Gay men sue consulars for not making them straight

[The Dharma Bum]

I dunno what to think of this. One the one hand, these "cure-the-gay" organizations are absolute fraudsters and the fact that they sell gay teenagers the lie that their sexual orientation is a disorder that can be "corrected" is outright vile.

On the other hand, this sort of cockamamie superstitious pseudo-"treatment" to me doesn't seem too different from going to the weird occult shop in town and buying some mysterious potion to make you and your estranged wife fall in love again.

Meaning, any reasonable person should know before soliciting those services that it isn't going to work and is just a show that you put on for yourself to act like something's going to change when really nothing is.

I struggle with it though, because it's a teenage kid dealing with a revelation about himself that he knows will cause turmoil within his family and social ostracization with his peers, so it's not hard to see why he went for it.


Final conclusion on my part: Mysticism and hocus pocus snake oil are nothing new, and generally when you buy into it, that's just chalked up as a loss. I find it vile on several levels to sell hocus pocus to a gay teenager afraid of the consequences of his sexuality, and I feel much more understanding to someone in that situation resorting to such mysticism than I do normally. That said, if one buys snake oil, they have to take it as a loss; should that be any different if the purchaser was feeling a great amount of emotional turmoil causing him to desperately believe that snake oil would solve his problems?

Probably not, really.

[Medius]

I think the real problem here is the insinuation that a cure exists at all. With similar situations, like the previously mentioned fortune teller, you will find disclaimers such as "for entertainment purposes only". That is, the claim to help someone see the future, knowing that seeing the future isn't possible and is only an activity to be undertaken for entertainment purposes.

One could say they would provide tools to outwardly appear a different orientation and provide coping mechanisms, but to assert that a cure exists is fraudulent and goes against modern scientific knowledge.

Perhaps seeing into the future is possible and perhaps religion can change genetics, however, unless under the shield of religious protection (non-business), they can be held liable for fraudulent claims.

[Dylan]

Pretty sure CA consumer protection complaints have the same elements of proof as common law fraud. Too lazy to look it up tho.

[Indy]

[WizardfromOz]

[Indy]

Exactly but that's their first mistake: treating this as an illness/defect.

[NAB]

Actually, I think Wiz is comparing homosexuality to mental illness!

*attempts to get some excitement going so I can moderate something today

[WizardfromOz]

[WizardfromOz]

[NAB]