Tag Archives: ex-gay

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: The Milwaukee Common Council Tuesday voted to ban a controversial therapy that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, a practice known as “conversion therapy.” Aldermen vote 12-2 in favor of the ban, with one abstention. Supporters and opponents of the ban packed Tuesday’s meeting at City Hall, with opponents occasionally shouting “Amen!” “This …

The Indianapolis Star reports: Vice President Mike Pence’s breakfast with new Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was closed to the media — at the request of the vice president. In a departure from the recent past, reporters were told Friday’s event to be attended by Pence and Varadkar will be private and the media won’t be invited. Pence also had …

The Toronto Star reports: A long-time Toronto psychiatrist, who believes homosexuality is a “sexual disorder” that can be overcome, has been found guilty by Ontario’s medical regulator of sexually abusing two of his male patients. Dr. Melvyn Iscove, 72, was described in a decision of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s discipline committee as having a “special interest …

The Waco Herald-Tribune reports: A pastor resigned from a local church that has taken a vocal role in preventing human trafficking. The resignation came amid a prostitution investigation in December, and the pastor turned himself in to law enforcement on a prostitution charge today. Edward Ignacio Espinosa, 41, was arrested on a Class B misdemeanor prostitution charge after he paid …

Courthouse News reports: Aiming to protect victims of “treatments” that promise a cure to homosexuality or gender identity issues, California lawmakers are pushing the state to declare conversion therapy a fraud. The proposal, sponsored by the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, would bring conversion therapy under the state’s consumer-protection laws and allow individuals to sue practitioners. It’s already illegal in California …

The BBC reports: Dozens of protesters have gathered outside a London cinema to protest against the cancellation of a screening of a film advocating therapy to “cure” people from being gay. Christian group Core Issues Trust hired a screen at Vue Piccadilly, in the West End, to show its film – the Voices of the Silenced. But the cinema cancelled …

USA Today reports: Vice President Pence on Thursday took to social media to criticize a USA TODAY Sports report as “#FAKENEWS” that U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon rebuffed a request that his office set up a conversation between the two men. At about the same time as Pence took to Twitter, a White House official was explaining to reporters …

USA Today reports: Mike Pence was so concerned about the criticism he received from U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon that his staff went to the extraordinary length of asking the U.S. Olympic Committee to set up a conversation between the two – an offer Rippon turned down. According to two people with knowledge of the situation who were not …

Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate reports: Josh and Lolly Weed, viewed as proof, and used as an example, that a gay man and a straight woman can make a successful Mormon marriage, have announced their divorce. And in the same blog post where they announce their divorce, they offered an apology to the LGBTQ community. “Today, we need to let …

Minutes ago the Broward County Commission voted unanimously to ban ex-gay torture, becoming the 16th and largest Florida municipality thus far to take such a stand. Other Florida municipalities with bans on the books include Palm Beach County, Boca Raton, Miami, Tampa, Wilton Manors, Key West, and Oakland Park. Bucking the statewide trend, however, is Miami-Dade County, which rejected a …

A Christian “media ministry” called Anchored North went wildly viral over the holiday weekend with an ex-gay video that has racked up 1.3 million views at this writing. Hemant Mehta reports at the Friendly Atheist: Last year, Emily Thomes opened up about how she had come to Jesus after a life of “homosexual practice and drug use.” Her past involved …

The Liberty Counsel has failed multiple times to overturn statewide ex-gay torture bans in California and New Jersey and were even smacked down TWICE by the US Supreme Court. But they’re trying yet again, this time in Tampa. Via press release: Liberty Counsel filed suit in federal court against the City of Tampa for its adoption of Ordinance 2017-47, which …

Via press release: A new website aimed at offering an array of resources for persons involved in the pastoral care of men and women who experience same-sex attractions (SSA) has been launched by Courage & EnCourage International, the Catholic Church’s officially recognized ministry in the field. Truth & Love offers a wide range of content on the subject of homosexuality, …

The Washington Post reports: Taiwan could soon become the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, while Hong Kong this month won its bid to host the Gay Games in 2022, another Asian first. But in mainland China, LGBT people are still being subjected to forced confinement, medication and even electric shock therapy to “convert” them into heterosexuals. The …

Vice News reports: It’s no surprise the ultra-conservative Church Militant website and its founder, Michael Voris, have seen a surge in popularity within the American Catholic culture following the election of Donald Trump. But now the far-right fringe group is at war with the Catholic Church, which Voris believes has taken a sharp turn to the left. Voris and his …

The Guardian reports: A Brazilian judge has approved gay “conversion therapy” in a ruling which prompted widespread outrage and raised fears of a conservative backlash. Waldemar de Carvalho, a federal judge in the capital of Brasília, overruled a 1999 decision by the Federal Council of Psychology that forbade psychologists from offering widely discredited treatments which claims to “cure” gay people. …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: A Melbourne principal has disputed a mother’s claim – aired in an anti same-sex marriage TV ad – that her son was told he could wear a dress to school. Cella White, who has previously appeared in videos attacking the Safe Schools program and whose claims have been heavily promoted by the Australian Christian Lobby, …

Lehigh Valley Live reports: With the mayor’s stroke of a pen, Allentown has officially banned conversion therapy for minors in the city. The law prohibits licensed mental health professionals from counseling, practices, or treatments that seek to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Officials said Allentown is now the second municipality in the state, and 60th in the …

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has signed her state’s bill outlawing ex-gay torture. That brings us to ten states, Washington DC, and host of cities big and small around the country. Via press release: “No child should be put through the dangerous and inhumane practice of conversion therapy,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Medical professionals agree this outdated and …

The Guardian reports: The Church of England has called on the government to ban conversion therapy and has condemned the practice, which aims to change sexual orientation, as unethical and potentially harmful. At the end of an emotional debate in which two members of the C of E synod described their experiences as spiritual abuse, the church’s governing body overwhelmingly …