A group of ex-gay therapy advocates are objecting to a proposed ban on the treatment for minors in New Jersey, claiming that such a law would help protect pedophiles. The so-called “Citizens Against the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act” has been organized by the New Jersey Family Policy Council — not surprising given the group’s past president is Greg Quinlan, who identifies as ex-gay and is also president of the ex-gay advocacy group PFOX. The committee believes that homosexuality can be caused by sexual abuse, and thus if minors are not allowed to receive therapy to change their orientation, they’ll be less likely to report abuse they receive.

Ex-gay therapist Christopher Doyle, who works with infamously disavowed therapist Richard Cohen at the so-called International Healing Foundation, is also a member of this “Citizens” group. This week he told American Family Association radio host Sandy Rios that if New Jersey’s bill banning ex-gay therapy passes, “more Jerry Sanduskys will get off scot-free“:

DOYLE: What we’re trying to communicate to the press was gay activists are indoctrinating young people to believe that they’re born that way, that they’re born gay. And if young people believe that they’re born gay because of the gay activist indoctrination they will not seek a professional counselor to try to figure out why they have same-sex attractions. Many times, in fact about half of the clients that I have in my client list right now, have experienced sexual abuse, lots of them by pedophiles such as Jerry Sandusky. So if they’re never going to go and seek help for their unwanted same-sex attractions, which are a symptom of that trauma, then the Jerry Sanduskys of the world will not be discovered, they will not be reported by professional counselors. Kids won’t tell their parents they were molested because the kids are going to think, ‘Hey I’m born this way and my sex abuse didn’t have anything to do with my same-sex attractions,’ and then there you go — more Jerry Sanduskys will get off scot-free.

Listen to it (via RightWingWatch):

Doyle has previously claimed that there is no data available about the outcomes of sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) for adolescents, a point he does not realize is a compelling argument against offering the treatment. There is also no evidence to substantiate any link between sexual abuse and sexual orientation — if anything, such claims only serve to prey on the vulnerability of young people who have been traumatized. In contrast, research continues to verify the unchangeable biological and genetic components of sexual orientation.

Besides the point that ex-gay therapy and its accompanying claims have no scientific merit, Doyle’s argument actually undermines his own espoused goal. If he truly believes that having an unwanted same-sex orientation is the only reason to report sexual abuse, then he also inherently believes homosexuality is the only consequence of sexual abuse. This disregards the very real trauma and very real consequences that actually result from abuse. It’s simply an absurd idea that if kids are okay with their sexual orientations that they’ll somehow just shrug off the abuse they experience.

A New Jersey Senate committee has advanced the proposed ban on ex-gay therapy for minors, and Gov. Chris Christie (R) has even indicated willingness to sign it should it pass out of the legislature. A similar ban passed in California has been suspended pending legal challenges from the ex-gay network NARTH and other anti-gay groups.

A new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll finds that an overwhelming number of New Jerseyans want to vote on the question of same-sex marriage so that they can approve it. According to the poll, 69 percent of respondents support a referendum, and 62 percent of respondents would vote yes for marriage equality while only 30 percent would oppose it. Indeed, 75 percent of those who support a referendum are supporters. Support continues to be highest among Democrats (72 percent) and independents (63 percent), and lowest among Republicans (40 percent) and self-identified conservatives (31 percent).

This year, New Jersey legislators are still contemplating overriding Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) veto from last year, but it’s unclear if they will secure the votes necessary. A lawsuit is also proceeding asserting that civil unions fall short of providing equality to same-sex couples. Though a referendum seems like it would have promise if advanced, it would still require an expensive campaign and would have negative consequences for the LGBT community.

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.

Christopher Doyle

Advocates of so-called ex-gay therapy (often referred to as sexual orientation change efforts, or SOCE) are not pleased that the New Jersey legislature is seriously considering a ban on the treatment for minors. The increasingly vocal Christopher Doyle, who works with the infamously disavowed therapist Richard Cohen, penned a reaction for Christian Post asking, “Where is the tolerance” for people who are ex-gay? But his post actually helps outline many of the reasons nobody humors ex-gay therapy.

For example, he reiterated the canard that sexual abuse causes people to be gay:

That’s right, even if your child was sexually abused by a pedophile such as Jerry Sandusky and develops homosexual inclinations as a consequence, he/she may not be able to receive Sexual Orientation Change Effort (SOCE) therapy from a highly educated and skilled professional counselor, social worker, or psychologist. Why, you ask? According to the office of Massachusetts State Representative Carl Sciortino (D), because SOCE is an “archaic vestige of homophobia” and should be banned.

This argument is actually just an inverse of conservatives’ tired claim that gay men are more likely to be pedophiles. Because boys are often the victim of abuse in high-visibility institutions like the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, or athletic teams and their abusers are male, conservatives conclude that the perpetrator must be gay, even though pedophilia has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Likewise, ex-gay advocates claim that any boy who was once abused by a man and later realizes he is gay must have somehow been swayed or corrupted by the abuse itself. There is nothing to reinforce this conclusion, however, except conservatives’ ability to prey on the vulnerability of these traumatized young people.

Doyle goes on to claim that there is no research available about the outcomes of ex-gay therapy for adolescents:

The problem with this conspiracy is this: There is NOT ONE scientific study that contains any hard data on the outcomes of SOCE for adolescents. Not one!

So when I contacted the offices proposing a ban on SOCE therapies and asked them to cite studies that show “harmful” outcomes for adolescents, they could only point me to position statements from liberal trade organizations, which are known for their one-hand clapping viewpoint, strictly pro-gay and anti-ex-gay. If these organizations were made up of objective scientists that looked at all the evidence, such legislation would not be allowed anywhere.

Doyle unsurprisingly demonstrates a complete ineptness for understanding scientific rigor. His claim is not entirely wrong: there is not one scientific study that contains any hard data on the outcomes of SOCE for anybody. That’s because all of the studies on ex-gay therapy have found that it doesn’t have any effective outcomes — even studies done by researchers who are trying to advocate for the practice.

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