HB 1332 proposes to permit social workers to use a discredited treatment method called conversion therapy to convert the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian persons to be heterosexual and to change transgendered persons to the declared birth gender. Conversion therapy is ineffective and often dangerous and unethical. Citizens of North Dakota are urged to oppose this legislation to ensure the defeat of this misguided and dangerous bill.
The best science on sexual orientation teaches us that sexual orientation is not a choice. If you doubt this, ask yourself when you chose to be heterosexual. No such choice was made. Sexual orientation cannot be changed. The science on gender is similar. People do not choose gender identity.
All mental health and health professionals have a code of ethics that would be violated by using conversion therapy. HB 1332 would give legal authority and state sanction to a practice that will harm citizens of North Dakota. Not one of us should abide by such a travesty.
Gay, lesbian, and transgendered persons want what all of us desire in life. They want to love and be loved, to have families and careers and to contribute to their communities and enjoy the same rights and protections under the constitution as everyone else.
Those on the religious right seek to limit the civil rights of these citizens. They want to interfere with the rights of citizens to make private medical decisions. They thrive on pseudoscience and misinformation. They want to convince Americans that sexual orientation is a choice and a sin. It is not a choice. It is not a sin.
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Write or call your legislator. Urge the defeat of HB 1332. Support our family members, friends and neighbors who are gay, lesbian, or transgendered. Support our mental health professionals who are doing their best to provide good and ethical care to them.
The Trust Project
