By endorsing conversion therapy, the Texas Republican Party has rejected modern science in favor of archaic and disproven myths that cost lives. The party is aligning itself with a form of quackery that the medical mainstream rejected more than 40 years ago. Quite simply, conversion therapy is about as legitimate and effective as a lobotomy.
Young lesbian, gay and bisexual people already face enough challenges in life without being subjected to - and sometimes forced into - therapy that will supposedly cure what was never broken. The Southern Poverty Law Center currently represents four young people harmed by recklessly treating orientation as an illness. These vulnerable young people were looking anywhere for help as they struggled to imagine living in a world that often rejects gay people, treating them as second-class citizens or even worse.
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Not surprisingly, conversion therapy does real, long-term damage. Our clients, for example, all sought legitimate counseling to help them recover from the harm and abuse they experienced. Recently, a judge in our case ruled that the conversion therapists may be required to pay three times the cost of that counseling. We're headed to trial early next year.
Meanwhile, the Texas GOP should face reality. The conversion therapy ship is sinking, and it is sinking fast. Many states, recognizing the scientific consensus that conversion therapy is ineffective and dangerous, are taking steps to provide critical legal protections to prevent youth from being subjected to the junk science of conversion therapy. Political leaders in Texas should do the same, instead of hanging one of our most vulnerable populations out to dry.
Wolfe: Treatment to "cure" homosexuality does long-term damage - Houston Chronicle
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