Of laotril and ex gays

[dsc]

I am old enough to remember people going to Mexico to get laotril in a desperate attempt to cure cancer. It was a sadly ineffective cure. Laotril itself didn't hurt anyone but by giving false hope, sometimes avoiding real hopes, it caused untold misery. Exgays are the laotril of our age. It is easy to be desperate when you are gay. It can be scary when you reach pubery and all of the sudden you face telling those close to you what they don't want to hear. Some become so desperate they are willing to try just about anything. That is what ex gays count on.

But on one level the ex gays are actually worse than the laotril salesmen of their day. No one accused the laotril sellers of causing cancer. They didn't write books extolling the virtue of cancer or trying to make cancer victims out to be child molesting perverts of the first order. Ex gays not only fleece people from getting real therapy which might help them become well adjusted gay people, but they also actively work hard to make gay people more miserable. They actually gin up their customers by spreading the cancer of anti gay bigotry. I almost miss the laotril salesmen.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. There will always be snake oil salesmen. Always. :^( And yes, this is worse because

people aren't accusatory of cancer victims, but they are very much so with gays.

[NYC_SKP]

2. As Rachel said, there is blood on their hands. nt

[RKP5637]

3. +1, n/t

[varelse]

4. I find the whole notion of equating homosexuality with a deadly disease highly offensive

It's not hope that makes the "ex-gay" movement horrible in my eyes - it's the toxic concept behind it.

[dsc]

5. If you can't understand an analogy I don't know what to say to you

[varelse]

8. I don't find your post offensive

I'm angered by the ex-gay movement because it is based on the premise that homosexuality is a disease.

[dsc]

14. no problem

sorry I didn't respond sooner was out of town.

[deadmessengers]

7. That wasn't the analogy DSC was making.

DSC wasn't comparing homosexuality with cancer. A closer comparison would be the invented pseudoscience of the Laetrile fraud of 30 years ago with the similar quackery of ex-gay "reparative therapy".

[varelse]

11. Aye, understood

I'm just furious that ANYONE in modern society is comparing a natural, non-pathological congenital human characteristic with a disease. My anger isn't directed at dsc, though. His post was very thoughtful. It's just so unfortunate from my POV that *anyone* is shilling for a cure for a non-existent disease, and I never get past that point before this happens: :nuke:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. never mind. i saw the explanation

[The Doctor.]

6. The term "Ex-Gay" should always be used in quotes. eom

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. those who inflict their miserable internalized homophobia on others

are in many ways laughable. sadly, they do spread a lot of pain around. however, the one consolation i have, is that no matter how homophobic a society they try to create for me, i will never ever be as miserable about who i am, as they are about themselves.

[varelse]

12. K&R

:kick:

[jesus_of_suburbia]

13. My parents still want me to be an ex-gay. I'm not kidding.

I'm intelligent enough to know better,

but it still hurts.