This week, Cheryl Wetzstein of The Washington Times reported that as many as nine state legislatures across the country have rejected bans on Sexual Orientation Change Effort (SOCE) therapy for minors. I was quoted in the article as saying:

Christopher Doyle, a licensed clinical professional counselor who supports sexual orientation change efforts, said the bills were losing because of a coordinated effort by ex-gays to introduce themselves to lawmakers and talk up the potential benefits of the practice. Ex-gays are explaining what the therapy is and why it is a positive experience, said Mr. Doyle, president of Voice of the Voiceless and a former homosexual. They are also arguing that there can’t be a scientific basis for the claim that the therapy is harmful to children since “there is actually not one study” on sexual orientation change efforts and the impact on minors, Mr. Doyle said. These discussions have “created doubt about the legitimacy of these bills” among lawmakers.

We have been following this legislation for quite some time, and were involved in the defeat of bills in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Minnesota, and Illinois. But recently, we learned that a few other states have quietly dismissed these measures as well, including Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. Of course, the mainstream media won’t report this news; you’ll only hear about it on this website.

Delegate Jon Cardin’s HB 91 failed to get a hearing in the House of Delegates and was withdrawn in Maryland.

Click here to see a summary of legislation introduced and its progress, prepared by Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing (JONAH).

In Hawaii, the bill was “deferred” by the committee, ultimately causing it to die in this year’s session. In an e-mail from the Hawaii Family Forum, the organization commented: “We truly believe that the law would violate the patient-physician relationship and the counselor’s freedom of speech. And of course, prevent parents and children from getting the help they deem most appropriate against unwanted same-sex attractions.”

In Wisconsin, SB481 “failed to pass pursuant to Joint Senate Resolution 1.” It appears this bill did not have bi-partisan support, and failed to even get a hearing in the Senate. A similar fate happened in Rhode Island, where S2510 was “held for further study” on March 18; study committees are essentially where bills go to be put on life support until there is enough support in a later session to resurrect them.

Meanwhile, thanks to efforts from Equality And Justice For All, the bill in Pennsylvania has little chance of getting a hearing and out of committee, and in Ohio, a similar fate will likely befall SB 188. That leaves Massachusetts, Vermont, Florida, Washington, DC and New York, whose authors recently announced a public forum to be held on May 15 supporting S.4917- B/A.6983. However, according to our sources in New York, this bill is not going anywhere this session, and the hearing is likely an attempt to gain positive public relations.

In Washington, DC it’s an election year for the City Council and Mayor, so we doubt there will be any movement on any controversial legislation. We are also certain that the bill in Florida will not gain any traction due its conservative legislature, which leaves only Vermont, which is a big question mark, and Massachusetts, which according to MassResistance Executive Director Brian Camenker, “has now gone out of the Health Care Financing committee and is about to go to the Steering Policy and Scheduling committee, which schedules (legislation) to go to the House floor” for a vote.

If you are interested in helping us stop this legislation in Massachusetts or one of the remaining states where a bill is pending, please contact us immediately so we can put you into contact with Equality And Justice For All, who is spearheading the lobbying efforts against this destructive legislation.

Christopher Doyle is the President of Voice of the Voiceless. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info

Quote taken from: Walter Hilton,  Scale of Perfection, I, xvi.

State legislatures have continued to reject bills that would ban Sexual Orientation Change Effort (SOCE) therapy for minors. Their decisions rest on the evidence. Ego-dystonic, same-sex attracted individuals can finally overcome their unresolved issues and lead happy, heterosexual lives. Except for the legislators of New Jersey and California, who hastily voted after have been given false, misleading, and/or unsubstantiated allegations about the harm of this type of counseling, the legislators of Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois (and perhaps more as I write this) voted to reject these bills only after hearing and considering the testimonies of reoriented men and women who bravely shared their sexual reorientation journeys.

For these reasons, the legislators in these states could not, in good conscience, deny the right of any child to seek life-changing help they need and desire. How could a legislator listen to a reoriented man testify that he had been raped as a child and then wanted nothing more than to commit suicide because of the effects that rape had on him?  How could a legislator ignore the life changing reality that reorientation therapy gave this man? How could a legislator not realize the long-lasting effects that reorientation therapy can have on history, affecting generations of progeny that would otherwise never exist?

The most important word in the above paragraph is “ego-dystonic.”  Simply stated, the term means “unhappy with one’s mental state.” An ego-dystonic homosexual is not happy with his sexual attractions, desires and/or actions involving his/her same-sex peers. Any ego-syntonic homosexual, on the other hand, would not feel unhappy with his/her attractions, feelings and actions.

The terms ‘syntonic’ and ‘dystonic’ are used by psychologists to describe many conditions relating to a client’s perceptions of themselves. It has nothing to do with being ‘homophobic,’ a semantically convenient, culturally accepted label that is misapplied to individuals who are seeking counseling to reclaim their inherent sexuality. We would not call someone who turns to food as a way of dealing with unresolved anger and anxiety ‘fatphobic.” This client wants help with food. An ego-dystonic homosexual wants help with his relationships with same-sex peers.

Which brings us to Walter Hilton (d. 1396).  His oft cited observance: “He jests at scars who never felt a wound,” may very well describe the basis for ego-syntonic homosexuals’ negative reactions to legislator’s decisions to continue to allow SOCE therapy for minors. It also may be the basis for the extreme hate-filled attacks being made on successfully reoriented men and women.

It is the contention of many who have become re-oriented that while they were in their gay lifestyles, at least for some of the time, “they never felt a wound.” For a time, they were indeed “gay” [read blissfully happy].  At that time in their lives, they could easily jest at the so-called mental “scars” of their former brethren (re-oriented homosexuals) who did feel the mental wounds of their pasts.

In C. S. Lewis’s book, The Problem of Pain, R. Havard, M.D. offers these notes in the Appendix:

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear.  The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden:  it is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say “My heart is broken’.  Yet if the cause is accepted and faced, the conflict will strengthen and purify the character and in time the pain will usually pass.  Sometimes, however, it persists and the effect is devastating; if the cause is not faced or not recognized, it produces the dreary state of the chronic neurotic.  But some by heroism overcome even chronic mental pain…  Pain provides an opportunity for heroism; the opportunity is seized with surprising frequency.”

Re-oriented men and women have been able to say, “My heart is broken.”  They have worked through their pain, mustered the courage to develop non-sexualized, same-sex peer friendships and developmentally evolved into their innate genders. They are the heroes of today; they have seized the opportunity to heal; they have transformed themselves. Despite these triumphs, however, and quite ironically, they are now the newest victims of abuse.

Psychologists have long confirmed that bullies were often the victims of bullying themselves.  We understand only too well that gays have borne the bulk of bullying, and we at Voice of the Voiceless (VoV) feel outrage every time we hear of anyone bashing gays. Yet, now that gays are finally being given protection under the law, they have turned their own anger from having been bullied and are now bullying, of all people, former homosexuals.

We at VoV love all homosexuals. Why?  Everyone at VoV were or have children, family, or friends who are/were homosexuals. Why would we ever want anyone to hurt someone who experiences what we have experienced? Why would we want anyone to continue hurting our children?  We decry anyone subjecting homosexuals to anything but love. We must, however, hold everyone, including gays, to the same level of tolerance, acceptance and respect for ex-gays. We at VoV also deserve the same level of respect afforded to everyone else. We do invite all homosexuals (ego-dystonic and ego-syntonic, alike) to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas in a respectful dialogue or debate.  If we must disagree, we can do so without being disagreeable, let alone hate-filled.  Let’s not attack the man or the woman. Together, let’s look at the substantiated evidence.

Out of love, we also ask anyone who is ego-dystonic about their homosexuality: “Have you ever felt a wound?  More particularly, have you ever felt a wound of the heart? Were you ever hurt through emotional or physical neglect, rejection, or a lack of normal, physical closeness by a same sex parent? Were you ever sexually assaulted by someone who stole your innocence as a child?  Were you ever rejected by same-sex peers? Have you allowed yourself to work with someone who can help you understand why you are searching to heal that childhood wound in the arms of a same-sex individual?  Have you ever asked yourself if a childhood wound can be healed with sex?” Perhaps the hardest question of all is, “Have you buried wounds from the past instead of dealing with them?”

If you still think you were “born this way,” please read “Out of the Desert,” by clicking here.

Gisele Roy is a parent of a son in his twenties who has battled SSA for 13 years. She has struggled with the emotional pain of seeing her son experience rejection from his peers, loneliness, and deep depression. It is Gisele’s hope that she, her husband and her son will continue to work on healing the deep-seated pain and emotional causes of his SSA and that her son will be able to find a wife who will complement him in every way.

In February 2014 the major professional bodies for counsellors and psychotherapists (the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy (BACP), British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), British Psychological Society (BPS), Royal College of Psychiatrists (RcolPsy) and the National Counseling Society (NCS)) produced a document with the pro-gay therapy group Pink Therapy and the gay rights lobby group Stonewall.

Called “Conversion Therapy Consensus Statement” this document, on behalf of the Department of Health, claims to provide those seeking therapy, those seeking to offer therapy, and those seeking to refer people for therapy the best advice on what to do when someone has unwanted homosexual feelings. I emphasize the word claim as this is what it fails to do. In fact the document does the complete opposite. Not only does it fail to provide any proper scientific basis for its claims it deliberately misleads the reader as to what science does say by ignoring the research out there. In doing so the various mental health bodies willing put the mental health of potential clients at risk.

Everyone of the professional bodies behind the document have been asked to provide the following:

1. The details of any longitudinal study, either with or without a control group, that shows sexual orientation change efforts to cause long term harm to the client or that shows sexual orientation change efforts to be ineffective in the majority of cases. If this has been compared to the risk of harm from and the effectiveness of other therapies this would be helpful.

2. Any testimony based study that uses a recognized measure of psychological harm that shows sexual orientation change efforts to be either harmful or ineffective

3. Any independent testimony based study that shows sexual orientation change efforts to be either harmful or ineffective, by independent I mean that it was not sponsored by a homosexual rights lobby group and that it did not recruit participants through advertising for those with a specific answer.

4. Any study, either longitudinal or testimony based, that shows therapy to help someone accept their homosexual feelings to be effective or that it does not cause harm.

As yet all the bodies have failed to provide such evidence whether to me, or to bodies such as CORE Issues or Christian Concern. Why? Because there is none!

The UKCP, the main authors of the document, rely heavily on a 2002 paper by Drecher, Shidlo and Schroeder. The problem this is that this paper is not actually research. It is a rehash of opinion pieces by the authors with reference to the notorious research by Shidlo and Schroeder. For those who may not be aware of this original research, Shidlo and Schroeder were recruited and paid by the National Gay and Lesbian Heath Association to undertake research to prove that sexual orientation change efforts were dangerous. This research was advertised in the media using the following advert.

RESEARCH

Homophobic Therapies: Documenting the Damage

The National Lesbian & Gay Health Association is sponsoring an investigation of the outcomes of so-called treatments of the so-called disorder of homosexuality. Here’s their press release:

Did you know that counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists still attempt to treat **homosexuality** as a **disorder**

Did you know that currently there is an organized association of psychologists/psychiatrists who meet yearly to develop new **”conversion treatments”** for homosexuality?

Did you know that countless “gay recovery” programs exist through the United States, yet these programs refuse to publish their data on treatment outcomes?

We are currently attempting to research the outcomes of these so-called treatments of the so-called disorder of homosexuality. Our purpose is to document the damage which we believe occurs when a gay or lesbian client encounters “psychological help” from a homophobic treatment program or provider. Despite the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association’s stance that homosexuality is *not* a disorder, there continue to be professionals and organizations who foster the belief that homosexuality is a learned and reparable emotional illness.

You can help make this research possible. If you know of any individuals who have experienced such a program and are willing to talk about it anonymously and confidentially, please refer them to our project. We can interview them either in person or by telephone.

You can be of help in the long process of getting the message out that these “conversion” therapies don’t work and do the opposite of healing *by informing your lesbian/gay/bi communities of our search for participants to be interviewed.* Please announce our project in any upcoming lesbian and gay community meetings and spread the word. **Help Us Document the Damage!** — Drs. Michael Schroeder & Ariel Shidlo, Co-Researchers, 412 6th Ave., Suite 602, New York, NY 10011, 212-353-2558, [email protected]

Despite this willful bias the various professional bodies are willing to use this as the basis for their document – even though the original paper states that it should not be used as evidence to prevent people entering SOCE! So not only are the UKCP et al. basing their “ethics” on bad research, they are ignoring the caveat of the researchers. They are then using this pseudo-ethical position to dictate the policies of the UK government’s policy on who can and cannot be a “therapist”. This is before we point out the misquoting of the American Psychological Association’s “report” on sexual orientation change efforts (a report written by a group of authors chosen because they were already anti-SOCE).

Phelim McIntyre, N.L.P.M.P. is a professional counselor and life coach specializing in issues concerning masculinity, including sexual orientation, based in the South of England. He is an ex-homosexual, having come out at the age of 13  and now overcoming SSA. He has now been straight for over 10 years.

Last night, BARBWIRE reported that Christian pro-family activist Peter Labarbera and fellow Canadian pro-life activist Bill Whatcott were arrested at a university in Canada: