HRC Blog

‘Dr. Oz’ Elevates Anti-LGBT Group While Discussing Reparative Therapy

November 28, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

Today’s episode of ‘Dr. Oz’ centered on the dangerous and roundly disproven practice of reparative therapy, and featured representatives from the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) advocating for the practice.

In a follow-up video after the show, NARTH’s Julie Hamilton praised Dr. Oz and elaborated about why, in NARTH’s opinion, reparative therapy was a legitimate option to help those struggling with “unwanted homosexual attraction.”

You can check out Hamilton’s remarks, and see more video about today’s episode, here.

In fact, reparative therapy can have extremely harmful effects on those who undergo it – both adults and children. The practice has been rebuked by the nation’s leading medical organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American School Counselor Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Earlier this year, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law banning reparative therapy for youth.

Just this morning, HRC joined Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) as she introduced the Stop Harming Our Kids (SHOK) resolution. SHOK expresses the sense of Congress that sexual orientation change efforts are dangerous and harmful and should be prohibited from being practiced on minors, and encourages each state to enact a law that prohibits such efforts.

Learn more about reparative therapy.