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| Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council |
Today, the Family Research Council bragged in its Washington Update about testimony given by spokesman Peter Sprigg in New Hampshire. The testimony in question had to do with a bill banning ex-gay therapy for children. Ex-gay therapy is controversial in that it is supposed to be able to change one's sexual orientation.. States, such as California, Oregon, and New Jersey have passed laws against the practice, citing critics who contend that it is actual harmful. But FRC and other religious right groups have pushed back with testimony at legislative hearings:
In New Hampshire, it's double-your-trouble with two bills meant to take away freedom under the mask of "tolerance." The first is a bill that bans sexual reorientation therapy for children under 18, robbing parents of a crucial choice to help their confused kids. As if that weren't bad enough, liberals are also trying to award special rights on the basis of gender identity -- including using the government to punish businesses that designate bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers for men only and women only. FRC's Peter Sprigg was on hand in the Granite State to testify before the legislature on both attacks on locals' liberty. As he explained, the attacks on reorientation therapy usually have nothing to do with their effectiveness and everything to do with politics. And, as Peter points out, there is abundant anecdotal evidence that such therapies work. . . . Even the increasingly liberal American Psychological Association admits that "participants reporting beneficial effects in some studies perceived changes to their sexuality, such as in their sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual behavior, [and/or] sexual orientation identity." (To read Peter's full testimony, click here.)
I read Sprigg's testimony and found a few problems with his sources and claims.
