Photo: ShutterstockTherapists linked to two U.S. organizations are telling LGBTQ people in Costa Rica that homosexuality is wrong and that only a “sadistic god” would create a gay person, according to a report from Open Democracy.
A second report also found that the same conservative Christian groups are also undermining U.S. laws, pushing conversion therapy in municipalities that have outlawed the practice. The undercover investigation found two conversion therapy counsellors operating in states where the practice is prohibited. One advised a reporter posing as a 17-year-old lesbian to “suppress” her orientation, including by starving herself.
Therapists connected to Focus on the Family and the Exodus Global Alliance made the comments while ‘treating’ or offering to ‘treat’ undercover reporters posing as gay or lesbian people.
Focus on the Family was founded in 1977 by conservative psychologist James Dobson. Dobson, who Mike Pence considers his role model, is known for his extreme views, including his push for corporal punishment that has now been found to have traumatizing effects for children. Dobson also once said that the shooting at Sandy Hook happened because of gay marriage, and in the same vein published a newsletter with a letter that said fathers should take their sons into bathrooms to show them that they have the same private parts.
Exodus Global Alliance is the global wing of the disbanded and controversial ex-gay group Exodus International. James Dobson also founded the Family Research Council, a group designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Conversion therapy is considered “ineffective” and “harmful” by the Pan-American Health Organization and has been condemned by Costa Rica’s official associations of psychologists and psychiatrists. The Netflix documentary, Pray Away, offers an in-depth analysis of the ex-gay movement, with testimonials from former members of Exodus International explaining the sinister machinations behind the anti-LGBTQ group.
One of the reporters for the exposé posed as a married woman who had become involved in an extra-marital lesbian relationship. She contacted Enfoque a la Familia – the Costa Rican arm of Focus on the Family – via its website, where she was able to book and pay in dollars for an online therapy session with a psychologist listed on the site.
Another reporter posed as a young gay man. He went to Exodus Latinoamérica, Exodus Global Alliance’s group.
Both therapists the reporters contacted were certified by the Costa Rica’s Psychology Association, CPPCR, despite the organization calling for a ban on conversion therapy.
The woman’s therapist said the word “guilt” ten times and told the reporter that homosexuality was wrong. The practitioner also went on to say that homosexuality is the imperfect “lifestyle” that is learned or developed.
“God created man and woman[…] our perfect match, and he’s perfect and marvelous. This [homosexuality] is learned, is something developed on the road,” she said.
The practitioner then asked if she would like to cast out her desire for women.
At Exodus, the male reporter’s psychologist said that homosexuality is a sin.
“I serve God first. I’m not treating homosexuality as common people do[…] God says this is a sin, so we treat it as a sin.” She also said that “nobody is born homosexual, because only a sadistic God would forbid this sin in the Bible and, at the same time, create you like that.”
Another reporter went undercover to an Evangelical church in the nation’s capital San José for counselling on how to handle his “unwanted homosexuality.” He experienced a 90-minute session full of misleading and derogatory claims from a pastor.
She claimed that most gay people are drug users, compared gay sex to defecation, and said that porn, sexual abuse, and parental sin are reasons for being gay. The pastor also claimed that the reporter was probably born after his parents watched porn, thereby making him “born tainted.”
The pastor defended her claims about the links between homosexuality and drug use, pornography, sexual abuse, parental sins, and masturbation, which, she said, are “conclusions” drawn from her “40 years of experience as a Christian spiritual counsellor” and from biblical verses that she quoted for each of the claims in her reply.
Costa Rica is looking to ban conversion therapy in 2022 with a bill, but LGBTQ rights advocates acknowledge that even if it passes, religious groups like Exodus and Focus on the Family will find a loophole around the ban. Most conversion therapy practitioners are not licensed medical professionals.
Shi Alarcón, a sociologist and sexual diversity activist for an LGBTQ youth support group in Costa Rica known as Casa Rara, says she has seen these conversion therapy camps expanding across Costa Rica. Teenagers are being subjected to the traumatic torture at alarming rates, she said.
“If I listen to ten teenagers per month, eight tell me they were taken to or were offered [conversion sessions at churches] or were told by their mothers: ‘We’re going to do this,’” Alacarón said.
Alacarón supports a conversion therapy ban, but she says that we need to advocate for broader scopes on banning conversion therapy in all places, including churches.
“We need to widen the scope of hate crimes to include ‘conversion therapy’ – and stop calling it ‘therapy,’” she said. “We need to stop relinquishing the words that we use to feel fine – ‘family,’ ‘therapy,’ ‘health’ – to conservative groups.”
Costa Rica’s bill is poised to face strong opposition from anti-LGBTQ organizations like Focus on the Family and Exodus International—through branches that are shown to be under the control of its U.S. affiliates. Both groups still operate in U.S. states where conversion therapy is currently banned.
Category: Anger
Ron Johnson Claims Mouthwash “Kills” Coronavirus
Anti-vaccine group targeted head of California Medical Board in ‘stalking’ incident, she says
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article256444451.html
The head of the California Medical Board says members of an anti-vaccine group known to spread misinformation about COVID-19 treatments targeted her at her home and workplace in Walnut Creek on Monday.
Kristina Lawson, president of the state agency that licenses and disciplines medical doctors, first shared the “terrifying experience” on Twitter Wednesday.
“To start the day, the group parked their rental SUV near the end of my driveway, and then flew a drone over my house. They watched my daughter drive herself to school and watched me walk out of my house, get in my car, and take my two kids to school,” Lawson said in a tweet.
From there, she said the SUV followed her to work, and parked “head-to-head” with her car in a parking garage. That evening, when she left the office building and entered the parking garage, four men jumped out of the SUV with cameras and recording equipment and confronted her, wanting to interview her.
“I then realized that these four men had been surreptitiously stalking me,” she said in a statement.
🧵 On Monday, I was followed and confronted by a group that peddles medical disinformation, promotes fake COVID-19 treatments, and is under investigation by Congress for stealing millions of dollars from consumers. It was a terrifying experience. /1
For context, in addition to my job as the chief executive of a law firm, I am the President of the @MedBoardOfCA. I have served on the Board for 6 years as a gubernatorial appointee. /2
To start the day, the group parked their rental SUV near the end of my driveway, and then flew a drone over my house. They watched my daughter drive herself to school and watched me walk out of my house, get in my car, and take my two kids to school. /3
At least one of the members of the group had flown across the country to stake me out. They followed me to work, and parked the SUV head-to-head with my car in the parking garage that is attached to my office building. /4
That evening, when I left the office building and entered the parking garage four men jumped out of the SUV with cameras and recording equipment and confronted me as I tried to get into my car to drive home. /5
When contacted by law enforcement, the group indicated that it just wanted to interview me. Not surprisingly, they never contacted the Board's press office to request an interview. They also never contacted the company I work for or me directly to ask for an interview. /6
Instead, they ambushed me in a dark parking garage when they suspected I would be alone. The private investigator traveling with them told law enforcement they are producing a video about me that will include footage of my house and neighborhood, and, of course, me. /7
Like so many public officials, I volunteer my time and energy to public service because I believe in giving back to the state and the communities that have given my family and me so much. /8
My father was a physician, and I am committed to protecting the integrity of the profession he loved, and to ensuring that all Californians have access to high quality, safe medical care. /9
That means protecting Californians from bad doctors, and ensuring disinformation and misinformation do not detract from our work to protect patients and consumers. /10
I will continue to do this work even when it is hard, and notwithstanding that there is an organized effort to scare me away from it. /11
COVID-19 has killed almost 800,000 Americans, and we must remain vigilant against new variants and against those that peddle fake, dangerous misinformation. /12
Vaccines are safe, effective, and free – they prevent serious illness and save lives. You can learn more here: https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/ /end
Originally tweeted by Kristina Lawson (@kdlaw) on December 8, 2021.
Daily cartoon / meme roundup: That pain in democracy’s butt is caused by the wealthy getting over on the public
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Scottie’s world today
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Musk lives off government handouts.
They can’t even handle having a conversation.
Instead of rejecting christofascism, Republicans have become christofascists.
Children with weapons of war around a Christmas tree? Boosting? The insecurities are staggering. These poor kids.
Christofascists have one god, the gun.
Celebrate Jesus with a gun. For children
Patriarchy includes women. Going after vulnerable women, women in need, women in abusive relationships, rape victims, their privacy, their reproductive rights that have precedent for FIFTY years, is beyond despicable.
It’s non-stop punching down.
Misogyny is the default.
Double standard.
I have chronic pain that limits my quality of life, it restricts / limits my ability to function. That is just a fact of my life. I had a muscle relaxer doctor had been prescribing me for years that worked great for me. The Florida legislators felt they knew better than my doctors, better than any doctors and said that if the doctors office also wrote prescriptions for some other medications then they couldn’t write prescriptions for the medication I was taking. Even if I was not taking the other medications. If they did prescribe the medication I was using and the patient died for any reason, any reason, the pain doctors could be charged with murder. My doctors immediately stopped prescribing the medication. I have never found another that works as well for me. Thanks Florida. Hugs
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Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes
Yeah, Lisa, you sure pwned that mentally disturbed, homeless guy who allegedly lit that tree on fire! Yes it was wrong to burn that fake tree (?) In front of a fake news provider (!) I Don’t know if I should shake my head in disgust or give a thumbs up to the symbolism ! It wasn’t even a Christmas tree. Fox built a metal pyramid, hung greenery (probably fake), then hung decorations on it. You can call it a tree, I suppose, but it has the same relationship to a real tree that Fox’s construction of patriotism has to real patriotism. Hugs
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And now some for fun
Black couple sues for housing discrimination after shocking results
12-YO Takes His Life After Being Bullied For His Sexuality
Anti-bullying page, including pro-LGBTQ links, removed from Education Department website
Anti-bullying page, including pro-LGBTQ links, removed from Education Department website
DOE removed the anti-bullying page following an inquiry about the site’s LGBTQ resources.The Florida Department of Education has removed an anti-bullying portal from its website, including links to LGBTQ advocacy groups.
DOE removed the anti-bullying page after the Florida Capital Star, a right-leaning online publication, inquired about the LGBTQ resources listed on the site, sparking a content review on the page. The inquiry precipitated related changes to the DOE webpage for the Office of Safe Schools, created under the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, until DOE can review the content.
When pulling the bullying portal, the department removed links to state anti-bullying policy, LGBTQ advocacy groups and other bullying prevention resources.
Lawmakers this spring passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which states that public schools cannot infringe on the “fundamental rights” of parents to direct the upbringing of their child — extending to decisions about education, health care and mental health. Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ administration and DOE has used the legislation to ban blanket mask mandates in schools. But during the 2021 Session, debate centered around fears from LGBTQ advocacy groups and allies that the legislation could reveal to parents the gender identity or sexual orientation of children who came out at school before coming out at home.
The bullying portal included links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ StopBullying.gov and its page addressing bullying in LGBTQIA+ Youth. Until this fall, the page instructed educators to protect children’s privacy, guidance that could run afoul of the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
“Be careful not to disclose or discuss sexual identity issues with parents or anyone else, without the young person’s prior permission, unless there is an immediate threat to their safety or wellbeing,” the page read.
Groups like the pro-LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida criticized the DeSantis administration for pulling the website, calling it a “staggering escalation of its anti-LGBTQ agenda.”
In a statement, Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith called for the links to be reinstated.
“Attacks on LGBTQ students from Tallahassee are fueling a toxic, dangerous environment on the ground,” Smith said. “From the passage of explicitly anti-transgender legislation this year to proposed legislation that would jail doctors and parents for providing lifesaving medical care to transgender children, a politically-motivated assault on the LGBTQ community is putting young people at risk. Vulnerable youth deserve better than a DeSantis Administration intent on putting them in harm’s way in order to score cheap political points.”
Other links removed from the DOE website included the department’s model policy against bullying and harassment for school districts and a checklist for school districts when developing anti-bullying policy.
DOE’s Office of Safe Schools, which answers to the Education Commissioner, currently Richard Corcoran, was created after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to provide safe learning environments for students and educators.
Seventh-grader dies by suicide after being told he’d go to hell for being gay
Cultist GOP House Candidate Doubles-Down: Every Law That’s “Against The Word Of God” Must Be Overturned
Why Christians Should Be Leery of This Celebrity 2022 Senatorial Candidate
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon and host of television’s The Dr. Oz Show, has launched a campaign for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat now held by Pat Toomey, who is retiring. If Oz wins the Republican nomination, he will be the first Muslim-born individual to be nominated for a Senate seat by a major American political party.
But Oz is not a Muslim in practice. The son of Turkish immigrants, the 61-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon, who gained celebrity as a frequent guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, affiliates himself with the Swedenborgian Church of North America after being introduced to the church by his wife, Bryan Athyn.
Wikipedia says the Swedenborgian Church of America “is one of the few Christian sects that draws its faith from the Bible as illuminated by the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. The church’s website says it is “an open-minded, forward-looking Christian church drawing its faith from the Bible as illuminated by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). If you have serious questions about traditional Christian theology, yet wish to explore the deeper aspects of the Bible and the Christian faith, we may be what you are looking for. We worship a God of unconditional love, whose warmth and light can deepen your inner life and give direction to your spiritual journey.”
His religious beliefs aside, Christian voters should also be aware that Oz and his wife practice Transcendental Meditation and reiki, a traditional Japanese practice of using “healing energy” for medicinal purposes.
“When I meditate, I go to that place where truth lives,” Oz told Religion News Service. “I can see what reality really is, and it’s so much easier to form good relationships with him.”
In 2016, President Trump named Oz to the Council and Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. Oz subsequently endorsed the use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to combat COVID-19, which Trump also touted in office.
Announcing his Senate campaign on the Washington Examiner‘s website on Tuesday (Nov. 30), Oz made an oblique reference to his Turkish American background, writing: “I witnessed my family’s sacrifices. My father grew up dirt poor (literally sleeping on a dirt floor) and loved this country as much as anyone already here.”
While his mother adhered to the secular vision of modern Turkey’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, Oz’s father was a strict Muslim, according to a 2012 interview for Henry Louis Gates Jr.’ PBS television program Faces of America. As a young man, Mehmet Oz said, he rebelled against both traditions and chose to align his views with Sufism, a mystical Islamic sect.
