Tuesday, October 2, 2012

More states could join California's ban on gay teen 'conversion' therapy | CTV News

California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks to congregants celebrating Yom Kippur at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
(No matter how much legislation gets passed preventing the deliverance of young people from this spirit, God is able to reach the heart and deliver them directly...let's continue to sow the Word of deliverance into them and see their heart reach out to the Lord - AW)

Gay rights advocates are making plans to get other states to join California in banning psychotherapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight, even as opponents prepared Monday to sue to overturn the first law in the nation to take aim at the practice.

After months of intense lobbying, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill late Saturday that prohibits licensed mental health professionals from using so-called reparative or conversion therapies with clients under age 18. Brown called the therapies "quackery" that "have no basis in science or medicine."
Two New Jersey lawmakers already are drafting similar legislation, while groups that helped get the California law passed are sharing research, witnesses and talking points with counterparts in other gay-friendly states, said Geoff Kors, senior legislative and policy strategist for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights.

"There are lots of folks today who are looking at this, now that the governor has signed it," Kors said. "We'll be reaching out to all the state (gay rights) groups, especially in states that have had success passing LGBT rights legislation."
The law only applies to licensed therapists, not ministers or lay people who counsel teens to resist same-sex attractions.

Two Christian legal groups, meanwhile, said they would sue in federal court in Sacramento to prevent the law from taking effect on Jan. 1.

More states could join California's ban on gay teen 'conversion' therapy | CTV News

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