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[Christine]

Good. It's an astonishingly cruel way to damage a person; it needs to stop.

 

[yepyepyep]

It´s weird for a Western country. I never heard of such a thing in Europe, or Australia.

I'm pretty sure there has been ex-gay programs in Australia. Maybe not as prevalent as America, probably because our Christian gated communities are nowhere near the same scope.

 

[Devolution]

For all the shitting on California people like to do, I see the state and pioneering a lot of great stuff. I just wish I could afford to live there.

The food is great and there's lots of shit to do. Glad to see this ban.

 

[EndcatOmega]

It´s weird for a Western country. I never heard of such a thing in Europe, or Australia.

I knew someone, in the UK, who claimed her parents to tried to send her to America to 'cure' her; I'm not sure it's actually outright illegal here, though.

 

[NathanMcMahon]

Human race is doomed

why?

 

[Uncle]

It´s weird for a Western country. I never heard of such a thing in Europe, or Australia.

There is an organization for it in Finland: http://www.aslan.fi/

 

[Rentahamster]

Ugh @ the notion of a gay "cure".

 

[squidyj]

so that means it's still legal in every other state?

My interest in visiting the United States remains low.

 

[Dead Man]

If these idiots are so convinced homosexuality can be 'cured' they should be more than happy to wait until people are adults to get their hooks in.

 

[KefkaPalazzo]

A modern Sodom.

What happened to the America of chain smoking and spouse abuse dare not spoken?

 

[Mr_Zombie]

Good. The whole "gay cure" is nothing more than a brainwash and a huge dose of self-hate.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

This even being a thing is fucked up in the first place.

But seriously, how the FUCK is this still going on. Gay cure? Get the hell outta here with that shit.

.

 

[Bay Maximus]

Does anybody know any ex-gays?

No, but I know a handful of ex-"straight" people.

 

[TheNatural]

Sounds like the plot of X-Men 3.

 

[double jump]

forward, it's a good start but we have more work to do.

 

[Rayis]

I really want to move back to California, it's just so expensive ;A;. next step, repeal proposition 8

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Awesome to hear someone in power say something logical for once.

 

[KillGore]

lol gay cure, fucking humans man. Good riddance.

 

[A.E Suggs]

YAY

I honestly didn't know that was still a thing.

Me neither :/, Either way why would children be the people they test it on?

I met one in college. He was traveling around the bible belt to help kids find god or something. Very odd man. Very odd.

Well I don't agree with this, I don't condone calling anyone odd this doesn't get us anywhere. I know ex-gays and some of them are christians, but its not weird to me at least if that's how they want to be. They are old enough to know what to do with their life and if they believe in something I don't believe in if that's what makes them happy that's fine.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

I don't support anti-gay therapies, but I am not sure if banning them is the wisest idea.

 

[Grakl]

Dammit, Cad.

 

[RDreamer]

I don't support anti-gay therapies, but I am not sure if banning them is the wisest idea.

Why?

 

[Dead Man]

If these people would just stop having gay kids it wouldn't be a problem any more.

Cad, they are just banning them for minors, which I think is the correct course. You cannot save adults from themselves, but you can sure as hell try and save kids from adults.

 

[slightconfuse]

this is a real thing, my lord good on california

 

[Monocle]

This is a wonderful step toward the US's repudiation of a bogus solution to a hatefully contrived "problem." It's deeply satisfying to watch state policy and public opinion shift in this country as traditional justifications for selectively denying equal status to millions of ordinary people are examined and rejected. Well done, California.

Human race is doomed

Not by gay people or by the banning of anti-gay practices. I can't tell if your post condemns this ban or if it's just another trendy affirmation of nihilism, or neither.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

Why?

Because a polity that allows for many different forms of flourishing is a polity that is safe for sexual minorities. Because a nation in which we agree to a detente in attempting to push our own vision of the good life on the rest of the populace is a nation that is safer for me, personally.

 

[Monocle]

Because a polity that allows for many different forms of flourishing is a polity that is safe for sexual minorities.

Anti-gay therapies prevent human flourishing.

 

[Orayn]

No, but I know a handful of ex-"straight" people.

That tends to happen in a heteronormative society.

 

[oneils]

Amazing. Only ten years ago such therapy was recognized by the AMA and now a state has already banned it.

Let's all give ourselves a good pat on the back.

Huh? Really?

Today, both APA and AMA oppose conversion therapy. Did they ever "recognise" it? Also, what do you mean by "recognise?" Do you mean "approve?"

 

[Ela Hadrun]

It's great to hear a thing to be proud of in my new state of residence. Coming here from communist Massachusetts has been hard. Hope this spreads around the country.

 

[Karakand]

Because a polity that allows for many different forms of flourishing is a polity that is safe for sexual minorities. Because a nation in which we agree to a detente in attempting to push our own vision of the good life on the rest of the populace is a nation that is safer for me, personally.

And if you want to flourish in a gay cure program as an adult you still can after the passage of this particular law.

 

[Monocle]

That tends to happen in a heteronormative society.

Oh great, another Gay Agenda denier.

Fact: there's no such thing as gay people, just straight people who were exposed to too many bright colors as children. (That's right, parents: Crayola is a gay recruitment organization.)

Fact: homosexual behavior is a human invention. (All those hundreds of other species stole the idea from us.)

Fact: according to science, being gay is unhealthy because reasons. (Doctors said so.)

Wake up, sheeple!

 

[Poyunch]

Yet no gay marriage. Get to it California.

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

I understand the legislation’s goal but isn't this the government overreaching?

Yet no gay marriage. Get to it California.

This is the other weird side of that coin. It's strange that that even became a topic of legislation. What two people do privately is no business of the government. I'm not sure why someone would even write the definition of marriage into legislation unless they intended to be exclusionary to begin with.

 

[N4Us]

Does anybody know any ex-gays?

Those penguins at the zoo?

 

[Monocle]

I understand the legislation’s goal but isn't this the government overreaching?

Nope. Anti-gay brainwashing has a monstrous, life-destroying effect on its victims. Society is better off without it.

 

[RDreamer]

I understand the legislation’s goal but isn't this the government overreaching?

Stopping what is pretty clearly abuse of children is overreaching? Meh.

 

[Monocle]

Stopping what is pretty clearly abuse of children is overreaching? Meh.

In fairness to child abusers, sometimes...

OK no.

 

[alphaNoid]

Yet no gay marriage. Get to it California.

The people of CA voted against it, they don't want it. In large that is.

 

[Dead Man]

I understand the legislation’s goal but isn't this the government overreaching?

Should parents have the right to emotionally punish their children?

 

[Poyunch]

The people of CA voted against it, they don't want it. In large that is.

Yes our state is weird.

 

[The Lamp]

I met one in college. He was traveling around the bible belt to help kids find god or something. Very odd man. Very odd.

I guess I'm a bit odd myself, haha.

Probably going to get a lot of flak about this. Personally I consider my sexuality to be bisexual, though more leaned toward homosexuality. It's been difficult trying to accept it and define it since adolescence. However, I consider myself a Christian as I believe in the gospel and try to base my life around it and the Bible as a whole. I've spent a good decade of my life learning about it now. Though the odds are against me to ever lose my sexual attraction toward the same sex in my lifetime, whether I do or don't, I choose not to indulge in the idea of having a partner of the same sex. Why? Because I don't want to; it's against my personal convictions and my faith. I hope to one day have a wife and love her the way God would want me to, but I'm fully aware that I may never marry. Meh. That would just mean that other things are lined up for me in this life, so I'm okay with it. God is more important to me than the desires of my body. I'm a virgin and I hope to guard sex (which I consider to be very sacred) for my marriage. Laugh at me if you want, be disgusted at my perspective if you want. To me it's important. My friends know about me, even the people at my church, and they love me and support me and encourage me every step of the way I go in my life, so I have no regrets. That's just me though.

However, to be more on-topic, this kind of "sexual orientation therapy" for children by licensed therapists is quite frankly stupid, damaging, and horrible in my opinion. I'm glad that California is making this illegal. I wouldn't want it done to me and wouldn't want it done to anyone else. I don't think state therapists have any sort of "power" to change someone's sexual orientation and they shouldn't try.

 

[Monocle]

The people of CA voted against it, they don't want it. In large that is.

Plenty of Californians want gay marriage. Unfortunately, the issue doesn't directly impact the lives of the majority. Hence many are uninformed about it, which creates an opportunity for religious propagandists to do the Lord's work.

Basic human rights should never be put to the vote, especially those of minority groups.

 

[Orayn]

The people of CA voted against it, they don't want it. In large that is.

You should watch "8: The Mormon Proposition" and realize the underhanded tactics that went into that "win." You're not wrong that it passed, but it wasn't because of anything resembling the honest opinions of most of the people of California.

Plenty of Californians want gay marriage. Basic human rights should never be put to the vote, especially those of minority groups.

This too. If the Californian people voted in favor of some other ridiculously unjust and discriminatory proposition, would it be all fine and dandy "because democracy?"

 

[A.E Suggs]

Oh great, another Gay Agenda denier.

Fact: there's no such thing as gay people, just straight people who were exposed to too many bright colors as children. (That's right, parents: Crayola is a gay recruitment organization.)

Fact: homosexual behavior is a human invention. (All those hundreds of other species stole the idea from us.)

Fact: according to science, being gay is unhealthy because reasons. (Doctors said so.)

Wake up, sheeple!

To be fair you can't just tell people to wake up when people are throwing things out as facts. Facts are supposed to be something that shouldn't have to be questioned so is it any wonder people are confused?

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

Should parents have the right to emotionally punish their children?

They do all the time. Hopefully not intentionally but that's the interesting question about the gray area. The venn diagram of this worries me because there's things that clearly shouldn't be legal that overlap with things people generally shouldn’t do that are still legal. I worry about what lawyers will do sometimes to twist this into an inappropriate weapon when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[metalslimer]

The people of CA voted against it, they don't want it. In large that is.

It was pretty close and many of the people that voted against it didn't even know what they were voting for. A vote this year with a good campaign would most likely pass.

 

[Vermillion]

...This was a thing?

 

[Monocle]

To be fair you can't just tell people to wake up when people are throwing things out as facts. Facts are supposed to be something that shouldn't have to be questioned so is it any wonder people are confused?

This is why critical thinking skills are so essential in a democratic society. The US is in dire need of education reform.

If people just read more, a lot of our problems would evaporate. Education isn't a cure-all, and there will always be some people who have a hardy immunity to it, but there can be no doubt that humanity would be better off if more citizens were capable of making informed decisions and of distinguishing nonsense from reliable data. (Granted, reading won't make this happen in and of itself. You have to deliberately cultivate a critical mindset. But sitting down and seriously engaging with written material is a great way to do it.)

 

[Dead Man]

They do all the time. Hopefully not intentionally but that's the interesting question about the gray area. The venn diagram of this worries me because there's things that clearly shouldn't be legal that overlap with things people generally shouldn’t do that are still legal. I worry about what lawyers will do sometimes to twist this into an inappropriate weapon when the opportunity presents itself.

That they do is not a justification for allowing them to continue. This legislation is pretty narrow, too.