“We can now stand before state legislatures and point to this ruling, which confirms that testimony from anyone who claims conversion therapy is effective and safe is not an expert in the medical or mental health fields.”UPDATE 10/15/15: Obama Administration to Ban Psychological Help for 'Homosexual Kids'
-- Samantha Ames, coordinator for the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ “Born Perfect” campaign
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
NJ Gov. Christie Says Homosexuality NOT a Sin, Outlaws Counseling
California Law Saying 'Gay Kids' Can't Change Blessed by 9th Circuit Court
Most Homosexuals Who Want to Convert Report Change
Homosexuality NOT Fixed, Change Possible: Study
Study Shows Lesbianism is NOT Genetic
Also read Psychiatrists Admit Absence of 'Gay Gene' Hidden for Years
-- From "New Jersey judge: Gay conversion therapy claims describing homosexuality as curable are fraud" by The Associated Press 2/11/15
Hudson County Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso Jr. ruled Tuesday against the Jersey City-based Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing [JONAH]. He said JONAH's claims are illegal based on the state's Consumer Fraud Act.
JONAH has been sued by four men and two of their mothers, alleging their methods don't work.
Bariso also ruled last week that JONAH could not call proponents who planned to offer testimony that homosexuality is an illness.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. judge calls gay conversion therapy claims fraud" by Andrew Seidman, Philadelphia Inquirer Trenton Bureau 2/12/15
The ruling is the first time a judge in the United States has found that as a matter of law, homosexuality is a normal variation of human sexuality and not a disease or disorder, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC], a prominent civil rights group whose lawsuit spurred the judge's order.
The American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973, and the American Psychological Association says conversion therapy can cause depression and suicidal thoughts.
. . . lawyer Charles LiMandri told the Associated Press that [JONAH] used disorder in the context of Jewish law, and was not speaking of homosexuality as a psychological disorder.
"They're not your typical target of Consumer Fraud Act defendants who are making misrepresentations of people," LiMandri said. "They're just trying to help people who are in distress get help if they want it. If they don't want it, that's fine."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Selling Cure for Being Gay Found Illegal in New Jersey" by Jason Grant, New York Times 2/13/15
This week, in a lawsuit brought against the counseling group by that man and three others, a State Superior Court judge in Hudson County, N.J., ruled that counselors selling so-called conversion therapy with claims that homosexuality was a curable mental disorder were engaged in consumer fraud.
The judge also wrote that promoting the therapy by touting “success” statistics “when there is no factual basis for calculating such statistics” would further violate the law. He did not address whether Jonah had done so.
. . . Judge Bariso prohibited Jonah from calling five expert witnesses because, he said, their supposed expertise rested on the faulty premise that homosexuality was a sickness. He allowed a sixth expert witness to testify on a separate issue.
The suit [Ferguson v. JONAH] seeks financial damages and the closing of Jonah. . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Gay 'Conversion Therapy' Consumer Fraud Ruling First in U.S." by Mary Pat Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal 2/11/15
Bariso granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, four young men who obtained gay conversion therapy–referred to by the court as sexual orientation change efforts, or SOCE—through Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), plus two of their mothers.
JONAH is a Jersey City, N.J., nonprofit formerly known as Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality.
JONAH had tried to justify statements that homosexuality is unhealthy based on information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control about HIV and AIDS but Bariso noted that he had already determined such evidence was irrelevant in ruling on the experts because the case does not turn on any harms that might be caused by homosexual conduct.
The suit was brought as a test case by Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization based in Montgomery, Ala. . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "NJ Judge Bars Experts Who Believe Homosexuality Is Disorder in Lawsuit Against Gay Therapy Group" by Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter 2/11/15
JONAH is being represented by the group Rancho Santa Fe, California-based legal group the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund.
Charles S. LiMandri, president and chief counsel at the Defense Fund, told The Christian Post that he was "disappointed" with the decision and felt that it could provide "great grounds for an appeal" if they lose at that court level [when a jury trial begins in June 2015].
LiMandri also told CP that despite Bariso's decision on the experts, the judge left intact a "religious liberty defense" for JONAH that could undermine the plaintiff's case.
"Whatever statements that they made regarding homosexuality being disordered was in the context of them being a religious ministry," said LiMandri.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For background on what's next, read Pedophilia is Sexual Orientation, Like 'Being Gay' and also read Normalization of Pedophilia Urged by Psychiatrists as well as Pedophiles Win in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
And read Judge Says Incest OK; It's the New Gay
