Texas GOP Delegate and Ex-Gay Jeremy Schwab said 'Reparative therapy' platform plank misunderstood

So this Jeremy, who's an ex-gay, put this language in the Texas GOP party platform. I guess he thought it was cool to do, being a Texas Man and all. However, it immediately made headlines and now, he wants to be all coy about the meaning of it.

Jeremy, have a seat in an abandon building.

In California: Gov. Brown appeals Injunction against Gay-Conversion Law

Gov. Jerry Brown appealed a court injunction that blocked the enforcement of the law that prohibits ex-gay therapy.

LA Times reports:

The notice of appeal was filed on behalf of Brown and the Medical Board of California by state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided Dec. 21 to block the law that took effect Jan. 1 pending a decision on its constitutionality.

A small group of therapists and religious groups argued that the law infringes on their rights to free speech, but Harris has called conversion therapy "unsound and harmful."

Harris asked the court Wednesday to look at a recent decision by U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller upholding the law.

"Defendants wish to apprise the 9th Circuit of a related case currently pending before it … denying a motion for a preliminary injunction that would have enjoined enforcement of Senate Bill 1172," Harris wrote. "Both appeals involve the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1172 and raise the same and/or closely related legal issues."

Well alright, Jerry.

Judge temporarily blocks California's Ban against Reparative Therapy

Last night, word got out that U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb temporarily blocked California from barring reparative therapy. However, it only applies to three people. Sounds crazy, right?

Here's more on the story:

U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb made a decision just hours after a hearing on the issue, ruling that the First Amendment rights of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals who engage in "reparative" or "conversion" therapy outweigh concern that the practice poses a danger to young people. 

"Even if SB 1172 is characterized as primarily aimed at regulating conduct, it also extends to forms of (conversion therapy) that utilize speech and, at a minimum, regulates conduct that has an incidental effect on speech," Shubb wrote. 

The judge also disputed the California Legislature's finding that trying to change young people's sexual orientation puts them at risk for suicide or depression, saying it was based on "questionable and scientifically incomplete studies." 

The law, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, states that therapists and counselors who use "sexual orientation change efforts" on clients under 18 would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by state licensing boards. It is set to take effect on Jan. 1. 

Although the ruling is a setback for the law's supporters, the judge softened the impact of his decision by saying that it applies only to three people — psychiatrist Anthony Duk, marriage and family therapist Donald Welch, and Aaron Bitzer, a former patient who is studying to become a counselor who specializes in clients who are unhappy being gay.

I'm glad it's temporarily, but I can imagine how these fools will claim that this is an attack on their religious bigotry freedom.

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California Governor Jerry Brown bans Reparative Therapy for Minors

Cali-Cal's Governor Jerry Brown made some serious history this weekend. He signed legislation that banned reparative therapy in the state.

Here's more:

Authored by State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrence), Senate Bill 1172 was co-sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, Gaylesta, Courage Campaign, Lambda Legal, and Mental Health America of Northern California, and supported by dozens of organizations.

“Governor Brown today reaffirmed what medical and mental health organizations have made clear: Efforts to change minors’ sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians,” said Clarissa Filgioun, Equality California board president.

California is, now, the first state that will not engage in this messy act of therapy. We're leading the way.

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