…is what anti-gay / ex-gay activists Michael Brown (left) and Arthur Goldberg (right) would have you believe.
Anti-gay activist and “ex-gay” advocate, Michael Brown, had a little chat with, Arthur Goldberg — of the “ex-gay” conversion therapy group JONAH — “Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing” — on Brown’s radio show, “Line of Fire.”
Goldberg asserted that the harm caused by ex-gay/reparative/conversion therapy is “greatly, greatly, greatly exaggerated.”
Brown then adds:
…you were involved with civil rights movement years ago. Did the leaders say, ‘Look, our kids, our black kids are killing themselves, hanging themselves because they’re being rejected by society, so you’d better accept them’?
Goldberg:
You know, the fact of the matter is, I’m a Jew. Okay, we were heavily discriminated against as Jews … You don’t see the Jews complaining about, ‘I’m a poor victim.’
Brown then finishes off this train wreak of thought with this:
Absolutely, and you didn’t hear about all the Jewish youth in the ghettos who were going to kill themselves because life was tough.
(The real question is, how many of those kids that did kill themselves were LGBT?)
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Their blindness to the obvious difference between the hardship these youths faced, and those faced by LGBT youth is stupefying.
Unlike LGBT persons, of all ages, Blacks, Jews and other persecuted minorities are oppressed en-masse. No matter the prejudice they faced, due to skin color, ethnicity, religion, etc., so did their families, friends, religious and social groups. From birth, they shared a collective support structure.
Generally speaking, the racial qualities of same-sex orientation and the transgendered are unseen until exposed, openly expressed or self-identified as being so. By extension, the disproportionate number of gay youth suicide rate can also be invisible to those don’t take into consideration the WEALTH of prominent factors responsible for it.
Even under the best of circumstances LGBT youth are far more susceptible to social stigma, rejection from loved ones and friends, emotional and physical isolation, and in some cases, being kicked out of their homes, and too often, the feeling of no hope of ever reaching a place in life to where things get better.
Free from the threat of being kicked out of my home, I can personally attest to having experienced all of those things, including attempting suicide.
Perhaps a reminder, but a good one for those of you in dire straights who haven’t made it out on your own yet:
In other words, there is life after HELL.
—
Goldberg also says, in comparison with those who’ve undergone ex-gay therapy:
Well the fact of the matter is, the person who — the gay activists have a much greater suicide rate…
But, according to lamda.org:
A majority of suicide attempts by homosexuals occur during their youth, and gay youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. [emphasis added]
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) reports similar findings (PDF), citing nine studies showing that on average, GLBT youth and young adults are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexuals.
Further, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC):
A nationally representative study of adolescents in grades 7–12 found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth were more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide as their heterosexual peers. [emphasis added]
I think it’s logical to conclude that the proportion of successful suicides are in direct proportion to attempted suicides. That’s more than twice of those deaths coming from a fair extrapolation of an estimated 6-7% of the population.
Even without the devastating effects associated with “ex-gay” “therapy,” that’s not “greatly, greatly, greatly exaggerated,” that’s genocide all on it’s own.
~~~The salient point~~~
ON TOP OF ALL THAT, Arthur Goldberg and Michael Brown are asserting that ex-gay / reparative / conversion therapy, are not contributing factors to the increased proportion of LGBT youth suicide, or that they are even harmful.
Among many, many others, there are a host of individuals at Beyond Ex-Gay who would beg to differ.
Much if not most of those who feel the need for, or are forced into ex-gay therapy are motivated by so-called “deeply held religious beliefs.”
So, to be fair, some parents and those that seek ex-gay therapy on their own, truly fear for the fate of their eternal soulsand/or simply long for the ease of the all-inclusive socially accepted lifestyle of having an opposite gender partner and children.
However, as the SPRC (link, above) puts it:
Most religious denominations continue to condemn homosexuality as sinful and provide a rationale for marginalizing LGB[T] people.
Or, as I put it:
Numerous religious organizations and their followers have an obsessive, almost demonic LUST to malign and smear the very humanity of LGBT persons — of all ages — with vindictive and malicious invectives consisting primarily of, often blatant, insinuations that LGBT persons are sexually-promiscuous disease-spreading perverts in order to convince us, those who support us, and the rest of society that we deserve all the rights and respect reserved for fecal matter, in the name of “Christianity” and “morality.”
And that it’s “God’s Will” that we either fully expunge our same-gender attraction and then fully import some ambiguous and unknown opposite-gender attraction, live a life of loneliness or settle for something inbetween — lest we be doomed to God’s ever-loving eternal lake of fire.
IMNSHO, Goldberg, Brown, and a host of other anti-gay / ex-gay activists are directly responsible for the additional influence that result in the psychological maiming that too often leads to LGBT persons attempting and completing suicide, especially youth.
—
Three Mormons speak of the horrors they went through in their youth:
Featuring:
Russ Gorringe, Kim Mack, Ben Jarvis, Evergreen therapy survivors; Gabriel Arana, writer and American Prospect Web Editor.
—
“Thousands of Mormons reportedly went through conversion therapy over the years. From electro-shock and aversion treatments to intense, repetitive meditation on spiritual re-orientation.”
To repeat:
…gay youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people.
Add to that, the harm caused by shame-based ex-gay therapy, and Arthur Goldberg’s assertion and Michael Brown’s agreement that it is “greatly, greatly, greatly exaggerated” becomes a denial of the ongoing genocide of gay youth — due specifically and directly to the anti-gay / ex-gay efforts perpetrated by them, and activists like them.
__________
H/T Miranda Blue at Right Wing Watch — Thank you.
You said, “The real question is, how many of those kids that did kill themselves were LGBT?”
I get what youre saying in reference to this article, but the above parenthesized statement was highly insensitive and inappropriate. It might be a question to ponder is, how many…, but it’s certainly not “the real question”.
Lets remember, 11 million people died in the holocaust of which 6 million were Jews. 1.5 million children were killed in the holocaust and on record 15,000 homosexuals were murdered. The actual REAL question is why did the world let this happen.
The statement you made is quite insensitive, even in the context of your blog post. I’d ask that you kindly delete it.
Patrick can do as he feels best, but any changes should be reflected in a note at the bottom of the post. I seem to remember a insensitive post of yours, Jayson, that would have been better off deleted. How did you handle that?
Isnt this the note at the bottom of the post that you mention? Ahh, so now youre coming back and comparing a post I wrote to an unclear statement written about the Holocaust?! Good work. I reckon you know little about the Jewish ex-gay movement and I stand by all my words. Feel free to promote your thinking of “two wrongs make a right”. As an editor of a reputable new source, you should probably correspond with me privately should you have an issue with any of my past writings. Your words here are not quite constructive.
I was saying that if Patrick should make a change to his wording, the edit should be noted at the bottom of the page. He didn’t so it isn’t.
The second issue: you found what Patrick said “insensitive” and asked him to delete it. I reminded you of one of your posts that a large portion of your readers found to be, at the very least, insensitive. Your solution to that was to write a note at the bottom, not delete it as many had asked.
So in spite of your heavy sarcasm above, my point was pretty clear — you shouldn’t ask others to do something which you yourself are not prepared to do in a similar situation.
FYI – you were the only one that asked for it to be deleted. I mostly received notes of thanks and praise from many gays and ex-gays who were very appreciative of the piece.
I would have been fine if Patrick posted an addendum on the bottom.
I find it rather interesting youre comparing a piece you considered insensitive to an insensitive reference to the holocaust in which millions of people were murdered. I’d ask my family if that comparison is the same, but sadly most were murdered in Auschwitz and can not speak of this. You obviously know very little of the Holocaust or its affect on a people, or youre trying to make a point that isnt relevant to this comment.
It’s not that I don’t see the bait, Jayson, I’m just not interested in biting.
Concerning your original comment, perhaps once again you should have taken your own advice by contacting Patrick personally concerning what you thought he was saying and why you thought he should delete it.
Well see I know this is false, as I’m aware of a number of people who wrote your editor asking just that.
I think we have both covered this issue more than enough, and I won’t be going any further with it. What do you say we stop wasting time and space on it?
I couldnt find a way to contact Patrick personally, otherwise I would have.
Ahh, I had no idea that a number of people contacted the editor, so hence your words didnt make sense to me (was I meant to know?).
He obviously didnt believe it warranted a removal or he would have done so.
I agree this has been overcovered. Happy pride!
It’s interesting that Brown and Goldberg won’t interview either the survivors or their doctors to determine how exaggerated the claims are.
Nor are they willing to review the academic literature which documents the reports of harm in detail.
Nor are they willing to dissuade parents, siblings, and classmates from harassing and ostracizing youths, and pushing them beyond the brink.
They act like combatants in a war, reassuring themselves that the targets of their violence and defamation aren’t really human and don’t count.
So they’re admitting there IS harm, but its just exaggerated. Hmmmmmm.
Thanks for elucidating that part, ‘goes right with what Michael said.
I’m all for criticism, but is this the “context” you say you understand?:
Ok, the implications of that are head spinning, but I suppose it would have made my point clearer.
I’m notorious for not wording things right sometimes, not to mention grandstanding, but is this was you understand that I meant, and does it still seem insensitive?
Thanks for the clarification and post. It makes more sense and doesnt seem insensitive… Totally understand how getting an idea in few words may be difficult. Thanks!