Last September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill protecting LGBT youth from the psychological abuse of reparative therapy (sometimes referred to as conversion therapy).
SB 1172, due to a temporary injunction by the federal courts, isn’t currently being enforced. The Liberty Counsel argued for three plaintiffs who practiced reparative therapy that implementation of the law would violate their free speech rights, and a federal judge agreed that the three plaintiffs could continue practicing reparative therapy. Dec. 21, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal applied the injunction statewide. A hearing on the injunction is currently scheduled for April 12.
It isn’t just homosexuality that’s considered a temporary, “curable” condition by those who support reparative therapy, but transsexuality is also considered a temporary, “curable” condition by these supporters as well.
And, along with the “bathroom bill” meme – the argument that providing antidiscrimination protections based on gender identity will result in predatory behavior against women and children in bathrooms and locker rooms by cross-dressed men – the argument that transsexuality is temporary, “curable” and is psychotic in nature is used to argue against antidiscrimination legislation based on gender identity.
Canada’s parliament has considered Bill C-279 within the past year; Bill C-279 is an antidiscrimination bill based on gender identity. (Antidiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation is already written into law in Canada.)
The leading association that advocates for reparative therapy is the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Dr. Joseph Berger, a psychiatrist who has been a member of NARTH’s “Scientific Advisory Committee,” presented comments to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding Bill C-279. In his prepared comments he stated:
“‘Transgendered’ are people who claim that they really are or wish to be people of the sex opposite to which they were born as, or to which their chromosomal configuration attests.
“Sometimes, some of these people have claimed that they are ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’ or alternatively ‘a man trapped in a woman’s body.’ Scientifically, there is no such a thing. Therefore anyone who actually truly believes that notion, is by definition deluded, psychotic.
“The medical treatment of delusions or psychosis is not by surgery.”
He ended his statement with this sentence:
“As a psychiatrist, I see no reason for people who identify themselves in these ways to have any rights or privileges different from everyone else in Canada.”
It amazes me that anyone takes Dr. Berger seriously anymore after his 2006 aspersion that trans youth should be bullied:
“I suggest, indeed, letting children who wish to go to school in clothes of the opposite sex – but not counseling other children to not tease them or hurt their feelings.
“On the contrary, don’t interfere, and let the other children ridicule the child who has lost that clear boundary between play-acting at home and the reality needs of the outside world. Maybe, in this way, the child will re-establish that necessary boundary.”
Make no mistake, reparative therapy is a fully LGBT issue, and it’s a civil rights issue. Reparative therapy and LGBT civil rights may not at first take appear to be connected, but the two very much are. If LGBT community members are only temporarily LGB or T, “curable,” and/or psychotic, then the argument is that we shouldn’t be afforded antidiscrimination protections, and, our LGBT children deserve what they get – to include bullying.
To me, it’s truly distressing that antidiscrimination protections against a class of people can be argued against on the kind of psychiatric grounds that Dr. Berger puts forward. It’s unconscionable.
The problem here is, with very rare exceptions, no one is forced to undergo reparative therapy against their will. No one is ordered by a court to undergo such treatment. Now, it should be noted that there is not a single recorded case of a true, classic transsexual ever being “cured” by any form of psychotherapy. Crossdressers have had their desire to crossdress removed by various means, but true transsexuals (as opposed to cases where the root cause is some other psychological issue) has ever been cured. Even those attempting to engage in such therapy will usually admit this. The exceptions are a few charlatans such as Jerry Leach who clearly was a male crossdresser who got caught up in the fantasy of having SRS, but who made a career of claiming to be a transsexual.
There have been cases of gays and lesbians who have changed their sexual orientation. Clearly, sexual orientation is not 100% fixed. Gender identity is. Now, I can see value in a law that protects those who are not adults from being forced to undergo treatment, but beyond that, the rights of both patients and therapists to engage in such efforts trump those who find such efforts, well, frightening. Since they have the option to not undergo such treatment, they have no standing to object if others do.
There is strong evidence that true transsexualism, and some forms of homosexuality (though not all) are inherent. It is likely that those forms of homosexuality that are inherent cannot be altered, but even that is not absolutely certain. But, again, if someone wishes to seek treatment, that is their right, whether you like it or not.
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