Boo! We can’t stand when homophobes get their way. How much do we hate it? Well, let’s just say we’d rather wear a polyester body suit two sizes too small. (Pretty serious, no?)
Tennesse has agreed to pay Love in Action‘s legal fees after a lawsuit that aimed at forcing the reparative therapy organization to register with the state’s Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
The lawsuit arose after a fagling named Zach Stark (pictured) blogged about his parent’s efforts to “cure” him of his homo-ways by sending him to Love in Action. While Stark didn’t want to be there, the Department of Mental Health took an interest in the group’s regulation of patients medication. By state law, if an organization keeps tabs on meds, they must be licensed with the department. Needless to say, Love in Action had no such officiation. The Southern Voice elaborates:
The state asked Love in Action to close its facilities and apply for a state license. The organization then sued the state, claiming that it did not restrict access to medication, but kept it in a central location to prevent theft and tampering. It claimed the state was discriminating against the ministry because of its controversial religious mission.
With the ruling, Love in Action can go back to managing the pills and the pain of sexual admonishment. Whoopee.
(As an aside, kudos to Stark. He may be our new hero.)
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Jody
The sad thing of it is, Zach apparently reaped a lot more pain and pressure from his parents after the summer was over. I believe he closed down his my space page (or something like that) and doesn’t discuss the “issue” anymore.
Asef
I hope this ex-gay movement doesn’t get a foothold here in Ireland. It seems to cause so much pain, suffering and violence with regards to young people. State authorities should recognise it as the abuse it is and ban it. Surely even religious bodies cannot ba allowed to abuse minors.
Kevin
That’s what happens to LGBT that go through these camps. They hate themselves even more and spiral downward. They don’t come out for the better.
This is why I have reservations with kids that come out before they can support themselves when they have a conservative family. If you’re coming out you should have a plan for if things don’t work out peacefully.