Tell Governor Brown to Sign SB 1172

I received the following in my e-mail today and felt I should pass it on:

A bill in California would prohibit people from practicing such efforts to change sexual orientation or gender expression.Now this bill just needs the Governor’s signature, so HRC is rallying its nationwide network of activists to speak out.  Tell Governor Brown to sign SB 1172 and send a message to LGBT youth all across the nation that every life is valuable. WATCH: Ryan Kendall’s shocking story.

I was a young teenager when my family learned I am gay.

My parents reacted harshly, and they decided to take me to a “therapist” – Dr. Joseph Nicolosi – who promised to stop me from being gay.

Nicolosi tried hard to convince me that something was fundamentally wrong with me. I almost believed him. After all, I was just a young kid.

This psychological abuse nearly destroyed my life, and for me, it resulted in drug abuse, homelessness, and thoughts of suicide that lasted a decade.

No child – no person – should have to endure this pain. And for the first time ever, right now in California, there’s a bill sitting on the Governor’s desk that would ban these fraudulent and harmful “ex-gay” interventions.

Governor Jerry Brown only has days left to make up his mind about this critical bill to stop the psychological abuse of LGBT youth. HRC will deliver your petition signature with thousands of others to show that fair-minded Americans nationwide demand an end to this outdated, harmful practice.

Leading medical organizations – including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association – agree that these practices are dangerous. But beyond that, we know that teaching a young LGBT person that he or she is defective is incredibly harmful.

This harmful treatment stole a decade from my life and nearly destroyed my family. An HRC report this summer proved the prevalence of this kind of messaging – 89 percent of LGBT youth in California say they’ve heard negative messaging about being gay, most of it from elected leaders.

Dr. Nicolosi is still inflicting this kind of child abuse, and he recently attempted to innocently explain to CNN that he’s just “trying to bring out the heterosexuality” in his patients.

This practice hurts people, children, and families. It has no basis in fact, and it needs to end.

Now is the time for Governor Brown to send a strong message to LGBT youth all over the country: your lives are valuable and you are perfect the way you are.

Join the urgent, national call for Governor Brown to set the record straight on this dangerous practice. Add your name to the petition now.

I will never be able to fully undo the damage that this abuse has caused me, but together we can guarantee that no child has to live through this type of abuse again. I won’t rest until this work is done, and I am asking for your help. Thanks for joining me.

For too many kids,
Ryan Kendall

UPDATE:  The governor did sign the bill on 9/29/12.  Read California Is First State to Ban Gay ‘Cure’ for Minors

Here’s the inevitable lawsuit:  Liberty Counsel Announces Legal Challenge to California’s “Ex-Gay” Ban

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copyright 2012 Irene C. Olszewski, Esq.