California Bans Controversial Gay Therapy

California – first state in America to ban gay conversation therapy for children.

California – first state in America to ban gay conversation therapy for children. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday which prohibited people under the age of 18 from undergoing sexual-orientation change therapy.

The move marks a major victory for gay rights advocates who said that the therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder.

Illegal Drug Use Rate High Among Gays and Lesbians
A two year-long study has found that gays and lesbians were seven times more likely to take illegal drugs compared to others.

According to the Telegraph, the bill had support from the American Psychiatric Association, California Psychological Association and the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, among others.

"LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being," Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said.

He urged other states to follow California's lead.

Study Shows Practice of Safe Sex Among Gays Varies by Race
A new study presented at the 19th International AIDS Conference reveals that the possibility of safe sex in gays varies among different races.

State Senator Ted Lieu, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement that Brown had signed the bill.

Lieu said the psychiatrist who pioneered the therapy, Dr Robert Spitzer, has since renounced it and has apologised to the gay and lesbian community.

Study States It is Time to Overhaul AIDS Strategies for Gays
Experts have warned that three decades of safe-sex messages to gays have failed to stem the spread of HIV among that population.

The bill will come into effect on January 1.

Source-ANI

HIV Treatment Hit Hard by Laws That Criminalize Gays
Laws criminalizing homosexual behaviour churn a host of legal tangles that waste resources and deter an effective response to HIV/AIDS worldwide, reports an independent commission on Monday.