I’m looking to have the New Jersey Conversion Therapy Law amended.
The words “Gender Identity” and “Gender Expression” should be omitted from the statute.
Two years ago my son at age 19 tells me he is really my daughter. He expected me to welcome this news with open arms and celebrate his “coming out” just like you see on TV. I expressed my sincere sorrow for the discomfort and confusion he has been experiencing. Knowing that he was uncomfortable in his body was a red flag. His brain was not in sync with his body.
I was committed to getting him help. He assumed that helping him meant accepting him as my daughter. That was not the kind of help I was thinking of. My son advised me that accepting his natural body was NOT an option for him since conversion therapy was illegal in New Jersey (from what he was told).
He was adamant about changing his sex. As we went from one therapist to another I found they were all being trained by WPATH, a self identifying organization. My sons options for receiving a fair psychological diagnosis was not obtainable. I was terrified for his health, future and safety. I read and watched videos about how his body would be transformed and it made me sick.
My son never showed any signs of gender dysphoria as a child so where was this thought coming from.
My son started seeing a college campus therapist. He signed a disclosure that allowed me to speak to his therapist. My son became obsessed with this new identity. He would not entertain anyone’s opinion that did not agree with his. I asked the college therapist to help my son address his underlying issues and help him accept his body. The first words out of her mouth was “conversion therapy is illegal in New Jersey”. I was not asking her to change my son’s sexual orientation. I was looking to help my son avoid hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery.
I started my research on the conversion therapy law as soon as I left the therapist’s office. I found that conversion therapy for minors was banned and signed into law on August 19, 2013, but how did this apply to my son who was 19?.
Not only was the attempt to change someones sexual orientation illegal, it was also illegal to change someones gender identity and gender expression. How did this language manage to be slipped into this law? Someone was sleeping at the wheel. Did the sponsors of the law understand what this meant? Did Governor Christie understand the impact this would have on our children who are suffering from gender dysphoria? Our children have NO OPTIONS!
The sponsors of this law obviously were NOT EDUCATED or are PRO the sterilization and body mutilation of our children.
Girls and young women are being prescribed testosterone and having mastectomies. Boys and young men are prescribed estrogen, they grow breast and have their penis inverted into a surgical wound to represent a vagina. These procedures are cruel and barbaric.
Sexual orientation does not involve life long medical use and surgeries.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same and should not fall under the same umbrella.
We would serve our children better by providing them with a proper mental evaluation as to why they have an anxiety in their real bodies.
Accepting your body is not conversion therapy. Talking through your feelings is not conversion therapy.
The approach that someone is born in the wrong body needs to stop. I do not want children to be led down the path of transition. Children cannot possibly understand the impact of transitioning and taking harmful medications. Parents have a right to choose what options are best for their children. New Jersey is allowing children and young adults to become life long medical patients by not providing us with options.
It may be too late to help my son but it’s not too late to help other children.
I demand New Jersey revoke the words gender identity and gender expression from this statue and provide our children with an ethical way to treat gender dysphoria.
Please consider the CALL TO ACTION. Our elected officials need to hear from us.
Thank you,
New Jersey Mama