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Community => Religion and Philosophy => Topic started by: DrFishcake on April 12, 2012, 01:07:58 pm

Title: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: DrFishcake on April 12, 2012, 01:07:58 pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/christian-anti-gay-ads-buses

Quote
The full length advert, which will appear on five different routes in the capital, is backed by the Core Issues Trust whose leader, Mike Davies, believes "homoerotic behaviour is sinful". His charity funds "reparative therapy" for gay Christians who believe that they have homosexual feelings but want to become straight. The campaign is also backed by Anglican Mainstream, an worldwide orthodox Anglican group whose supporters have equated homosexuality with alcoholism.

At least they got the right colourscheme: red, white and black.  >:(
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: gyeonghwa on April 12, 2012, 01:35:33 pm
And when those young gay folks seeking ex-gay therapy ends up killing themselves, their blood will be on the hands of the people who put up those ads.

Also this: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/04/psychiatrist-behind-controversial-ex-gay-study-retracts-original-claims/
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Diamandahagan on April 12, 2012, 01:55:53 pm
if there was evidence that someones sexuality could be changed id actually be ok with people getting the procedures if thats what they wanted. what i dont care for is them peddling lies that damage people who dont like that their gay.  and i especially dont care for people who wish to pressure other people into trying to change themselves.

as for comparisions with those who wish to remove bodyparts. i dont think thats fair, people who want an arm or leg removed because they think they shouldn't have them can be cured. by having the bodypart removed. you might not agree with the ethics of letting them have the part removed but unlike ex-gay crap it actually does what the person wants.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: shykid on April 12, 2012, 01:57:20 pm
"Reparative therapy" should not even be legal, even for people who "want" it.

Being gay is not a medical or psychological problem, and this "cure" has been proven not only to be completely ineffective but also destructive: legitimate peer-reviewed studies have shown over and over again (http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=dangers+of+reparative+therapy) that (1.) reparative therapy does not eliminate same-sex attraction or increase opposite-sex attraction, (2.) the suicide rate among so-called "ex-gays" is several times higher than it already is among the general LGBT population, and (3.) "ex-gays" score consistently lower than self-accepting gays and bisexuals on tests of psychological well-being.

Like I said before, the idea of this toxic quackery being legal is just as absurd as the idea of it being legal to go to a doctor and get a prescription for arsenic pills because you have a "problem" like "having two arms and two legs." The "problem" doesn't exist, and the "cure" is not only completely ineffective, but it is also deadly poison: you would be dead, and your corpse would still have all of its limbs anyway. (And that's not to mention that such a thing completely goes against the Hippocratic oath.)

Furthermore, the people that complain of such "problems" should not have their delusions indulged. The fact they think they have a problem is the problem.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Thejebusfire on April 12, 2012, 02:10:48 pm
The atheist bus ads were offensive, but these are perfectly fine.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: myusername on April 12, 2012, 02:30:08 pm
According to the link, now they've been pulled thanks to the Mayor.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/anti-gay-adverts-boris-johnson

Quote from: The Guardian
Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor, has pulled an "offensive" Christian campaign advertising "gay conversion" which was due to appear on London's buses next week.

[...]The mayor immediately put the wheels in motion to halt the campaign after being alerted to the plans by the Guardian, and made clear that such advertising had no place in a tolerant city.

A clearly angered Johnson said: "London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses."

Go BoJo.

EDIT:

Quote
The ASA said the advert "does not infringe any advertising rules in the UK".

Surely making a false theraputic claim breaches our ad laws? Or it is just because it's religious nonsense?
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: DrFishcake on April 12, 2012, 02:53:36 pm
Boris Johnson has an election coming up 3 weeks from today. That's all you need to know.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Witchyjoshy on April 12, 2012, 02:57:52 pm
Boris Johnson has an election coming up 3 weeks from today. That's all you need to know.

Ulterior motive or not, it was still a good thing.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: TheL on April 12, 2012, 06:13:05 pm
if there was evidence that someones sexuality could be changed id actually be ok with people getting the procedures if thats what they wanted. what i dont care for is them peddling lies that damage people who dont like that their gay.  and i especially dont care for people who wish to pressure other people into trying to change themselves.

I agree.  Also, hi Hagan! :) *waves*

"Reparative therapy" should not even be legal, even for people who "want" it.

She said IF there were evidence.  The evidence shows that ex-gay therapy doesn't work, so I doubt she's for it as things stand.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: shykid on April 12, 2012, 07:53:05 pm
I apologize. I just saw red after reading that story. I'm sorry.

"Ex-gay" nonsense is a berserk button for me for personal reasons. I have an ex and an ex-friend who succumbed into it, and last I heard, they're even more fucked up now.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Witchyjoshy on April 12, 2012, 08:07:25 pm
I apologize. I just saw red after reading that story. I'm sorry.

"Ex-gay" nonsense is a berserk button for me for personal reasons. I have an ex and an ex-friend who succumbed into it, and last I heard, they're even more fucked up now.

It's a berserk button for me, too.

*offers hugs*
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: largeham on April 12, 2012, 08:27:58 pm
Go BoJo.

Never. Absolutely not.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Sylvana on April 13, 2012, 02:20:02 am
Quote from: The Guardian
Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor, has pulled an "offensive" Christian campaign advertising "gay conversion" which was due to appear on London's buses next week.

[...]The mayor immediately put the wheels in motion to halt the campaign after being alerted to the plans by the Guardian, and made clear that such advertising had no place in a tolerant city.

A clearly angered Johnson said: "London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses."

What bugs me about this is that he calls the adverts out on intolerance and not the fact that medically these processes do not work and have been proven time and again that they cause more damage to the patient than they went in with. I don't actually mind things like this existing, or having people go for therapy, if that is what they really want. However, such therapy must be perfectly safe, always help the patient in all manners, and actually work. That last point being the really important part. I doubt it will ever work, but I will keep and open mind. As it stands right now, these ex-gay therapies are peddlers of poisoned snake oil.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Vypernight on April 13, 2012, 05:18:40 am
I call B.S. anytime someone claims to be an "ex-gay," "ex-Satanist," "ex-witch," "ex-Stephan King fan," etc.  They'll say whatever pushes their narrow, holier-than-thou views.

Also, Reparative Therapy causes more deaths than Abortion.  Yet which one gets banned?
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Diamandahagan on April 13, 2012, 08:59:54 am
if there was evidence that someones sexuality could be changed id actually be ok with people getting the procedures if thats what they wanted. what i dont care for is them peddling lies that damage people who dont like that their gay.  and i especially dont care for people who wish to pressure other people into trying to change themselves.

I agree.  Also, hi Hagan! :) *waves*

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

"Reparative therapy" should not even be legal, even for people who "want" it.

She said IF there were evidence.  The evidence shows that ex-gay therapy doesn't work, so I doubt she's for it as things stand.

I HATE it. and would hate it if it worked. but I wouldnt stop anyone doing it IF it worked. it doesnt so im doubly against it. it just hurts the people involved.
Title: Re: "Ex-gay" vultures buy bus ad spaces
Post by: Osama bin Bambi on April 13, 2012, 06:27:49 pm
I'd be okay with the ex-gay programs if they weren't proven to cause psychological harm. It's not just useless, but actively dangerous.

I have the same views on other quackery as well. I think it's okay for a person to choose crystal healing or some other bullshit like that if they want to, because by itself it doesn't cause harm. If they were feeding themselves arsenic every day, well, that would cause harm and that is the reason why Laetrile is illegal in the USA.