Conversion Therapy Ban

Letter of Response – Exposing Deceptive, Orwellian, Legislation

February 2020

 

Please: TAKE ACTION!

Please write to your Elected Officials and request they vote NO to any and all Conversion Therapy Bans.
For PDF versionClick Here  Contact Elected Officials Click Here.

 

Dear Prime Minister, Senators, Members of Parliament, Mayors and City Councillors,

Multiple so called “Conversion Therapy Bans” are being requested at all levels of government.

Senator Serge Joyal tabled a Bill for a conversion therapy ban (aka talk therapy ban) demanding an amendment to the Criminal Code to make it an offence to advertise conversion therapy services or to obtain a financial or other material benefit for the provision of conversion therapy to a person under the age of eighteen.  Anyone found guilty is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years.

The Prime Minister has also mandated the Attorney General, David Lametti, ban and criminalize Conversion Therapy and the government is targeting Municipalities to assist them since their “order of government is closest to the people”.  In fact, an LGBTQ Guide, funded by the Federal government,  was developed instructing Municipalities on their “Roles and Responsibilities” in banning conversion therapy.  However, the Guide does not provide any information on individuals who have successfully exited the LGBTQ lifestyle nor does it advise of the significant health risks or increased rate of suicide in promoting LGBTQ/Trans Ideology.

Before proceeding with any bans or creating any legislation, the first order of business is to request a Gender Based Analysis, as mandated by the Prime Minister.  According to the Prime Minister a GBA is to be a “driving force when developing federal policies and programs” and is expected from every government department and agency to determine how legislation will affect women and girls.

Regardless of the results of a GBA the Conversion therapy bans must be revoked and rescinded due to the multiple violations against Section 2, 7 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as a physician’s ethical commitment promising to “First, do no harm”. (see resource guide below).  The C/T bans are unconstitutional and similar cases have already been challenged, and settled, at the Supreme Court;

In the absence of respecting the Constitution and International Agreements the legitimacy of the bans must be examined and specific questions answered.  Such as;

  • why is the government choosing to use the term “conversion therapy”?  
  • why are they arbitrarily redefining the term when there is already a clear understanding of its definition and by its known definition, has already been banned in Canada?
  • what is the true purpose of the Conversion Therapy ban?

Conversion therapy was a treatment used decades ago to help people struggling with unwanted same sex attraction and consisted of cruel treatments such as electroshock therapy, castration, and institutionalization.  Because of these cruel practices conversion therapy was rightfully banned decades ago.  The “original” definition embodies these practices and therefore using the term appears to be a deceptive attempt on the part of the government to resurrect the term and mask it as something other than it is.

Therefore, the effort to redefine it begs the question…is the government using the term “conversion therapy” to undermine all therapy dealing with same sex attraction and gender identity issues in order to manipulate public opinion?  Under the new definition, conversion therapy would include a ban on ‘all’ counselling, restorative/reparative therapy and even prayer.  Any and all “talk therapy”.   **Accept for therapy that would move an individual “toward” transitioning by means of harmful hormone blockers and surgical procedures which permanently mutilate the body.  Including sterilizing children through penectomies (removal of penis) and hysterectomies.

The governments redefinition of Conversion Therapy is as follows;

  • “any” practice, treatment or service designed to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity or to eliminate or reduce sexual attraction or sexual behaviour between persons of the same sex.” For greater certainty this definition does not include a surgical sex change or any related service.

To arbitrarily change the definition of Conversion Therapy to support a politically charged agenda is something that must be challenged especially when that definition is absent of reality.

If conversion therapy were to be redefined, an accurate redefinition, based on what is actually transpiring, should read:

  • “any practice, treatment or service designed to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity from their biological sex to a reassigned sex , or sexual preference, in an effort to ‘prohibit’ sexual attraction or sexual behaviour between persons of the opposite sex.. This would ‘include’ hormonal therapy and sex reassignment surgery”.

Defining conversion therapy accurately is imperative since the government plans to make it a criminal offence.

The ban threatens to criminalize therapy only for those who are providing counsel to individuals who are seeking healing and wholeness which may, or may not, lead to a life outside of the homosexual or trans life.  It does not criminalize those who are giving counsel to individuals to pursue sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy or the doctors responsible for mutilating a child’s or adult’s body and injecting them with dangerous hormones.  In this instance, the legislation actually provides a clause exempting any criminal culpability.

Retired judge, Brian Giesbrecht, adds the following scrutiny in response to the redefinition, “it conflates sexual preference and gender identity when referring to conversion therapy. It is misleading to do so. Sexual preference and gender identity are two separate issues. A person who chooses a particular gender identity might be heterosexual, homosexual, polysexual, or asexual. A change in gender identity can involve radical surgery, lifelong drug treatment, and permanent physical change. Exercising one’s sexual preference entails involves none of these things. In short, gender identity and sexual preference should be dealt with separately because they are different issues. Specifically, it should be made clear in any legislation that the conversion therapy objected to by supporters of the ban in relation to the attempted conversion of homosexuals to heterosexuality, and the “conversion” of transgendered individuals who choose to return to their previous gender identity, must be dealt with as separate subjects, and not lumped together as different considerations apply to each”.

In addition to the failure to provide an accurate description of what is transpiring the “conversion therapy” ban is also a targeted attack against the Church and its leadership.  There is a campaign to malign and denigrate not only the church but the Christian community as a whole because of their convictions and beliefs regarding the risks of a homosexual lifestyle.  The federal government is threatening to revoke charitable status and, along with the help of the media, are stirring up dissent (inciting hate) toward the church and its leaders, accusing them of conducting converstion therapy in their basements and making them out to be an institute of insidious activites.

This is reprehensible as the church is a cornerstone in every community offering hope to the hopeless, food to the poor, shelter to the homeless and being generous with their resources and time.

On February 1, 2020, Sandie Rinaldo, with CTV news, did an “undercover investigative report” supposedly exposing the church conducting conversion therapy.  The program was a bust and she was grasping at straws as nowhere at any time did they uncover “conversion therapy” being practised in any church.  But that did not stop Ms. Rinaldo from making every effort to leave the viewers believing it to be so.

The report did not provide the other side to this story.  It did not reveal the growing number of States in the US who are passing legislation to ban surgical procedures and hormonal treatments for minors.  Making it a felony, a Class 1 misdemeanour, for doctors to dispense puberty-blocking drugs to those under the age of 16 for the purpose of changing or affirming the perception of their sex, and lists a number of surgical procedures including castration, vasectomy, and hysterectomy that doctors would not be allowed to perform on minors.  Read more here.

The W5 report also neglected to report on the court battles commencing wherein clinics are being held liable. (see below)

Of further interest is that the government nor the media are acknowledging who the real victims of this so called “conversion therapy ban” will be;

  1. Those who have suffered unimaginable abuse as children (whether sexual, physical or emotional) and are in need of trauma therapy (reparative/restorative therapy) and are being denied this through the C/T ban.  Specifically undermining parental rights in prohibiting them from taking their child for therapy.
  2. Those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery and now regret their decision. 100’s of people are de-transtioning and their stories of childhood abuse are heartbreaking and many admit that they did not receive proper therapy in advance of the surgery. 67.8% claimed they did not receive proper counselling prior to transitioning.
  3. Children in the hands of the education system wherein they are being indoctrinated into the trans ideology resulting in a social contagion and a massive increase in gender dysphoric children.  Studies show that it is a widely held consensus that the pre-frontal cortex, the decision-making part of the brain, does not fully form until individuals are into their mid 20’s and therefore cultural and environmental changes impact kids significantly.  Why is this being ignored?  (Indoctrination video) (4000% increase in kids identifying as transgender)

Studies show that 80-90% of children who express a discordant gender identity will come to identify with their bodily sex if natural development is not interfered with.

Regardless of these facts the activists and elected officials are pushing to ban “talk” therapy which, based on the statistics, would help the majority of children avoid the known health risks of an LGBTQ lifestyle and also help those who regret their decision to transition and want to de-transition.

Many well intentioned people are voting in favour of a Conversion Therapy Ban who have not been properly informed and believe they are making a compassionate decision.  This is reminiscent of Bill C-16 which is currently under immense scrutiny due to the growing violations and abuses of women and girl’s rights.  (see resource below)  Bill C-16 was approved lacking the vital statistics of a GBA.  Please do not make the same mistake again.  Bill S-202 legislation is flawed and as harmful, if not more so, than Bill C-16.

The reality is that any good that could come from a Conversion Therapy ban does not outweigh the harms.

Therefore, I ask that every elected official do their due diligence and thoroughly investigate the resources, testimonies and scientific and medical facts provided below before making a decision that will have far reaching and permanent consequences, causing irreparable harm.

I implore you to vote against any and all Conversion Therapy Bans.

Thank you for your consideration,

Sincerely,

PDF Version of this report…Click Here

Related Articles and Resources:

 

What is transgender conversion therapy? | Walt Heyer

If Conversion Therapy is Bad, Why is Sex Reassignment Good?
The Trick of LGBTQ activists is Changing the Meaning of Words.

Why re-define the term Conversion Therapy?

A Pediatrician explains why the transgender movement is a fraud.

Walt Heyer – Transgender clinics are ruining young lives

Transgender boy transitioning to life as girl changes his mind | 60 Minutes Australia

Hundreds of doctors call for an urgent enquiry into risky treatment of children who believe they are transgender,

A mother’s testimony on the harm of a conversion therapy ban

The Rising Concerns and Opposition to LGBTQ Political ExtremismResource

Sexual Orientation Change Efforts are effective. (Talk Therapy)

No proof to support born gay. Sexual orientation can change over time.

Drag Queen calls parents out extremely irresponsible taking kids to Drag Queen Story Hour

UN HRC Transgender Resolution: Serious Implications for Women and Girls
A transgender resolution intended to destroy any distinctions between men and women.

 

Legal Actions Commencing:

Court battle against clinic that fast tracked gender transition. Read Here

Nurse launches legal test case with claim children cannot consent to transgender treatments.

Medical scandal: UK doctors break silence on treatment of gender-confused kids. Read Here

South Dakota House Passes Ban on Transgender Surgery for Minors. HB 1057 would make it a Class 1 misdemeanour for doctors to dispense puberty-blocking drugs to those under the age of 16 for the purpose of changing or affirming the perception of their sex, and lists a number of surgical procedures including castration, vasectomy, and hysterectomy that doctors would not be allowed to perform on minors. Read more here.

In the U.S. several States are proposing to make it a felony for doctors to perform gender transition procedures on minors, including mastectomy, vasectomy, castration, and other forms of genital mutilation, and ban the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormone therapy.

 

The Facts: Science, Psychology and Medicine.

Science:

No ‘gay gene’: Massive study homes in on genetic basis of human sexuality

The 2017 Endocrine Clinical Practice Guidelines for gender transition state flatly: “With current knowledge, we cannot predict the psychosexual outcome [whether or not a person eventually identifies as transgender] for any specific child.”

The “born this way” narrative contradicts known medical facts involving twin studies. Gender identity has been defined as the innate sense that one feels one is male or female (or some combination of the two).

A University of Rome study proves transsexuals have normal Y chromosomes

Every cell of a biological male’s brain has an X and a Y chromosome (whereas a girl brain would have two X chromosomes).

There is further development of the male body at 8 weeks’ gestation within the womb. At this point testosterone is involved in a very intricate process that changes tissues in the pelvis into male genitalia.

Psychology:

At least 70 percent of people with gender dysphoria suffer from mental illness currently or in their lifetime. The most common comorbid mental illnesses include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and dissociative disorder.

Ninety percent of suicides are associated with a psychiatric condition. The risk of suicide coincides of course with the high prevalence of mental illness in this group of people. Depression, for example, is present in at least 50 percent of those who commit suicides.

The public has been led to believe that the primary cause of transgender suicide is bullying and mistreatment by society. The facts are quite different.

A landmark government study in sexually liberal Sweden showed that people who identify as transgender have about eight times the risk of attempting suicide above the general population. Their risk of death by suicide is nineteen times higher. And the risk does not decline after surgery and hormonal therapy. Although the study was designed to simply analyze patients in their government database and not to study the effects of treatment, people who have had sex reassignment procedures remain at high risk for suicide both before and after therapy.

It seems that many people with gender dysphoria are being given surgical and hormonal treatment for a psychological condition or conditions.
Radical political activists apparently do not want the truth to be known about the association of transgender suicide with mental illness. If we care about people who identify as transgender, we must bring these facts to light.

Studies show that people who identify as transgender are at increased risk of drug and alcohol abuse and that LGBT people enter treatment with more severe substance abuse problems, greater psychopathology, and greater medical service utilization when compared with heterosexual clients.” Again, this is understandable when one considers the degree of mental illness in gender dysphoric individuals. These substances may be used as coping mechanisms. Additionally, some children who grow up to identify as transgender have been physically, emotionally or sexually abused, which again is correlated with substance abuse disorders.

Medical Risks:

For biological males to take female hormones, such as estrogen, or biological females to take a male hormone, such as testosterone, is not without considerable health risk , particularly at the doses suggested. Males taking female hormones are at high risk for blood clots, which may be fatal if lodged in the lungs. They are also at increased risk for breast cancer, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, gallstones, and high levels of the lactation hormone prolactin. Females taking male hormones are at high risk for erythrocytosis (having a higher than normal number of red blood cells). They are also at increased risk for severe liver dysfunction, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension and breast or uterine cancer.

Furthermore, the use of puberty-blocking drugs in adolescents has been associated with incomplete mineralization of bone, meaning these children may be at future risk for osteoporosis. There is very little information on the use of these blockers on brain development, but the studies we do have show potential for cognitive impairment.

BC Children’s Hospital has warned: heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, decreased good cholesterol (HDL), increased bad cholesterol (LDL), emotional change (anger and irritability), and vaginal abrasions and tears. The Hospital warns that the body sometimes converts testosterone to estrogen, which may increase the risks of ovarian, breast, cervical and uterine cancer.

The mortality rate of those who identify as transgender is three times higher than that of the general population.

This should be a cause for alarm. Much of the increased risk of death has to do with the suicide rate, as detailed above. But the multitude of other health risks just mentioned play a role as well.

Therapy is Critical and should not be banned.

Conclusion: Physician’s note….

Primum non nocere is the Latin phrase for “first, do no harm” and is an admonition to physicians to seriously consider the risks of any treatment before applying it. Given the multitude of health risks, potential infertility, and sexual dysfunction associated with the hormonal and surgical treatment of gender dysphoria , I could not in good conscience recommend these treatments to any child or adolescent. Michael K. Laidlaw, MD https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2018/04/21220/

 

Testimonies – de-transitioning:

At world’s first gender ‘detransition’ conferencewomen express regret over drugs, mutilation.

I regret Transitioning” – talk with Teen De-Transitioner

Former LGBTQers Testify: If You No Longer Want to Be Gay or Transgender, You Don’t Have to Be

CHANGED is a community of friends who once identified as LGBTQ+ https://changedmovement.com/

http://www.voicesofchange.net/

How one church brought hope to an ex-trans

New York Times StoryEx-Gay’ men fight back against view that homosexuality can’t be changed.

  • “If I’d known about these therapies as a teen I could have avoided a lot of depression, self-hatred and suicidal thoughts”

Celebrities who left a gay lifestyle. Report from Joseph Nicolosi

 

Where to find help:

Offering Psychological Understanding to Men and Women Whose Same-sex Attraction Doesn’t Define Them

https://www.josephnicolosi.com/

https://sexchangeregret.com

Violation of Women and girl’s rights;

 

 

Follow the money/Taxpayer funded;

Doctors and the pharmaceutical companies have much to gain from diagnosing people with gender dysphoria and surgically transitioning people. It is a Billion dollar business. A lifetime of drugs.

 

Parental Rights and Individual Rights:

Protection under Sections 2 and 7 of the Charter. The Supreme Court of Canada, in regard to;

  • the Supreme Court of Canada has held, in regard to section 7 of the Charter, that it should be “plain that the right to nurture a child, to care for its development, and to make decisions for it in fundamental matters… are part of the liberty interest of a parent.” The Court has stated that “the common law has long recognized that parents are in the best position to take care of their children and make all the decisions necessary to ensure their well-being.
  • Section 2 (a) of the Charter; ‘Everyone’ has the Freedom of conscience and religion.

The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, Article 14;[2]

  • Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child

Article 16(3) of the Universal Declaration also states:

  • The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Canada is a signatory, states in Article 18(4):

  • The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

As with the Universal Declaration, the International Covenant states in Article 23(1):

  • The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Equality of Rights;

  • Section 15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18;

  • Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.