limiting, or refusing to renew an insurance policy.
• Limiting insurance coverage on the basis of gender identity or expression.
• Denying coverage for a procedure that is provided for the treatment of other conditions of illness. For example, if a plan covers hormone therapy for some diagnoses, it cannot categorically exclude coverage for hormone therapy related to gender identity disorder or other transition-related diagnosis.

DC joins a growing number of states, municipalities, and employers who recognize that equal access to health coverage is supported by medical science, improves the health of transgender people, and does not significantly increase costs. Ending arbitrary insurance discrimination against transgender people simply supports what expert medical bodies have been saying for years: transition-related health care is medically necessary for many transgender individuals whose health and well-being depends on bringing their physical body into alignment with their gender identity, and determination of what care an individual patient needs properly rests with medical providers, not insurance companies.

Read the full bulletin and the joint announcement from the Mayor’s Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Affairs and the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking.

The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee just voted 7-1 with 2 abstentions to advance a bill (A3371) that would prohibit licensed therapists from offering ex-gay therapy to minors. Several hours of heated testimony preceded the vote, with proponents telling sharing stories of how ex-gay therapy harmed them and opponents testifying that ex-gay therapy works. The American Psychological Association has determined that efforts to manipulate a person’s sexual orientation are not effective — no study has ever found that such efforts achieve their intended outcomes — and that it may be harmful as well.

California passed a similar bill last year, but a court injunction has prevented it from taking effect. Lawsuits were filed by several ex-gay therapists to block the bill, including the organization NARTH, which claims to be a professional network for ex-gay therapists. The case is awaiting a hearing scheduled for April 17.