Advocates for conversion therapy just had their asses handed to them by a local judge in New Jersey.
Judge Peter Bariso Jr. of the Hudson County Superior Court ruled this week that likening homosexuality to a âmental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent thereofâ and suggesting itâs curable is fraud.
The ruling came after the Southern Poverty Law Center sued the hate group Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) for violating the stateâs Consumer Fraud Act when it advertised services that could change a personâs sexuality.
According to Slate, the services JONAH offered required patients to pay $100 to strip down in front of âtherapistâAlan Downing then fondle their penises and butts while he watched. Doing this, Downing told patients, would help them turn straight.
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But Judge Bariso wasnât having any of it. This week, he ruled that âthe general consensus in the mental health field that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, but is instead a normal variation of human sexuality.â He also called out JONAH on its bogus âsuccess statistics,â telling the group âthere is no factual basis for calculating such statistics.â
David Dinielli, Southern Poverty Law Centerâs deputy legal director, called the ruling âmonumental and devastating to the conversion therapy industry.â
âFor the first time, a court has ruled that it is fraudulent as a matter of law for conversion therapists to tell clients that they have a mental disorder that can be cured,â he said. âThis is the principal lie the conversion therapy industry uses throughout the country to peddle its quackery to vulnerable clients.â
âGay people donât need to be cured,â Dinielli added, âand we are thrilled that the court has recognized this.â
Related stories:
A Disturbing Undercover Look At How Conversion Therapy Tries To âCureâ Gayness
The Horrors Inside A Christian Conversion Cult Are Exposed First-Hand
Grieving Mother Says âGay Conversion Therapy Killed My Sonâ
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Ladbrook
“…required patients to pay $100 to strip down in front of âtherapistâAlan Downing then fondle their penises and butts while he watched.”
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In all honesty, this sounds like abuse. I’d suggest a lawsuit against JONAH on behalf of the victims… and they ARE victims.
mcflyer54
Sounds to me like Alan Downing was getting people to pay him while he fulfilled his own sexual fantasies. I will bet that Downing has dozens of “hidden camera” videos of his victims. I’m with Ladbrook, I think there is much more here that needs to be uncovered (no pun intended) and Mr. Downing’s credentials and qualifications (whatever they might be) should be thoroughly examined – and no hiding behind “religious freedom” either.
Maude
Go Get Em!
tdx3fan
@mcflyer54: He has no credentials or qualifications to do what he does because every major organization that educates counselors, therapists, psychologists has made it very clear that ex-gay therapy has no merit and is potentially deadly. He just found a quick way to make a quick buck while watching hot young me pleasure themselves. If it wasn’t so incredibly sad it would be so incredibly awesome, but the judge made the right ruling.
polarisfashion
The next step would be to declare anti-gay conversion clinics are illegal. I also agree that this sick man’s tactics be further investigated.
Cam
@mcflyer54: said…. “Sounds to me like Alan Downing was getting people to pay him while he fulfilled his own sexual fantasies.”
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Well I think it’s been pretty well proven that most of these ferociously anti-gay bigots are really just self hating closet cases.
SteveDenver
@Ladbrook: Sounds like Alan Downing should have been the one paying. Why do I suspect Marcus Bachmann practices the “Downing Method?”
GG
Wow. What a racket. Usually the young men who strip and fondle themselves in front of other men are the ones RECEIVING the money. Or so I’ve heard.
AtticusBennett
EXCELLENT!
http://littlekiwilovesbauhaus.blogspot.ca/2014/07/stop-being-part-of-problem-not-solution.html
This crap has got to stop. no more lies. no more telling gay boys they were “made” gay by abuse and the denial of love and affection. no more stating that we can, and should, be “cured” of our gayness. no more demanding we be celibate forever because if we ever “act on it” we’ll go to hell. enough with the lies.
o.codone
A judge practicing medicine (or being a therapist) is not a good idea. he has no authority to make such a pronouncement. what’s next? he doesn’t think abortion doctors should be able to practice or people should not be able to take psychoactive medications? he is out of line with this one. this is not his area of practice. poor boundaries Judge?
Ladbrook
@o.codone: Uhm…. what an idiotic way of thinking.
Judges pass rulings such as this one based on scientific input from BOTH sides. If he ruled against their “science” then it’s because there was opposing (and better) science from the other side. Not that he needed it… anyone with an IQ of 60 would have concluded the same thing.
mcflyer54
@o.codone: it became the judge’s “area of practice” when the case was brought before him. Like all court cases, a good judge does his homework (as do his clerks) before reaching a decision and making a ruling. Had Downing (and his attorney) provided sufficient evidence (and a stronger case) the ruling might well have been different. For the judge to clarify his decision based on lack of credible documented evidence of successful conversion therapy was absolutely the correct way to issue his ruling. the judge’s “area of practice” is the law and how best it applies to the various cases brought before their court.
Cam
@o.codone: said.. “A judge practicing medicine (or being a therapist) is not a good idea. he has no authority to make such a pronouncement. whatâs next?”
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Did you actually read the article or are you just here to defend the Ex-Gay trolls?
The judge relied upon the fact that no major Psychological organization supports Ex-Gay therapy and they all say that being gay is not a mental condition. The judge, in other words used expert testimony. Sorry that his decision upsets you so much.
jason smeds
It is possible to change one’s sexual behavior. Most men have feelings for both sexes but train themselves to behave in a way that reflects their values. A man who values settling down with a woman in a nuclear family situation is going to choose to behave in a way which reflects that value. Quite simple, really.
It doesn’t mean he’s extinguished his same-sex feelings, it simply means he has chosen to act only on his opposite-sex feelings.
The gay rights activists who oppose this man’s right to choose his behavior are usually politically committed sorts whose cult-like approach to gay rights trumps any logic gene they might contain. Sort of like Scientology, really.
kevininbuffalo
Do read the original Slate article. These JONAH guys are clearly a bunch of self loathing closet cases who’ve cornered the market on chutzpah. Unbelievable!
Xzamilio
@jason smeds: “Values”. If that isn’t the code word for “religious nonsense”, I don’t know what is.
mcflyer54
@jason smeds: seriously? I’m 50+ years old and I do not know one single person who “trained themselves” to choose between homosexuality or heterosexuality. As Xzamilio accurately pointed out “values” is the code word for nothing more than religious dogma. Certainly some gay people can have a straight relationship but paying someone $100 to watch them fondle themselves is not treatment, it’s a “therapist” getting his kicks.
RSun
@jason smeds: funny
jwtraveler
I got it, the answer I’ve been searching for—Jason smeds is high on o.codone. They are a potent combination of delusion and paranoia.
Zenguy
@<a href="#comm@jason smeds: ent-880426″>jason smeds:
You are conflating two different issues. If gay men or women choose to be in a traditional opposite sex relationship so be it. But a business that profits from pretending to “fix” a natural sexual orientation in order to conform with “traditional” and religious reasons is not only blatantly ignorant and biased, it’s unethically wrong, plain and simple!
NoCagada
@jason smeds: SOn, if ANY of that is possible, then why are YOU so FUCKED UP?
NoCagada
@o.codone: Obviously, you have no concept of LAWS and legalities. So…STOP PRETENDING that you are an attorney.
Ladbrook
If we can collectively convince Jason/marion/bj to sign up for this “therapy” then maybe we could have a bit more peace and quiet around here. I mean, he seems to believe in it, so why not. Plus, there’s the added benefit of knowing that he’s paying some closeted troll of a “therapist” good money for the privilege of waving his tiny little wang around for him.
o.codone
what a bunch of shi*thead fags on here. please gentlemen, be nice. what smeds says is actually true. i am gay and got married, had a baby and I’m lived happily ever after. this kinda stuff happens, but not in the small little worlds of gay-only men. gosh, gay men are so limited, so myopic. grow up guys. there is more to the world than you. đ
jwtraveler
@o.codone: Good for you. Nice that you’re live happily ever after. Is hatred and hostility toward gay men who are still interested in men part of your fairy tale?
AtticusBennett
@o.codone: of course you did. because if you didn’t, your parents would get back to hating your guts like they did after they found out your a cum-hound. thanks for sharing!
o.codone
@AtticusBennett: okay, i AM a cum hound, but to each his own. now let’s address the fact that american queers post comments that are more vicious, hostile, insensitive and uncaring than any comments that have ever be posted by a right-wing teabagger. and the comments are directed to a fellow gay guy. i am more embattled, put down, bullied, beat up, kicked in the ribs and punched in the face by my fellow fags than i have ever been by the straight world. what’s the problem here? are american gays just a bunch of bitter, angry, figuratively gun toting red neck bitches? it sounds like that to me. america is so intolerant. and all the rainbow flag waving guys, turns out, need mandatory anger management classes. as soon as i can i am going the f*uch back where i came from because american gays are some seriously scary people. anger issues anyone?
Stache99
@o.codone:You get mocked because no one in their right mind would disagree with this ruling. They’ve been caught lying. The judge just did his job.
o.codone
@Stache99: how about you stop blaming me and address the anger and bullying issues within the gay community. and, i’ve already said a judge is not a doctor, so stop playing one on TV. it’s not the ruling, it’s the lack of boundaries that i protest.