As if we haven’t had enough of the Family Research Council’s bigotry, they’re at it again in a new essay horrifically connecting actor Robin Williams’ history of overcoming alcohol and substance abuse through rehabilitation to the need for “sexuality reorientation,” or, you know, that “conversion therapy” shit we know doesn’t work, never did, and only harms queer people?
Fuuuuuuck this shit, where the Family Research Council drags up all of Williams’ history of drug and alcohol abuse in order to make some absurd kind of claim that rehab is totes the same as “reorientation.” They sure as hell looooove to discuss his addiction, and his struggles, and his suicide, but they conveniently leave out talking about the fact that Williams struggled with bipolar disorder and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s just before his death. Like that has nothing to do with either his history of addiction or his suicide? It doesn’t fit their narrative of comparing completely reasonable rehabilitation practices to a profession-wide view that conversion therapy is shit:
In light of this history, I have only one question for socially liberal political activists — why aren’t you trying to outlaw rehab?
I ask the question because such activists are trying to ban a form of mental health treatment — not drug and alcohol rehabilitation, but “sexual orientation change efforts” (“SOCE”), also known as “sexual reorientation therapy.” Such therapy involves assisting people with unwanted same-sex attractions to overcome them.
Gee, FRC, I don’t know, maybe because everyone who matters in the medical and mental healthcare communities thinks it’s harmful. As I wrote back at the beginning of June:
This type of “therapy” (and make no mistake, it is absolutely nothing of the sort) has been debunked across the mental healthcare and medical community. It has been found to have zero therapeutic benefits, and in fact, causes substantial harm when employed, by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization and the National Association of Social Workers. The APA went even further and issued a report clearly stating that is there is absolutely no evidence to suggest sexual orientation is mutable, and indeed much evidence to the contrary. California and New Jersey have banned the practice for minors, although they have not yet banned it for adults (despite some calls for doing so).
So, no, we’re not trying to ban a form of “mental health treatment,” you hate-filled liars, we’re trying to ban mental and physical torture of human beings in pain not because of their completely valid and natural sexual orientation, but because assholes like you exist to hurt them. Just like you’re hurting the Williams’ family with your bullshittery:
If we were to apply the same standards to drug and alcohol rehabilitation that the homosexual activists want to apply to reorientation therapy, why not ban rehab? After all, since some people go to rehab and still suffer relapses afterwards, rehab is clearly “ineffective.” Robin Williams actually went to rehab, and shortly thereafter took his own life. Does that not clearly indicate that rehab is not only ineffective, but downright harmful?
We wouldn’t, because you’re a religion based ideological lobbying group with a track record for holding bullshit opinions, and the doctors, psychologists, and social workers say you’re wrong and you’re hurting people.
Using the mental healthcare and addiction struggles of a person like Williams for your own twisted agenda is deeply sickening, especially when you leave out really important details to support that twisted agenda.
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