Report: Gay Prevention Programs Harm Teens

[deadparrot]

MIAMI - A national gay and lesbian group is accusing several religious organizations of harming homosexual teens by offering parents what they say are bogus therapies to keep children from becoming gay.

In a report released Thursday in Miami Beach, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute questioned whether the therapies are ethical or effective and said state and federal authorities should provide greater oversight when these programs are aimed at youth.

The report said some Christian-based gay prevention and treatment groups have used the First Amendment protection of religion to avoid sanctions by state health officials seeking to enforce regulations on counselors who offer therapy without a license.

Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman said officials need to ensure that those offering such therapies are licensed — as opposed to simply being clergy — and that clients and their parents should be informed about the programs' long-term success rates.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060304/ap_on_re_us/gay_teens

[WindRavenX]

1. no shit

I've talked to some of these so called "counselors" and "therapists"-- they're sick and self-serving religious fanatics.

[Maat]

7. I agree with you 110%, WindRavenX.

This is a big "No Shit!" to me also.

I was one of the ones who spoke up here on DU when people asked how we should respond to the "Zach/Love-in-Action" situation in Tennessee. I worked for Child Protective Services for 7 years, and one of my friends worked in the "Licensing" section. If you are using certain buzzwords in marketing your program, and running your facility (in which kids are staying on an ongoing basis engaging in certain cognitive techniques to change belief systems) a certain way, you are a MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY, and have to meet certain stringent criteria. And most states do not permit you to call yourself "a counselor" or a "therapist," unless you have met certain educational, testing, and internship requirements. If a facility/program and its staff do not meet the state's criteria, then they should be shut down due to the potential for serious harm to the public (such as fraud - marketing yourself as one thing when you are really another).

In my humble opinion, any licensed mental health professional affiliated with these programs should lose their license, for all of the respected, recognized associations have denounced this kind of "counseling."

They try to make a First-Amendment-related argument that government may not interfere with the practice of one's faith, and that is true, to an extent. The government may not aim a regulation at a particular faith; but the government sure can regulate conduct, especially with broadly-aimed regulations that are not aimed at one particular faith.

Furthermore, if you are engaged in "pastoral counseling (what a minister is permitted to do)," then you need to clearly label it as such, and not state that you are addressing a "sexual disorder," particularly when you are neither qualified nor licensed to do such a thing.

Just unconscionable (these programs) - and may the Task Force get that message out!

And I agree that they need to be ordered to come up with data showing that their program is effective - per scientific standards - and not just taking data from an "ex-gay for pay." They will not be able to come up with credible data to that effect.

[xchrom]

2. why anyone would let these sick perverted ''therapists''

near their children is beyond me.

however i think that hate of gay people is extraordinarily powerful motivator for these folks.
and sick churches offer an ever renewing well for their hate.

[KittyWampus]

10. I think it's self loathing on the parents' part. They are so unhappy with

themselves... all they know how to do is to pass that on to their children. I doubt they consciously understand what they are doing.

[HockeyMom]

3. As the mother of a gay daughter,

I simply cannot imagine anyone even wanting to do this to their child. Your children are who and what they are. Why would they want to change them into somebody else?

[AndyTiedye]

4. By Equating Deviation from Male Stereotypes with Homosexuality…

…these cretins also do great harm to kids
who suck at sports and/or don't give a shit about them,
who have more intellectual interests than their peers,
who are already getting bullied,
and aren't even the slightest bit gay.

The fact that these people actively oppose all anti-bullying
programs as being "part of the homosexual agenda" is especially telling.

One can only imagine what their own kids must be like.:scared:

[HuffleClaw]

5. "counselors who offer therapy without a license."

that really says it all don't it? i wonder if somewhere in the small print is a clause calling their 'therapy' 'purely for novelty reasons' or something.

[skooooo]

6. Next they'll start discouraging kids from writing left handed.

..makes as much sense too.

[msongs]

8. its all about the $$$$ as is most of this christofascist stuff

trolling for dollars from scared people. the more they can scare, they more they can scam.

and the ultimate scare of course is condemnation to hell or a date with dick cheney

Msongs
www.msongs.com/democratsmugs.htm

[VegasWolf]

9. What? Do they show gay porno and them zap them with electricity

and then a slap in the face with the Bible?

[father_of_hope]

11. I'd love to see what type of characters

are these counselors offering treatment. Probably like every closeted Republican trying to get these young boys/girls for themselves.