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Why Are We Teaching Kids To Hate?: Ending The Practice Of Gay-To-Straight Conversion Treatments, Afton R. Cavanaugh
Why Are We Teaching Kids To Hate?: Ending The Practice Of Gay-To-Straight Conversion Treatments, Afton R. Cavanaugh
Afton R. Cavanaugh
The governor of California just signed into law SB 1172, creating a cause of action against mental health professionals that attempt to convert children under the age of eighteen from gay to straight. Conversion therapy, as this practice is called, has been around for a long time, but recently our nation’s youth has come into the crosshairs of powerful anti-gay activists. Conversion therapy imbeds within the child’s psyche an internalized form of homophobia that causes an extreme risk of psychological distress given the developing and often fragile mental state of children and teenagers. These methods have no proven success rate, …