NJ Gov bans Gay Conversion

[LadyTevar]

Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a law on Monday barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, the latest example of the potential 2016 presidential candidate steering a moderate course.

The governor said the health risks of trying to change a child's sexual orientation, as identified by the American Psychological Association, trump concerns over the government setting limits on parental choice. "Government should tread carefully into this area," he said in the signing note, "and I do so here reluctantly."

The decision marked the third time this month that Christie has staked out a moderate position on a hot-button social issue as he seeks a second term in a Democratic-leaning state. It also offers more evidence that the popular governor is positioning himself as a pragmatist who shuns more conservative elements within his party.

Christie found middle ground on medical marijuana for children when he agreed Friday to allow growers to cultivate additional strains, and for marijuana to be made in an edible form for chronically ill children. But he would not lift an oversight provision that could require as many as three doctors to sign off on a prescription.

Last week, Christie vetoed a bill banning .50-caliber rifles that was vigorously opposed by firearms rights advocates and gutted a proposed overhaul of the state's gun permit law that relied on undeveloped technology. Recently, he signed 10 less-significant gun measures the Democrat-led Legislature passed after last year's deadly school shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn.

The decisions allow Christie to quiet some of the criticism he could face from conservatives by offering specific reasons why he was taking the steps, often citing compassion for the needs of children and families.

His approval of the conversion therapy ban could be met with criticism in Christian conservative circles with influence in early voting states like Iowa and South Carolina.

Conversion therapy gained attention two years ago when former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was questioned over whether her husband's Christian counseling business provided services that attempted to change gays and lesbians. Bachmann's husband, Marcus, denied involvement in the therapy and the congresswoman dropped out of the presidential campaign in January 2012 after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.

In signing the ban, Christie reiterated his belief that people are born gay and homosexuality is not a sin, a position he first stated in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan. That view is inconsistent with his Catholic faith, which teaches that homosexual acts are sins.

Christie said on "issues of medical treatment for children we must look to experts in the field to determine the relative risks and rewards," citing a litany of potential ill effects of trying to change sexual orientation, including depression, drug abuse and suicide.

"I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate," he said.

Christie, however, has not moderated his position on gay marriage, which he vetoed and continues to oppose. As a result, gay rights activists applauded Monday's bill signing but pushed for more.

"It is our truest hope that the governor will realize, as the majority of the legislature and a super-majority of the public have realized, that the best way to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth are protected from the abuse of being ostracized is to provide them with equality," Troy Stevenson, executive director of the state's largest gay rights group, Garden State Equality, said in a statement.

Christie has said he supports the state's civil union law, which was enacted to give gay couples the benefits of marriage but not the title. Several couples have since sued, claiming the law provides them unequal treatment. A court decision is expected next month.

Gay rights groups say conversion therapy damages young people, because it tells them that it's not acceptable to be whoever they are.

Some social conservatives framed the debate as a parental rights issue, saying a ban on the counseling would limit the ability of parents to do what they think is best for their children.

Conversion therapy has increasingly drawn criticism for its methods. Last year, four gay men sued a Jersey City group for fraud, saying its program included making them strip naked and attack effigies of their mothers with baseball bats.

California has also banned it.

[General Mung Beans]

Great news. I hope this and the medical marijuana bill doesn't hurt Christie in the primaries tho'...

[Lord Relvenous]

Christie continues to impress me. He seems to actually be human.

[Simon_Jester]

I don't think it's just that he's 'human;' my feeling is that he has an attitude of "whatever works, get it done so we can move forward" on social issues. I think that's very healthy, and all too rare these days.

[Borgholio]

I recall when he praised Obama for helping New Jersey after that storm hit. Republicans reacted as if they had been shot. Christie basically just said, "Fuck you guys, I don't care if you think the president is a communist. He helped out the people of my state and I thanked him for it."

I also recall people saying he helped win Obama's second term with that statement.

[Imperial Overlord]

Christie's a Republican governor in a fairly blue state. He would have crippled himself politically if he hadn't cooperated with Obama over federal aid after his state was hammered with a hurricane. The hard core Republicans won't forgive him for that, but that also means that Christie doesn't have to worry about pleasing them since the Tea Party line isn't going to win elections in New Jersey.

[Dalton]

He'll lose the hard-right vote (who'd want them anyway) but he's likely to make them up and more in independent and Democrat voters. If this is a setup for a 2016 run, he's doing things right.

[energiewende]

Romney also passed Democrat-friendly proposals as a Republican Governor of a Democrat state. He was still painted as a right-wing lunatic.

I think the only way Republicans can win is by simply being much better than a Democrat opponent. There's no possible positioning that works on its own; you have to be more trustworthy, more likable, more intelligent. But the opposite tends to be the case.

[Dr Roberts]

Yeah but Romney went full republican as part of his presidential campaign.

[Mr. Coffee]

Yeah but Romney went full retard as part of his presidential campaign.

Fixed to reflect reality.

[CarsonPalmer]

This is good stuff, but I still can't fucking stand the man. He's a bully who intentionally deceived the police and fire unions in order to drive a wedge between them and the teachers, he's painted New Jersey schools as a disaster when they're actually really good, and although he's accepted the Hurricane Sandy aid, most of it and most of his energy has been directed to the tourist towns, which are going to come back anyway, and very little energy has been given to more northern areas like the Bayshore, which are poorer and more working-class and needed the help badly.

I'm happy for this, but fuck Chris Christie in every other way. He might be good on social issues, but he's only in it for upper middle-class to wealthy people, and he'd be perfectly pleased to leave the cities, the public workers, and the working class to rot.

[Tanasinn]

I don't think Romney really has any strongly-held political beliefs at all beyond 'more money for me and my magic underpants family.' He blows whichever way works for him.

he's only in it for upper middle-class to wealthy people, and he'd be perfectly pleased to leave the cities, the public workers, and the working class to rot.

This is true of pretty much every American politician, so at least Christie won't be lonely.

[Simon_Jester]

We're still waiting for the next wave of actual American populism, in my opinion; until that happens, I'll take a man pragmatic enough to govern over one who isn't.

[CarsonPalmer]

We're still waiting for the next wave of actual American populism, in my opinion; until that happens, I'll take a man pragmatic enough to govern over one who isn't.

That's great, but what exactly has the man done? He hasn't raised taxes (although he has reduced most tax credits and housing assistance in New Jersey), he's delivered a balanced budget (but left most municipalities running a deficit because he did it by slicing state aid), and...busted unions by ending collective bargaining on health insurance?

Its easy to say "until that happens" when you aren't a teacher, a fireman, in a city in New Jersey, on the Bayshore, or pretty much anyone who doesn't live in a McMansion in a Jersey exurb. Because Christie is actively or passively making their lives worse right now.

[Napoleon the Clown]

We can at least be happy that there's a Republican that isn't pure evil.