As of Jan. 1, adult residents of New York City may change their gender to “X” on their birth certificates and parents may choose “X” for the gender of newborn babies. The City Council passed the measure in a 41-6 vote in September, and Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the bill in October, saying, “You be you. Live your truth. Know that New York City will have your back.”
(Joel Maas & Kiley Crossland – World) The success of LGBT activists in dictating how therapists counsel minors about sexuality and gender dysphoria continues to gain momentum as we head into 2019. Some pro-LGBT groups want to make it illegal for therapists to encourage children to embrace heterosexuality or their biological sex and expect legislative victories in at least four states this year: Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia, as well as cities and municipalities in seven other states, have laws against so-called “conversion therapy” on the books. Just this week, the Denver City Council voted unanimously to similarly restrict therapists.
Two Hollywood films released in 2018, Boy Erased and The Miseducation of Cameron Post, were an attempt to bolster these efforts. The movies showed teens sent to religious programs that used extreme, abusive tactics to rid them of same-sex desires. Newly proposed laws would not only restrict such residential programs, few of which still exist, but also prohibit therapy sessions involving straightforward talk from Christian counselors. Those counselors say prohibiting Bible-based therapy muzzles the free speech of practitioners and denies parents and children access to the treatment of their choice.
Research:
H/T Pulpit & Pen