As I reported yesterday, New Jersey is considering a bill that would ban so-called gay conversion therapy and held hearings before the Senate Health Committee.The bill, S2278, would ban licensed therapists from trying to turn gay kids straight. The committee advanced the bill in a 7-1 vote.
Among those testifying was Parsippany high school senior Jacob Rudolph, whose speech coming out to his entire class at an awards show assembly went viral on YouTube in January.
Said Rudoph to the panel in a powerful speech:
“What disturbs me the most is that our government would allow orientation-conversion organizations to subject children to such so-called therapy. It is hard enough for LGBT teens to accept that their sexual orientation differentiates them from their classmates. Consequentially, I cannot fathom how emotionally scarring it must be for these kids to be told they are somehow broken and are then manipulated to reject their innate sexual preference and ‘become’ heterosexual again. What strikes me as the most cruel facet of this practice is that these young people cannot defend themselves from being subjected to this harmful practice.”
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
