Ex-gay pushback

This is background for what you will hear next week about so-called "ex-gay" therapies, which have been discredited by every professional organization.

• American Psychiatric Association (“the risks…are great” and include “self destructive behavior,” and “reinforces self hatred…already experienced by the patient”)
• American Psychological Association (“so-called conversion therapy is not supported by the science”)
• American Medical Association (“oppose any psychiatric treatment, such as ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy”)
• American Counseling Association (supports “appropriate interventions in order to counteract bias that is based on ignorance or unfounded beliefs about same gender sexual orientation)
• American Academy of Pediatrics (Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated…provokes guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation)
• National Association of Social Workers (No data demonstrate that reparative or conversion therapies are effective, and in fact they may be harmful).

We believe that truth wins out, and here are the facts. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, and are at higher risk of dropping out of school, being kicked out of their homes, and turning to life on the streets for survival. They are at risk because their distress is a direct result of the hatred and prejudice that surround them, not because of their inherently gay or lesbian identity orientation.

Next week several events will take place in Birmingham regarding an ex-gay ministry. Watch this site, facebook, examiner.com, and the news for more information.

Thank you Mitchell Gold, Wayne Besen.

Update in Bessemer. Aaron Killings and Denise Blue Poe are back on the job. No explanation given.