Sign the Petition: Help Stop Dangerous “Gay Conversion Therapies” for LGBT Youth

Sign the Petition: Help Stop Dangerous “Gay Conversion Therapies” for LGBT Youth

August 11, 2012

Dear,

We're on the brink of a lifesaving victory. NCLR is co-sponsoring a bill to ban therapists from subjecting young people in California to damaging and discriminatory efforts to change their sexual orientation or gender expression. The bill, SB 1172, has already cleared the California Senate and is on its way to the Assembly.

This is one of the most important bills we've ever worked on. But we need your help.

These "conversion therapies" have no scientific basis whatsoever and have a devastating impact on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth, putting them at risk of severe anxiety, depression, self-destructive behavior, and even suicide.

It's beyond outrageous that this practice continues in California, despite warnings from every major medical and psychological association about the harm it causes.

Enough is enough. NCLR has been working to stop this practice for nearly 20 years—and with your help in supporting this legislation, we can do it.

That's why I'm asking you to take two minutes right now to sign our petition supporting SB 1172 and urging the legislature put a stop to this abusive practice immediately.

Your signatures will be delivered to the California Assembly and to Governor Jerry Brown to request that he sign the bill once it reaches his desk. SB 1172 is co-sponsored by Equality California, the Courage Campaign, Gaylesta, Lambda Legal, and Mental Health America of Northern California. Supporters include the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists of California, the National Association of Social Workers of California, the Trevor Project, the California National Organization of Women, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and many others.

Click here to sign the petition.

The legislature must act to stop this abuse. We must ensure that no young person is subjected to this archaic, harmful, and unethical practice. Too many young people have taken their own lives or suffered lifelong harm after a therapist or counselor told them, falsely, that who they are is wrong.

In the words of our friend Ryan Kendall, who was subjected to “conversion therapy” as a teenager:

“Conversion therapy inflicts harm by sending the message that there is something defective or immoral about people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. If any of these youth are listening, they should know that there is nothing wrong with them; they are perfect, beautiful, and deserving of love.”

Please sign the petition and forward it to your network.

http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-youth-from-being-forced-into-ex-gay-therapy-sb1172

In solidarity,