"lucky number eight"!!!!

"The research referenced in this report counters the myth that same-sex attraction is genetically predetermined and unchangeable and offers hope for prevention and treatment....Those who wish to understand the factors that influence the development of SSA may find Joseph Nicolosi’s book Shame and Attachment Loss: The Practical Work of Reparative Therapy helpful....The Church’s magisterium assumes that some people with SSA may change and that professional as well as pastoral assistance may be helpful and necessary for this to happen....A careful reading of the articles opposing therapy for change reveals that the authors who see therapy for change as unethical do so because they view such therapy as oppressive to those who do not want to change and view those persons with same-sex attraction who express a desire to change as victims of societal or religious oppression.  Therapy should be guided by the best interests of clients not the political goals of a special interest group " (Philip Sutton, PhD, Richard Fitzgibbons, MD, and Dale O’Leary, Homosexuality and Hope (2nd ed), 2013)

"In state legislatures across the country, the well-funded national LGBT lobby has been pushing bans on therapy that would help youth deal with 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' issues [reparative therapy]….they have been successful in at least 14 states. These cruel laws support a radical ideology – without care for the harm done to vulnerable children....[Yet] On June 26, 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled in NIFLA v Becerra that the government cannot create a 'professional speech' category lacking First Amendment protections" (Mass Resistance, 8/2/18)

"Bethlehem is lucky number eight. Earlier this month the Lehigh Valley city became the eighth municipality in Pennsylvania to ban conversion therapy....The statute was patterned after a similar ordinance which passed in neighboring Allentown last year. In outlawing conversion therapy, Bethlehem follows at least six other municipalities in the state: Doylestown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, State College, and Yardley Borough. Across the U.S., more than 30 cities and 13 states have passed statutes or statewide laws restricting orientation change efforts. These states include...New Jersey….Openly gay state representative Brian Sims introduced a bill to prohibit orientation change efforts last year, but it has stalled in Pennsylvania’s majority conservative legislature" (INTO, 7/19/18).