Lawyer: Banning ‘ex-gay’ therapy like requiring patients to embrace alcoholism

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Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said Wednesday that California’s ban on so-called “ex-gay” or “reparative” therapy was akin to telling patients to embrace their alcoholism.

“Leave it to California to come up with some bizarre law,” he said on the Faith and Freedom radio program. “This is the first time in history that a state or government has come in and told counselors on any subject, ‘you can only speak or counsel or refer on on viewpoint of that subject.’”

“It would be like them coming in to say with regards to alcohol abuse, if somebody seeks you assistance for alcohol abuse, they don’t want to actually excessively consume alcohol or drugs, you have to tell them that it is OK,” Staver continued. “You can’t tell them how to deal with that stress and eliminate those conflicts in your life and stop taking drugs or alcohol. You’ve got to tell them it’s OK. That is exactly what they have done with regards to homosexuality.”

The Liberty Counsel has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new California law, which prohibits mental health providers in the state from attempting to change the sexual orientation of minors.

For those over age 18, the new law requires patients to sign a consent form that states “a lesbian, gay, or bisexual sexual orientation is not a mental disorder” and notes the therapy could be harmful.

Staver said the new law would prevent counselors from addressing pedophilia in minors if the minor in question had same sex attractions.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by Right Wing Watch, below: