A right-wing Christian group in Hong Kong has published a 52-page booklet condemning homosexuals and promoting reparative therapy to change sexual orientation.
The Society for Truth and Light has drawn heavily from the anti-gay National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality to produce Acceptance–Caring for Homosexuality.
To support the notion that gays can be turned straight through therapy, the booklet cites the usual flawed studies with their neglible results, including Spitzer (2001), Jones and Yarhouse (2007), and the infamous non-study by James Phelan, Neil Whitehead and Philip Sutton (2009)–a literature review falsely touted by NARTH as a groundbreaking new study.
One of STL’s political goals is to block LGBT equality legislation; the booklet contains two appendixes opposing same-sex marriage and laws to prevent sexual orientation discrimination. This is a reminder that the flawed and often-malicious information disseminated by ex-gay and anti-gay groups such as NARTH not only blocks justice in the West. As we have seen with Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the myths are now being exported to hinder justice in other parts of the world, too.
Read a translation of the full document here (pdf).
Now that they are becoming evermore obsolete in the States and in most Western countries, they are turning to Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia to peddle their snake oil. Thankfully, the internet can help these nations stay alert, and I hope we can help them.
This is a reminder that the reach of the Religious Right extends far beyond the U.S. For the sake of LGBT rights (and a lot of other issues) here and abroad, we need to be vigilant.