A law is making its way to the floor of the California state senate that could make it illegal for therapists to encourage sexual orientation change in minors, and would require adults to sign a consent form before the therapy can begin.

Andrew Greenwall, writing for Catholic Online, is reporting that the new law, SB 1172, introduced by a Catholic state Senator named Ted W. Lieu (D), could usher in a whole new era of LGBT “tolerance” by discouraging “sexual orientation change efforts” for adults and essentially making them illegal for minors.

The bill would require adults undergoing therapy for change to sign an informed consent form first and parents would not be permitted to consent to the therapy for their children.

Late last month, the bill was approved by a 5-3 vote by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for another hearing before it continues on its way. It could come to the senate floor as early as May 5.

If the bill passes, before any psychotherapist can treat an adult for “sexual orientation change,” the patient must sign a consent form that says:

“Having a lesbian, gay, or bisexual sexual orientation is not a mental disorder. There is no scientific evidence that any types of therapies are effective in changing a person’s sexual orientation.  Sexual orientation change efforts can be harmful.  The risks include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.”

Failure to follow these guidelines exposes practitioners to civil suits.

“The bill is outrageous in its assumptions,” writes Greenwall, who practices law in the state of Texas. 

Not only does it completely disregards the moral element altogether, he says, it also assumes that having LGBT tendencies isn’t disordered, which would make homosexuality and other deviant sexual orientations as morally equivalent to heterosexuality.

It also assumes that sexual orientation cannot be changed, “which is something not supported by science according to the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and those who have had pastoral experience in this area,” Greenwall writes.

In addition, the bill also assumes that efforts to treat this sexual orientation, which one would assume  includes preaching the Gospel, would result in depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior, even suicide. 

“In Lieu’s fervid brain, morality and the Gospel are the culprit.  Any treatment ‘based upon the assumption that . . . a patient should change his/her sexual homosexual orientation’ is considered an evil to be legislated against as it says in the bill’s ‘Fact Sheet’,” Greenwall reports. 
 
The bill is opposed by numerous groups in addition to NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy on Homosexulity), including the California Psychological Association, the California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, the California Psychiatric Association, and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. 

Greenwall agrees with a comment made by Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, who called the proposed law, “one of the most outrageous, speech-chilling bills we have ever seen in California-and that’s saying a lot.” 

“Actually, it is more than just speech-chilling,” Greenwall adds. “It is Gospel-chilling.”

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