Chad Felix Greene, a gay conservative journalist for The Federalist wrote a piece titled "If We Don't Ban Fortune Tellers, We Shouldn't Ban 'Gay Conversion Therapy'" in which he elaborates on his comparison. Greene writes:
"In the same way, any service promising an extraordinary and otherwise impossible life-changing result has the potential to induce severe and negative reactions in vulnerable people when they fail."
To further his point, Greene cited his own experience with conversion therapy as proof that it is not as bad as people claim it to be. He disagrees with the "language [of] LGBT advocates" and says that although he doesn't recommend the experience, his was "typical." Whatever that may mean, he does not explain.
Greene believes that the real answer is in education, not in lawmaking- he believes progressive laws that protected LGBTQ+ youth are now silencing any form of dissent. However, Greene is known for taking a much different slant to progressive stories. When he wrote about a teenager thrown out of the house for being gay, he titled the article "Why LGBT Teens Should Try To Work With Angry Parents Rather Than Running Away?" Greene's journalism proves to be a harmful addition to the voices already making it difficult for LGBTQ+ youth.
His arguments are flawed and based on a personal experience while claiming it is universal. At its roots, conversion therapy is nothing like fortune telling because (unlike fortune telling), conversion therapy is a health intervention from a licensed health professional or spiritual healer that is condemned by the medical community for being "ineffective and harmful." To further the point, even one of the proponents of conversion therapy, Robert Spitzer, apologized for promoting the idea and called it,
"A serious threat to the health and well-being – even the lives – of affected people." Greene's contrarian views and desire to rock the boat is fun and games for clicks but ultimately harmful to an LGBTQ+ audience.
h/t: lgbtqnation.com, thefederalist.com
Chad Felix Greene is a sad
Chad Felix Greene is a sad self-hating gay man who aligns himself with the racist, sexist self-loathing fantasy he's invested himself in. He's wedded to the party of bigoted conservative traitors who actively are destroying this country, and no fact will budge him from his brainwashed cult.
Although his arguments are
Although his arguments are indeed flawed, he does raise some good counter-points that we should consider so we can effectively rebut them. For example, Mr. Greene's primary analogy is the biggest flaw in his argument. Even though it may sound reasonable on the surface, the comparison between conversion therapy and fortune telling is inaccurate. You see, almost every fortune telling/psychic organization prefaces their predictions with the phrase "for entertainment purposes only." This gets them out of a legal bind should their predictions fail. Conversion therapy organizations do not say this. Rather, they promise a healthier, happier, and holier life by leaving the "gay lifestyle," something that almost never happens. At least psyching predictions have a 50/50 chance of occurring.