Gays disrupt hearings in Brazilian Congress on psychological treatment for homosexuality
by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
BRASILIA, BRAZIL, June 29, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) — Homosexual activists
disrupted a hearing on Thursday in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies on proposed
legislation to permit psychologists to treat homosexuals who wish to change
their orientation, an activity currently prohibited by the country’s Federal
Council of Psychology (CFP).
The bill, known as Legislative Decree
234/11 and derided by Brazil’s leftist media as the “gay cure” bill, would also
overturn a CFP regulation that prohibits psychologists from publicly speaking
of homosexual orientation in a negative way.
Homosexual protesters began to interrupt
the hearing when psychologist Marisa Lobo spoke to defend the rights of
homosexuals to receive treatment for their condition, calling her “homophobic,”
“fundamentalist,” and “blabbermouth.”
 |
| Psychologist Marisa Lobo spoke out for patients' rights. |
Lobo noted that the CFP’s prohibition of
reparative therapy for homosexuals “injure the autonomy of the patient, because
it prohibits treatment for homosexuals,” and that as a psychologist, she must
“listen to that psychological suffering” when homosexuals wish to change their
orientation.
The homosexuals in the audience
continued their interruptions, and were ultimately expelled from the chamber
when they began to read aloud a statement by the CFP repudiating the hearings.
Christian supporters of the bill remained, however, cheering on the author of
the legislation, Federal Deputy João Campos, a leader of the National
Congress’s Evangelical caucus.
Lobo was also attacked by Deputy Jean
Wyllys, the leader of the Mixed Parliamentary Front for LGBT Citizens, who said
he felt “uncomfortable” because of Lobo’s statements, according to the Diario
do Grande ABC newspaper.
“I didn’t offend the deputy,” Lobo
responded. “It is he who tried to diminish me, trying to say that my positions
can’t be considered, just because I am religious.”
The CFP itself refused to participate in
the hearings, claiming that the issue is scientifically settled and that the roster
of those called to testify was stacked against it. The organization has
historically taken an ideologically affirmative position towards homosexuality,
declaring in 1999 that “homosexuality does not constitute an illness, nor a
disturbance, nor a perversion,” and claiming that those who disagree are guilty
of “prejudice.”
The CFP’s decision to boycott the
hearings followed a letter written to the organization by Toni Reis, president
of the Brazilian Association for Gays, Lesbians, and Transsexuals, “suggesting”
that the “Federal Council of Psychology not present itself in said Public
Hearing, because of the understanding that it is an affront to science, human
dignity, human rights, secular government and the autonomy of the Federal
Council of Psychology.”
The letter, a copy of which has been
obtained by LifeSiteNews, also asks the CFP to “pronounce officially in an
emphatic and decisive way against this hearing and against this initiative, for
violating human rights.”
Brazil’s Federal Council of Psychology,
unlike other psychology associations such as the American Psychology
Association (APA), has the power to deprive a therapist of his right to
practice if its rules are violated.
The CFP used its powers to censure
psychologist Rozangela Justino in 2009 for conducting reparative therapy for
homosexual clients who wished it, and ordered its Rio de Janeiro division to
enforce the ruling prohibiting the treatment.
Recent studies indicate that some
homosexuals can learn to resist their homosexual urges and even develop
opposite-sex attraction through therapy. The American Psychological Association
claims the existing evidence is not sufficient to determine the efficacy of
such therapy, although it admits that among those who have received it,
“some individuals modified their sexual orientation identity (i.e., group
membership and affiliation), behavior, and values (Nicolosi, Byrd, & Potts,
2000).”
The World Health Organization continues
to recognize the category of “Egodystonic
homosexuality” for those who suffer from unwanted same-sex attraction, and
also recognizes the use of therapy in such cases.
It also recognizes “sexual relationship
disorder,” in which sexual orientation interferes with existing relationships.
Transvestitism and transsexualism are also acknowledged as mental disorders by
the organization.
Source: LifesSiteNews,
via Julio Severo in English: www.lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com
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