It is ILLEGAL in California because religion and science CANNOT BE LEGALLY MIXED..... if the alleged science is FAKE...... "THERAPY" is legally defined in all 50 states but only California has the votes against " Scientology " & bigotry against gays/teens .... most Atheists on this planet consider all religions fake so case closed

I am somewhat surprised by your outrage, though welcome, just because I thought the existance of conversion therapy was old news. It certainly has been around many decades, pretty much since homosexuality itself came to be viewed in a medicalized way, as something defective rather than willful rebellion. The thing in the bbc piece that is somewhat new is numerous mainline religious orders decrying the practice, instead of leading it, as their fellow religionists have done for an age. Before conversion therapy there was exorcism. Same shit, different mechanism.

Here in the U.S., "land of the free," ...if you are a corporation or a church, Puritan zeal in our cultural dna has guaranteed a stubborn and staggeringly widespread obsession with other people's sex lives, whether reproductive issues or lgbtq issues, and that obsession has been all bad. I blame it directly on Christian culture. Islam is just as bad....but then it is kissing cousin to Christianity. Even though secular culture and many years of brave individuals fighting for their/our rights has improved things both socially and legally, Christian power and influence in every aspect of our society guarantees a protracted struggle remains ahead, probably for generations more. This toxic sex-phobic hatrid is, above all else, why my gut says "Fuck religion!"

There are quite a few documentaries on this subject of conversion therapy, btw, plus a number of dramatized movies. "Boy Erased" is a recent example of the latter. "One Nation Under God" is still one of my favorite documentaries. It was first aired on public television back in the early 1990s. Most of these conversion organizations have eventually collapsed under their own weight of dishonesty, hypocrisy, and futility, but unfortunately religious fundamentalism guarantees they are quickly replaced by other crusaders. It is truly awful. And these are not just hateful heteros leading the persecution. A lot of self-hating internalized homophobes are mixed up in what they desperately call "ministry."

Sorry for the rant. The whole topic angers me. I grew up steeped in evangelical bullshit, which is partly why it took me decades too long to finally come out and be at peace with myself. Yeah. Fuck religion!

Playing on peoples fear of" the other" . Religious leaders need to have an opponent to their deity's wishes to point at and declare unfit for society. Minority groups are easy simply because of the fact that they are fewer than the group as a whole. What happens to their target is of no to concern to them as long as they can convince the majority that their beliefs are right. If there were no gay people than they would point at anyone who enjoys sex in different positions as blasphemers who would need to be changed for the good of all. I am amused at all the people who would punish homosexuals but conveniently forget that its just as much a sin to eat shrimp, oysters, lobster, clams and anything else from water that has not fins or scales. Would they be willing to electro-shock all the diners at a seafood restaurant who ordered these items? This proves that its about the control of the masses by demonizing the minority.

It's not "torture." It's therapy, don't ya know. We'll be getting better so ya all can feel more comfy.

Amazing the things some people will go through to support their warped beliefs. Funny, how this comes from people who claim to have the high road to morality.

It's a cruel, totally misguided, practice that's been around for decades.
Those who continue to engage in it, and support it, are beneath contempt.
They should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives, with no parole, or opportunity for early release.
Yet another reason to be an anti-theist.

Not really sure why people can part ways enough with the Christian Bible to recognize that god's hatred of homosexuals is wrong, but not realize the rest of it is also a huge load of bullshit as well.

It's not going to happen for as long as psychopathic heterosexuals continue to exist.

It's been around a long time, just wasn't given a name before. As bad as it is, there are countries today in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe where being gay can land you in jail or executed. Like so many things, human's are not big on accepting things they don't understand. Conversion therapy as bad as it is, is not the worst thing that can happen if you are gay.

These retards performing this should be required to have their tubes tied. It’s too bad their parents were never kicked in their nuts so hard to prevent them from fouling the earth with pieces of shit like this in the first place.

Imo, as soon as the Bans are ratified then it will all go underground and continue on.
The radical religio-tards won't give up that easy imo.

Yes, gay conversion therapy and also parents concerned with male children whacking off. This brought back a resurgence in circumcision. Image a fear that your male child might be playing with it and enjoying it. What does this say about the adults?

The Jebus freaks still think you can pray the gay away even after decades of proof that you can't.

GCT needs to be illegal, all over the planet! It is fakery, based on religious bias and bigotry. Oh, and Michelle Bachman's husband makes a lot of money on it, by way of Medicare, or Medicaid.

I've never heard of such an instance in South Africa.