Texas Bill Could support Kids Gay Conversion Therapy

[doggie]

in texas if it is bad for kids there should be a law that supports it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/1 ... 75264.html

WASHINGTON -- Texas House lawmakers are expected to consider a measure as early as Wednesday that could be used to protect child welfare service providers who want to force kids into discredited gay conversion therapy programs. The bill also protects providers who deny minors access to birth control or abortions.

The bill, co-authored by nine Republicans, aims to protect child welfare service providers who get taxpayer dollars from losing government funding or benefits if they take actions motivated by religious beliefs. This covers providers who offer counseling, assistance to abused children, and foster and adoption services.

For example, the legislation protects welfare providers who want to give kids in their care "a religious education," including "placing the children in a private or parochial school." Three organizations that advocate on behalf of the LGBT community in Texas have argued this provision would allow providers to force gay and transgender minors into programs to change their sexual orientation or gender identity, under the guise of education.

Rose Saxe, senior staff attorney for the ACLU's LGBT project, told The Huffington Post that she has not seen this kind of language in bills introduced in other states. The legislation could "be used to deny all kinds of care to kids, including counseling or medical care, and to impose an agency's religious beliefs on children in their custody," she said.

So-called conversion therapy has been widely discredited by medical experts and is considered especially harmful to minors. At least two states and Washington, D.C., have banned the practice for minors altogether. According to Texas advocacy groups, if child welfare providers wanted to subject kids to this practice, the state would potentially have no recourse, since the legislation would provide a "claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding."

[FundieWatcher]

:angry-banghead: great use of your time and resources Texas

[doggie]

Hey u they have free money after killing all the heath care for woman

[SassyPants]

:angry-banghead: great use of your time and resources Texas

It always cracks me up that the same folks who support this type of government intervention also scream for smaller government, libertarian principles and fiscal conservatism.

Not so much-

[apandaaries]

I'm so glad we banned that in CA. And so not surprised that TX will not legally support it.

Poor kids.

[doggie]

More kids that will be runways. anytime anything that is proven to be harmful to children there will be a christian that thinks it is great.

[apandaaries]

I'm so glad we banned that in CA. And so not surprised that TX will not legally support it.

Poor kids.

Damnit! I meant "noW legally support it." One letter makes such a difference. Please mentally revise that statement above; I'm horrified and ashamed of my typo. :geek:

[Toothfairy]

Texas needs to stop. Stop wasting time on bullshit.

[Howl]

Texas needs to stop. Stop wasting time on bullshit.

You've got that right. The crazy is so strong in the Texas lege this year that they are in danger of falling off the edge of the flat earth.

They have frittered away this legislative session on contentious socially conservative bills and not addressed things like reforming the funding of the Texas educational system.

Things are at a stalemate right now because of a bill that would protect clergy from being required to perform same-sex marriages OR PROVIDE SERVICES to LGBT people if it is counter to a sincerely held religious belief, and if they deny services, they would not risk losing their tax exempt status, and be essentially immune from legal repercussions. This isn't just about bakeries and photographers; religiously affiliated hospitals and large social service organizations would fall under the umbrella of this law.

Legislators are also trying to introduce legislation that would prohibit (with serious penalties) various county/state employees from granting marriage licenses to same-sex individuals, even if the Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage.

One legislator introduced a bill that would require some type of identification card to gain access to abortion -- they are using this to single out which young women require parental consent, also increasing the waiting period from 3 to 5 days. However, it would mean that EVERY woman seeking abortion would be required to show official ID, adversely affecting poor women who might not have ID.

It just goes on and on. This change has come about through the Tea Party (and especially Teavangelical) activism at the grass roots level. These people don't get elected and come to Austin to legislate for the common good, they come specifically to codify religious belief.

The long view is to use the legislature for conservative social engineering.

This should scare the crap out of even moderate Republicans.

At any rate, there are many bills that will not be voted on during this legislative session, and I'm hoping the bill that affects Faith will not be one that falls through the cracks.

It is also wonderful that she has great and supportive grandparents. Were it not for them, I don't think she could have escaped.

[Coco]

These people don't get elected and come to Austin to legislate for the common good, they come specifically to codify religious belief.

Tragic. Laws based on belief instead of equality. Won't end well.

Then there's the rumor going around Texas about martial law in the police turning against the military or something, i can't remember the details it was too stupid for me to want to know. But it sparked a huge serious FB conversation among people i previously assumed were rational. I just wanted to say, come on now, be realistic this is a ridiculous pre-election rumor. And a few months ago, the scare that the government was buying up all the ammo, so everyone i knew down there started hoarding it. :lol: The scare tactic rumors are strong down there. I'm shocked when my family tells me this stuff because I live in a very conservative state and none of that kind of thing is rumored around here. Maybe i should listen to Rush or Hannity to keep up with the latest conspiracy. :angry-banghead:

[FloraKitty35]

For heaven's sake even Chris Christie signed a ban on conversion therapy into law.