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S.A. McCarthy | The Washington Stand
A Virginia court is blocking the state from banning “conversion therapy” for minors, instead allowing Christian therapists and counselors to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity with children who seek their help.
In 2020, the Virginia state legislature banned talk therapy (labeled “conversion therapy” by opponents) which the state defined as “any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” A pair of Christian counselors, John and Janet Raymond, challenged the law. In a decision dated last month but published in July, the Henrico County Circuit Court issued an order permanently enjoining the state from enforcing the law, agreeing that it violates Virginia’s religious liberty provisions.
The Virginia-based Founding Freedoms Law Center, which represented the Raymonds in the dispute, praised the court’s decision in a statement. “With this Court Order, every counselor in Virginia will now be able to speak freely, truthfully, and candidly with clients who are seeking to have those critical conversations about their identity and to hear faith-based insights from trusted professionals,” Founding Freedoms declared. It continued, “The growing number of parents who are seeking guidance for their struggling children, in an era where gender dysphoria has become a contagion among young people, will finally be able to find knowledgeable counselors, like the Raymonds, who can offer help.”
The legal organization added, “This is a major victory for free speech, religious freedom, and parental rights in Virginia. We are honored to stand with John and Janet Raymond, who had the courage to take on this fight.”
In comments to The Washington Stand, Family Research Council Senior Fellow Walt Heyer, who identified as transgender for nearly a decade, explained how a Christian approach to talk therapy assists those who struggle with sexual orientation or gender identity issues with discovering their God-given identities.
“The thing that doesn’t enter this conversation quite enough is that they would have you believe this ‘conversion therapy’ is really based on homosexuality. Over 90% of the thousands of people I’ve worked with are not homosexual. This isn’t a homosexual issue. It’s strictly an identity issue,” Heyer stated. “They want you to think that you’re trying to make a gay person straight by using conversion therapy. That’s another lie. This thing is so packed full of lies,” he said. “They’ve been pushing this homosexual component for years.”
One of the effects of “conversion therapy” bans, Heyer attested, is making the “gender-affirming care” model de facto mandatory, benefitting the gender transition industry. “The fact of the matter is, nobody has gender dysphoria. That is the term that they came up with in 2013. They have dysphoria, but it’s not about gender.” Heyer said. He explained that what is commonly termed “conversion therapy” “is when you are able to identify what has caused them to have this identity crisis. It’s not gender, it’s an identity issue.”
He continued, “I’ve worked with thousands over the last almost-20 years, I haven’t found one with gender dysphoria. I’ve found them with all kinds of dysphoria, but it’s usually because their dad died from cancer or they were involved in a car accident, the car burned and their brother died, I can go through the list. A lot of it has to do with trauma. Some of it has to do with broken homes and fighting parents.”
“The main thing is they’re trying to keep — in the United States it’s a $4.4 billion industry — to keep people pumped up with hormones and get them on hormones when they’re kids, and they’re going to be spending bookoo money for the rest of their life,” Heyer warned. He observed, “This is strictly a financial play about getting kids hooked. These are the great drug dealers in the gender clinics getting kids hooked on this. They don’t need them, they don’t even have gender dysphoria.”
Heyer took issue with states like Virginia using terminology such as “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy,” explaining that the talk therapy offered by Christian counselors is centered on an individual’s God-given identity. “The fact of the matter is, to my knowledge — and I work with people all the time, I’ve worked with thousands — the discussions we have that they call reparative therapy has nothing to do with reparative therapy,” he said. He explained that in his own talk therapy with those struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity issues, “I would ask that person who’s struggling, ‘What caused you to not like who you are?’ … And that begins this discussion where they say, ‘Well, I was cross-dressed by my grandma,’ or, ‘My dad died.’ What it does is reveals some issue that otherwise you wouldn’t have the opportunity to hear about.” Heyer continued, “When you find that out and then you talk to that person and say, ‘Well, actually what this issue is about is adverse childhood experiences. And what you really need is a trauma therapist.’”
“What they call reparative therapy is just discovering what caused them to have this identity conflict. And it’s never about gender dysphoria, it’s always about something else,” Heyer observed. He continued, “It’s about they got addicted to porn on the internet, it was a social contagion, the list is just so long. So it’s not even reparative therapy, it’s just discovering what caused them to not like who they are.”
Earlier this year, Heyer co-authored a book with Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, a trauma therapist and the director of Family Research Council’s Center for Family Studies, entitled “Embracing God’s Design: Addressing the Spiritual and Psychological Crisis Behind Transgender Identity,” which tackles just such issues. “I think our book ‘Embracing God’s Design’ just goes straight at this issue,” Heyer said.
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON STAND
Praise God!! Hope springs eternal!!!