Tag Archives: ex-gay torture

The Christian Post reports: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal filed by a Christian therapist against Washington state’s ban on “gay conversion therapy,” allowing the law to remain in effect. In an orders list released Monday morning, the high court declined without comment a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Brian Tingley …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Former Utah therapist Scott Owen was arrested Wednesday in connection with accusations that he sexually abused patients during sessions. Owen, 63, was booked into the Utah County jail on suspicion of six counts of object rape and four counts of forcible sodomy. A Utah County judge has ordered that Owen remain in jail without the …

“It’s time for an honest conversation about homosexuality. There’s freedom to change if you want to. Our race, the size of our feet, the color of our eyes, these are things we’re born with and cannot change. But what these adult advocacy groups like the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network are promoting is a type of behavior. Homosexual behavior is …

CNN reports: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson closely collaborated with a group in the mid-to-late 2000s that promoted “conversion therapy,” a discredited practice that asserted it could change the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian individuals. Prior to launching his political career, Johnson, a lawyer, gave legal advice to an organization called Exodus International and partnered with the group …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Three additional men have come forward to say a therapist recommended and paid for by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints touched them inappropriately during counseling sessions related to struggles with their sexuality. The men’s statements follow allegations by three others, previously reported by The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica, that clinical mental …

Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen reports: Critics have long deduced that Christopher Doyle is divorced from reality, but the ugly reality of his bitter divorce is what will likely cause the demise of America’s most notorious “ex-gay” conversion therapist. Doyle is a licensed therapist and the Executive Director of the Institute for Healthy Families, which is promoted as “a …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Andrew was feeling crushed by the cultural expectation to get married. Twenty-two years old, he had just returned from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was attending a singles’ ward in Provo — a local congregation of unmarried college students. But Andrew is gay. And marriage between a man …

The Associated Press reports: The scientifically discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy, which aims to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations, is now banned for minors in Michigan under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Michigan becomes the 22nd state to outlaw conversion therapy, which state lawmakers defined as any practice or treatment by a mental …

Michigan Live reports: Bills banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors in Michigan passed the state legislature, Tuesday, June 27 and are headed for the desk of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Once signed by Whitmer, Michigan will join the 21 states, plus the District of Columbia, which have already enacted bans on administering conversion therapy to minors. “Michigan’s LGBTQ+ youth should be …

Bloomberg News reports: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should apologize for the UK’s treatment of gay and trans veterans, according to a government-commissioned review that details a “culture of homophobia” that pervaded the British military for decades. The study — slated for publication in the first half of June and seen by Bloomberg — details accounts of electric-shock conversion therapy, intrusive …

The Associated Press reports: The state’s Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board barred conversion therapy in December. A month later, the Legislature’s Republican-controlled rules committee voted to temporarily suspend the ban. Republicans brought a bill to the Assembly floor Tuesday that would prohibit the board from enacting any future conversion therapy bans. The GOP opted …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A Tampa ordinance that barred counselors from providing voluntarily therapy to minors who sought to rid their same-sex attractions was ruled unconstitutional by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Thursday’s ruling drew heavily from Otto v. City of Boca Raton, in which the circuit court ruled that similar bans in Palm Beach County and the City …

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court on Monday refused, over the dissents of a group of Republican-appointed judges, to reconsider an earlier order upholding Washington state’s ban on so-called conversion therapy seeking to change minor patients’ sexual orientation or gender identity. A Christian family therapist had urged the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear his challenge to …

The Telegraph reports: A law to ban all conversion therapy will be announced as soon as Monday, as Rishi Sunak reverses Boris Johnson’s decision to scale back the intervention. Mr Johnson vowed to ban homosexual conversion therapy when prime minister, but decided not to do the same for transgender conversion therapy. This week, government ministers are set to make clear …

The Associated Press reports: Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations — a discredited practice known as conversion therapy. A ban on conversion therapy was passed in 2020 by a state board within the Democratic governor’s administration overseeing licensing for mental health professionals. But …

The Irish Mirror reports: Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has committed to bringing forward plans this year to ban the use of conversion therapy for gay people. Mr O’Gorman, who is gay, previously branded conversion therapy “a cruel process rooted in the promotion of shame”. He said Ireland should join other European countries in banning the practice. “Obviously, legislation takes time …

The Brussels Times reports: Belgium is banning conversion practices – a pseudoscientific practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms – for members of the LGBTQ community, announced State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunity and Diversity Sarah Schlitz. “Belgium is a pioneer in the field of LGBTQ rights. Numerous …

Jezebel reports: The Dr. Oz Show’s website appears to have scrubbed all of its 2012 segments about gay conversion therapy, including a three-part interview with an anti-LGBTQ “reparative therapy” advocate, subsequent interviews with advocates at GLAAD and GLSEN rebutting the pro-conversion therapy segments, and a blog post from Oz about the “debate” around conversion therapy. It’s unclear to whom, exactly, …

Bloomberg News reports: Mexico’s Senate voted to prohibit and criminally punish so-called conversion therapy, which is used to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The legislative reforms ban any therapy or treatment used to “impede, restrict, diminish, annul or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, identity or gender expression,” the Citizens Movement political party said in a …

Law & Crime reports: A federal appellate court has upheld the constitutionality of a Washington state law that prohibits therapists from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, ruling that the treatment is conduct, not protected speech. The three-judge panel rejected arguments from the Alliance Defending Freedom that Washington’s 2018 ban on conversion therapy for minors violated …