Providing more evidence that pressure from progressive groups helps move policy to the left, Wednesday night President Obama inspired rejoicing in the LGBT community when he announced that he supports a nationwide ban on “conversion therapy”, publicly condemning the practice on minors and vowing to support every state-led effort to ban the practice.
Responding to a petition, submitted to the "We the People" website, begun when transgender teenager, Leelah Alcorn, committed suicide after being subjected to "conversion" therapy, the White House announced on Wednesday it supports banning the so-called conversion practices.
The official White House response to the petition, which garnered more than 120,000 signatures, began with a message from the President, with the rest of the detailed response written by senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Tonight, somewhere in America, a young person, let's say a young man, will struggle to fall to sleep, wrestling alone with a secret he's held as long as he can remember. Soon, perhaps, he will decide it's time to let that secret out. What happens next depends on him, his family, as well as his friends and his teachers and his community. But it also depends on us -- on the kind of society we engender, the kind of future we build.”
-- President Barack Obama
Progressive organizations are justifiably celebrating and taking some credit for influencing the President on this.
Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, sent a letter to supporters rejoicing in Obama's announcement and touting SPLC's contribution to the seminal moment.
Our fight for LGBT equality has just received a major boost.
. . . the White House cited a recent court ruling we won in New Jersey.
You may recall that we’re suing a group called JONAH that collects thousands of dollars from young gay men for “therapy” that purports to turn them straight.
In the first such ruling anywhere, the judge in our case wrote that misrepresenting homosexuality as a disorder while marketing conversion therapy services was a violation of New Jersey consumer law.
The judge also refused to allow several of the most prominent conversion therapy proponents to testify at an upcoming trial – concluding their views are “like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it.”
Cohen goes on to explain that the ruling marks the "first time a court in the United States has found that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder". Superior Court Judge Peter F. Barsio Jr. found in advertising or selling conversion therapy services, where homosexuality is described as not being a normal variation of human sexuality, but as being a mental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent thereof, it is fraud.
The ruling is part of the consumer fraud lawsuit filed by the SPLC against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a New Jersey-based conversion therapy provider. The suit claims the group used deceptive practices to lure plaintiffs into their costly services for gay-to-straight therapy that can cost in excess of $10,000 a year.
And Empire State Pride Agenda, via
Change.org, posted a jubilant update to the signatories of their petition -- New York State Senate: Protect LGBT Youth from Conversion Efforts and Secure Basic Civil Rights for Transgender New Yorkers.
Apr 9, 2015 — Last night, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender youth all across the country received a bold and supportive message from the President of the United States: that all children, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, deserve the chance to grow up just as they are.
While this is definitely good news, a federal ban on the practice of conversion therapy would require congressional approval. In the White House response Jarrett urged individual states to ban the therapy given studies showing its potential harm to those subjected to it, noting specific states that have already done so including California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, even giving a specific shout out to Chris Christie. She also highlighted the fact that since last year, lawmakers in 18 other states have introduced similar legislation.
In related good news the Executive Order signed by the President last July to ban discrimination against openly gay or transgender federal employees and government contractors went into effect this week.
I am proud to say I am a signatory to both above mentioned petitions and have to believe that these kinds of efforts to make the progressive message heard through petitions and public comments are making a difference. I think on a number of core issues like marriage and gender equality, the Keystone Pipeline, workplace discrimination, wages, the internet and student debt, the progressive movement is succeeding in pulling President Obama, the Democrats and the nation in general back to the left. Now we still a long way to go, especially with things like the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement, decriminalization of pot, campaign finance reform and convincing people of the seriousness of climate change, to name a few, and our opposition is fierce and well funded, but there is a lot of reason for hope if we keep up the pressure, and back it with our votes.
My family and community had to deal with a transgender teen suicide at my daughter's high school very recently and I wrote a diary on the tragedy last week. In the many comments I was truly blown away by the chord this subject struck with readers, some of whom had moving and highly personal stories to share. Some had struggled with gender identity themselves, while others through a relative or friend.
In our community the tragic suicide of my daughter's teammate was handled delicately but in the open nonetheless, and I was particularly impressed with how the school's principal had handled what must been one of the most difficult tasks he would ever face. I sent him an email telling him as much.
Dr. [NAME REDACTED],
I want to thank you for the way you have handled this tragic event. Your communications have been respectful of both the [NAME REDACTED] family and the CHS student body and community. This has to be the worst part of your job. Thank you for letting this be an open process and for providing the kids with an opportunity to express their grief in a safe environment. I hope that parents and caregivers of students will take this time to strengthen the lines of communication with their children and that children who may be in trouble will know where to go for help before it is too late.
Sincerely,
He wrote back within minutes.
Mike
Been a tough week and I appreciate your note
Your advice is well taken
Two days later there was this email sent to all families.
Dear CUSD Students, Caregivers/Guardians/Parents,
I hope the first day of your student's Spring Break is going well. Due to the tragic event that affected the CHS Family this week I wanted to provide you with some referral sources your student might find helpful.
[Here he listed five contacts for counseling services]
Sincerely,
[NAME REDACTED], Ed.D.
Principal, CHS
He probably would have sent this out without my earlier message, but if I helped inspire his action in any way I am pleased.