Apparently working under the impression that they understand the science of sexuality better than the World Health Organization  or the American Medical  or Psychological or Psychiatric associations, Texas Republicans made a bold statement last weekend. With zero debate, they adopted a party platform that includes support for a widely discredited form of mental health "treatment" known as "reparative therapy." Also called "conversion therapy," this dangerous pseudo-medical practice aimed at transforming homosexuals into heterosexuals has been widely demonstrated to be both ineffective and harmful, not to mention offensive. The clearly misguided assumption underlying such therapy is the belief (often reinforced by self-serving interpretations of any number of religious texts) that homosexuality is a disease. However, much like drapetomania (the pseudo-scientific "disease" an enterprising white man conveniently identified in the mid-19th century was described as the condition that led black slaves to attempt escape), homosexuality is in fact not an illness, but rather a fact of human nature. And rejecting human nature can have devastating effects on the psyche, demonstrating that if there is a real disease that needs fixing here, it's homophobia, not homosexuality.
@highlight
Texas GOP endorsed "reparative therapy" to convert gays to straight orientation
@highlight
Melody Moezzi says such therapy isn't recognized by legitimate science
@highlight
She says two states have banned the therapy for minors
@highlight
Moezzi: Young Republicans are going to be repelled by such decisions
By explicitly supporting such pseudo-therapy, the @placeholder has done more than simply turn a blind eye to science and the potentially deadly consequences of the negative attitudes and self-hatred that such "treatments" reinforce.