There have been horror stories of right-wing “reparative” therapy targeting the LGBT community, the very thought of which sends a shiver down my spine. It’s completely abhorrent and contrary to being human. And while many of us were unaware of reparative therapy in general, the failed presidential campaign of Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) brought the issue to light, after if was revealed that her husband, Marcus Bachmann’s clinic was engaging that form of treatment at his Minnesota clinic.
That investigation was carried out by TruthWinsOut, an LGBT advocacy group, who went undercover and filmed the actual therapy sessions with one of Bachmann’s practitioners:
“The results of our investigation should end all doubt whether Marcus Bachmann’s clinic endorses and practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person’s sexual orientation,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “The facts plainly show that Bachmann’s clinic does try to cure gay people and he is being evasive when he claims otherwise.”
“It’s time for Michele and Marcus Bachmann to stop denying, dodging, and stonewalling,” added Truth Wins Out’s Communications and Development Director John Becker. “They owe it to all Americans to provide a full and honest explanation for their embrace of these dangerous and fraudulent practices.”
Now, a new investigation has surfaced from a young lesbian filmmaker, Kristina Lapinski, who also went undercover at Bachmann’s clinic to obtain footage for her new documentary, GAY U.S.A. the Movie. It appears not much has changed in Bachmann’s clinic, and in a blog post, Lapinski describes her session at the clinic:
“She asked if I believed in God, and I answered, ‘yes.’ She pulled out a bible, handed it to me and asked me to read a passage out loud. It was about love, and then she asked me to analyze it with her. We talked about love and commitment, and even though I have never been attracted to my fiancé, the commitment, she noted, was a form of love.
She told me to follow God’s road. ‘The Bible says one man one woman…two great halves come together….’ and then spoke to some extent about a woman’s duty to keep the man company…I found that oddly sexist.
“She talked a lot about submitting to God, giving my life path over to him and letting him direct the way. She told me if I wanted to be happy I could “give my problems to the Lord and he could take them away.”
We ended the session with a prayer and Sheila J. Marker asked the Lord to take away my ‘desire’ and allow me to pursue a relationship with my fiancé.”
This sort of destructive “therapy” should be outlawed. I can’t even imagine how damaging it is on a person’s psyche, not to mention the fact that it’s recognized as a detrimental course of therapy by almost every psychiatric association known to man:
Such therapy is considered ineffective and potentially harmful by The American Psychological Association, The American Medical Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and The American Psychiatric Association.
So, more power to Ms. Lapinksi, because the more light that is shed on this type of practice, the faster it can be abolished.
WATCH this promo for Lapinski’s film:
About Beth
I would offer an observation that perhaps Mr bachman would do far better to find an actual psychiatrist who could perhaps find out what deep surpressed inner urgings he is hiding.