Things are going well for LGBT rights in California! The state's Governor has signed a bill requiring schools to "highlight the contributions" of LGBT people throughout history. This is in addition to laws which state that the contributions of women, black people and Mexican Americans should be highlighted.
This will help to bring balance to children's perception of gays. By which I mean that it will be a positive counteraction to the "that's so gay!" attitude most young'uns are exposed to. It's also just generally good to break down the intense taboo which still surrounds the whole "ZOMG some guys like guys!" thing.
Things are going less well in Republican Presidential Candidate Land, where Michelle Bachmann (one of the Republican candidates, famous for claiming she knows exactly what God wants for America) and her husband have been running a clinic in which they try to cure gay people from their gayness. This, of course, will lead to a rant from me. So brace yourself.
Re-orientation therapy, that is, any therapy which tries to turn you from gay to straight, doesn't work. The failure rate of such a therapy is nearly always found to be in the nineties (percentage-wise). Testimonies from patients about their painful, negative, ultimately unsuccessful experience with re-orientation therapy is far more common than "yay, I'm straight now!" testimony.
The reason treating homosexuality as a disease doesn't work is because (wait for it) it isn't a disease. The American Medical Association, The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, The American Psychoanalytical Association, and The American Academy of Pediatrics all state explicitly that from their studies, they have found that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, and that it is unhealthy to try and treat or cure it. Besides, there is no logical reason to view it as a disease, or serious disadvantage. Healthy sexual/romantic relationships are being formed all the time between members of the same sex all the time, and open and "active" gay people are accomplishing and achieving lofty heights every day. If you see homosexuality as something that clamps your ability to be a healthy, productive, interpersonal human being, then, quite frankly, you are deluded. Stephen Fry, anyone?
Not only is the ex-gay ministry based on untruth; it is deeply psychologically damaging to it's "patients", and to the young LGBTers who pick up their message. They are told that their feelings towards members of the same sex are unnatural and down to their own failure as human beings, they try to change themselves, find they cannot change themselves, and end up mired in guilt and despair. All over something that wasn't their fault in the first place.
I cannot believe that the aim of the ex-gay movement is to bring health to it's clients. If it is, then it is failing miserably, and would have given up by now. The aim of the ex-gay movement is to propagate rhetoric against a minority group, and provide phony support to the social conservative movement. They do not deserve any charitable status, any ranking amongst genuine therapists or counselors, or any respect as medial professionals.
The reason treating homosexuality as a disease doesn't work is because (wait for it) it isn't a disease. The American Medical Association, The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, The American Psychoanalytical Association, and The American Academy of Pediatrics all state explicitly that from their studies, they have found that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, and that it is unhealthy to try and treat or cure it. Besides, there is no logical reason to view it as a disease, or serious disadvantage. Healthy sexual/romantic relationships are being formed all the time between members of the same sex all the time, and open and "active" gay people are accomplishing and achieving lofty heights every day. If you see homosexuality as something that clamps your ability to be a healthy, productive, interpersonal human being, then, quite frankly, you are deluded. Stephen Fry, anyone?
Not only is the ex-gay ministry based on untruth; it is deeply psychologically damaging to it's "patients", and to the young LGBTers who pick up their message. They are told that their feelings towards members of the same sex are unnatural and down to their own failure as human beings, they try to change themselves, find they cannot change themselves, and end up mired in guilt and despair. All over something that wasn't their fault in the first place.
I cannot believe that the aim of the ex-gay movement is to bring health to it's clients. If it is, then it is failing miserably, and would have given up by now. The aim of the ex-gay movement is to propagate rhetoric against a minority group, and provide phony support to the social conservative movement. They do not deserve any charitable status, any ranking amongst genuine therapists or counselors, or any respect as medial professionals.
Whew. That's a rant I've wanted to get out of my system for a long time.
TTFN!
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