Back in December, Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill that banned mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors in the District of Columbia. City Council members unanimously approved the bill in early December, and later by Mayor Gray. Conversion therapy, otherwise known as Sexual Orientation Change Efforts therapy, is often used by religious families to change homosexual preference to one that is heterosexual.
Those in favor of the ban argued that Sexual Orientation Change Efforts therapy, or SOCE therapy, was harmful. The recent death of Leelah Alcorn, a teenage transgender who committed suicide, drew heavy support for the bill. Alcorn wrote a note before her death, which stated that the lack of acceptance of transgender individuals and the SOCE therapy her parents put her through resulted in the suicide. Activists vehemently pushed for the banning of SOCE therapy; it is being called “Leelah’s Law”.
A group called the Voice of the Voiceless has recently responded to the new bill affecting the District of Columbia. Voice of the Voiceless, or VoV, is an organization that is dedicated to defending “the rights of former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction, and their families,” according to their mission statement. “We also support the faith-based community and work actively in the United States to defend the constitutional rights of all Americans to share their views of homosexuality in the public forum,” states VoV.
Christopher Doyle, President of VoV, stated, “Now that sexually abused and confused minors will no longer have the ability to see a licensed mental health provider in the District to help them reduce unwanted same-sex attractions due to sexual molestation, there will be less reports of sexual abuse by D.C. children, because they will increasingly be indoctrinated by D.C. -based organizations.”
The organization is currently attempting to bring up a case by “seeking a plaintiff to bring a case against the new law,” according to the Christian Post.
“Churches and faith-based organizations ... should contact our organization if they feel one of their member's families or children would like to see SOCE therapy in the District but cannot because of the law, and we will assist them in finding legal counsel,” Doyle told the publication.
“We have repeatedly requested information to substantiate the allegations of the those who testified against SOCE, and the Council has refused to investigate these claims of 'abuse' and 'coercion' from those who testified, nor have they made any effort to verify whether these stories are true, to our knowledge,” said Doyle.
