Free Republic

November 15, 2016 -- Those who are setting our so-called “values”, such as the small but powerful group of academics, mainstream media, and homosexual activists, do so by attempting to impose strange myths and ideas that have no scientific basis. These myths include the one that homosexuals are “born that way”, can’t change, and must be accepted for “who they are”. Further, those claiming they are a different gender than that with which they were born, i.e. the transgendered, who “feel” they belong to other than their gender at birth, must be accepted as such. The public is supposed to...

The Texas Republican Party considered a platform Friday that would soften support of widely rebuked “reparative therapy” for gays while still preserving some of the toughest anti-gay language on any party plank in the U.S. The new platform also would oppose bathroom rights for transgender persons — an unsurprising move after the state’s Republican lieutenant governor said Friday that Texas is ready to forfeit billions of federal dollars rather than comply with a new Obama administrative directive on transgender rights in public schools. …

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 20, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - The nation's foremost homosexual and transgender political group has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, saying she has made banning reparative therapy and allowing transgender military service "a pillar" of her presidential campaign. “All the progress we have made as a nation on LGBT equality -- and all the progress we have yet to make -- is at stake in November," said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. The HRC said that Clinton has made homosexual and transgender political advocacy "a pillar of her campaign and recently unveiled the most robust and ambitious LGBT...

A leading American Jewish group promoting therapy it said could turn gays to heterosexuals was ordered shut in December by a New Jersey court, amid growing efforts in the U.S. to curb the generally discredited practice. But therapists with ties to the shuttered group say they have found a haven for their work in Israel. Israel's Health Ministry advises against so-called "gay conversion" or "reparative" therapy, calling it scientifically dubious and potentially dangerous, but no law limits it. In Israel, practitioners say their services are in demand, mostly by Orthodox Jewish men trying to reduce their same-sex attractions so they...

December 18, 2015 Judge Orders New Jersey "Gay Conversion" Nonprofit To Close NEWARK, N.J. -- A New Jersey nonprofit found to have violated consumer fraud laws for offering therapy it said would turn gays to heterosexuals must shut down, a judge ordered Friday. The granting of a permanent injunction against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing, known as JONAH, was an outgrowth of a lawsuit filed against the group in 2012 by several men, and two of their mothers, claiming it engaged in fraud and made claims it couldn't back up. The ruling signed Friday by state Superior Court Judge...

A Jewish group offering therapy for same-sex attraction will be ceasing operations in January as a result of a lawsuit filed against it in New Jersey. Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing, also called JONAH International, sent an email to supporters on New Year's Eve announcing the closure. "The N.J. court delivered its final judgement on Dec. 18, 2015. Under the order, JONAH must permanently cease operations, including providing referrals and operating its website and listserv,"read the email. "That means that our site, www.jonahweb.org, will no longer be available online after mid- January 2016, and neither of us will be...

FULL TITLE: Gay men and their moms sue Jewish conversion therapy center that promised to turn them straight - and failed A group of gay men and their moms are suing a Jewish therapy center in New Jersey that claims to turn homosexuals straight. The lawsuit charges that the center, Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), is guilty of consumer fraud for failing to quell the homosexual urges of its clients, as it had promised. Arthur Goldberg, JONAH's co-director, and Alan Downing, a 'life coach' who counsels therapy sessions, were also named in the suit. Goldberg did not return...

President Barack Obama symbolically demonstrated support for certain transgender political goals this week by announcing his support for bans on conversion therapy for youth and the addition of a gender neutral bathroom in the White House. In response to a petition posted on a White House website, the Obama administration expressed its support for Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Therapy. Valerie Jarrett, a senior presidential adviser, wrote in the official response to the petition that President Obama supported such a ban. "The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor...

There was one particular testimony before the New Jersey Senate detailing the dangers of “gay conversion therapy” that was so riveting that it sounded like something taken straight out of a Hollywood script. It now appears that it was taken straight out of Hollywood. So, not only is the New Jersey Senate in danger of passing a terribly unfair, discriminatory bill, but the most compelling testimony presented appears to be a fabrication. Before getting into the details of what appears to be an incredible hoax, it’s important to understand the nature of this very dangerous bill, which would make it...

Discussion on whether therapists should be allowed to offer counseling to persons wanting to rid their same-sex desires commenced Tuesday at the American Psychological Association. The so-called reparative therapy remains a heated debate between gay rights activists and religious groups who argue that homosexuality is a sin and against the created order of God. "There are many men and women who have unwanted same-sex attractions. Those persons should have the option to get a form of treatment or counseling that parallels their value system, their faith beliefs, their religious convictions, particularly Christians who hold to a view that homosexuality is...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge is considering whether to block a first-of-its kind California law that prohibits licensed therapists from counseling gay minors on how to become straight. U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller in Sacramento held a 50-minute hearing on the issue Friday and said she intended to issue a written ruling next week.

Before Sheldon Bruck told his orthodox Jewish parents he was gay, the teenager looked for a way out of homosexuality. His search led him to JONAH -- Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing -- which claimed on its website to help people "struggling with unwanted same-sex sexual attractions." JONAH co-director Arthur Goldberg promised Bruck, then 17, that "JONAH could help him change his orientation from gay to straight," according to a consumer fraud lawsuit filed Tuesday against JONAH, Goldberg and a JONAH counselor.

In a rare development, two federal judges in Sacramento have come to opposite conclusions on the constitutionality of a new California law that bars the use of "gay conversion therapy" on minors. On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller ruled that the law prohibiting licensed mental health providers from steering patients under 18 away from gay and lesbian lifestyles does not infringe on the suing providers' constitutional guarantee of free speech. Thus, she concluded, providers challenging the law are unlikely to prevail, and she refused to grant them a preliminary injunction precluding enforcement of the law, which is...

Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Monday barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, making New Jersey the second state to ban so-called conversion therapy, along with California. The bill passed both houses of the New Jersey Legislature with bipartisan support in June. Assemblyman Tim Eustace, who sponsored the bill and is openly gay, described the therapy as "an insidious form of child abuse." In a note accompanying the bill, Christie said he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is not a sin. That view is inconsistent with his Catholic faith, which teaches that homosexual...

An ex-gay organization is planning legal action against the District of Columbia for its recent banning of conversion therapy, also called Sexual Orientation Change Efforts therapy, for minors. Voice of the Voiceless, an organization focused on ex-gay rights and recognition, is in the early stages of planning to bring legal action against the government of the nation's Capital over the recently passed bill. Christopher Doyle, president and co-founder of VoV, told The Christian Post that at present they are seeking a plaintiff to bring a case against the new law. "We are still seeking a plaintiff (minor and their family)...

A bill currently being amended in the California State Senate would make it harder for doctors who practice conversion therapy to service homosexual clients. If passed, it would be the first bill in the United States to regulate the practice. Senate Bill 1127, which was introduced by State Senator Ted Lieu in February, would ban conversion therapy for anyone under the age of 18 and require adults to sign an informed consent form before entering treatment. "Under no circumstances shall a patient under 18 years of age undergo sexual orientation change efforts, regardless of the willingness of a patient's parent,...

A conservative legal group has stated its intentions to file a lawsuit against New Jersey over a recently signed law banning sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors. Mat Staver, founder and chairman of The Liberty Counsel, confirmed to The Christian Post on Monday his organization's plan to file the suit. "We will be filing suit," said Staver, adding that the suit should be submitted "later this week." On Monday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law A-3371, a bill that would ban the controversial practice of reparative therapy (also called conversion therapy) for minors. A-3371 enjoyed bipartisan support in...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider arguments against California's ban on a controversial therapy aimed at reversing homosexuality in children, allowing the prohibition to be enforced in the most populous U.S. state. The court's decision not to take up the case follows a ruling by an appeals court last year that the prohibition on so-called "gay conversion therapy" for minors is not a violation of the constitutional rights of counselors or parents, as argued by a conservative religious group that challenged the ban. "The Court's refusal to accept the appeal of extreme ideological therapists who practice the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A first-of-its-kind ban on a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay people straight is speeding through the California statehouse. Supporters say the legislation, which passed its final Senate committee Tuesday, is necessary because such treatments are ineffective and harmful.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gov. Chris Christie plans to sign a bill Monday barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, making New Jersey the second state to ban so-called conversion therapy, along with California.