Counsel files suit


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Courthouse — Staver will represent Liberty in the controversial New Jersey lawsuit. Photo credit: Sam Chappell

Courthouse — Staver will represent Liberty in the controversial New Jersey lawsuit. Photo credit: Sam Chappell

Liberty Counsel has filed suit against the state of New Jersey after Governor Chris Christie signed a bill banning licensed therapists from helping minors who want to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior or identity.

Matthew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said he believes the new law is
unconstitutional.

“This bill is a significant intrusion on freedom of speech, freedom of religion and parental rights,” Staver said. “It is a breathtakingly broad intrusion into the private lives, rights and freedoms of minors, their parents, and counselors.”

The law restricts licensed therapists from providing any counsel to minors designed to help the client change unwanted same-sex behavior or identity even when the client and the parent want such counsel.

“The very essence of counseling is that clients have the right of self-determination,” Staver said. “They have the right to be able to set their counseling objectives, but this law prevents client from achieving their objectives.”

He also noted that New Jersey law permits minors 14 years old or above to consent to any form of psychological or psychiatric therapy and discontinue any counseling without their parents’ consent. But, under the new law, minors in this age classification will not be permitted to consent to any therapy encouraging change from homosexuality.

Several proponents of the bill argued that therapy for the purpose of change is cruel to the
client involved.

“There is no greater achievement than helping to stop the abuse of our youth,” Troy Stevenson of the group Garden State Equality told the Los Angeles Times. “It will protect young people from being abused by those they should trust the most: their parents and their doctors.”

Christie said his decision to sign the bill was based on
conducted research.

“Efforts to change sexual orientation can pose critical health risks, including, but not limited to, depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts,” Christie wrote in a statement.

According to Staver, the research Christie relied upon did not study minors and was conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force of 2009, which consisted of a handful of pro-homosexual members and excluded any researchers with a differing view.

“Even that very biased group of people had to state in the task force report that they found evidence of people who benefited by counseling and that actually reported that they no longer had same-sex attractions or behavior or identity… Christie should have done his homework,” Staver said.

Nicholas Cummings, homosexual rights activist and former president of the APA, shared his opinion on the study’s results shortly before Christie signed the bill
into law.

“Attempting to characterize all sexual reorientation therapy as ‘unethical’ violates patient choice and gives an outside party a veto over patients’ goals for their own treatment,” Cummings wrote in USA Today. “The political agenda shouldn’t prevent gays and lesbians who desire to change from making their own decisions.”

According to Staver, he believes the bill is unconstitutional but will also have a negative impact
on society.

“If you had someone like Jerry Sandusky sexually molest a young boy, and (the boy) developed same-sex sexual attractions … and said ‘give me some help,’ what’s the counselor going to do?”
Staver said.

“It will be damaging to children, damaging to parents, it will be damaging to counselors, and it will be ultimately destructive of freedom.”

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