The
Magnus Hirschfeld Center for Human Rights
Crosswicks
House
Post Office Box 1974
Bloomfield, New
Jersey USA 07003-1974
(862)
823-1767
E-Mail:
humanrights@post.com
Internet: www.come.to/humanrights
William
A. Courson, FLLA
Executive Director
Very Urgent via
Facsimile: (615)
741-2009
July 19,
2005
Hon. Paul G.
Summers
Office of the
Attorney General
State of Tennessee
Post Office Box
20207
Nashville, Tennessee
37202-0207
RE: Matter of “Zach
Stark”
(a)
Criminal child
abuse (involuntary incarceration of juvenile in private unlicensed
“rehabilitative” facility);
(b) Unlicensed
practice of medicine & clinical psychology;
(c)
Consumer fraud
statute violation
Dear Attorney
General Summers:
As you may be aware
through widely disseminated reports in the media, a 16 year old minor child named
Zach Stark residing in Bartlett, Tennessee, has
since June 4th, 2005, been incarcerated involuntarily at an
unlicensed facility claiming to be a rehabilitative center and known as LIAR
(Love in Action Refuge). The
location of this person’s place of incarceration is unknown, but the
organization responsible maintains a post office box located in Nashville,
Tennessee, and it appears that a portion of said organization’s program may take
place on the premises of the Germantown Baptist Church, in Germantown,
Tennessee; hence appearing to be located within your office’s
jurisdiction.
Mr.
Stark’s incarceration took place at the behest of his parents and in the wake of
his revelation to them that he is homosexual. As will become clear anon, LIAR claims
that by subjecting its inmates and participants to a program of forced
“counseling” it effectuates a change in such persons’ sexual orientations from
homosexual to heterosexual (inter alia).
It is in order to effectuate such a change that Zach was placed by his
parents in LIAR’s custody.
The
intention of this correspondence is to call your attention to a number of contraventions of Tennessee and United
States law that may be, and in this writer’s view likely are, given rise to by
the foregoing circumstances.
Please
allow me to deal with each of the above-captioned matters in
order.
(a) Criminal child
abuse
According
to Tennessee statutes (Sections 39-15-401 of the Tennessee Code, et seq.) child
abuse occurs
when a child is mistreated, resulting in injury or risk of harm. Abuse can be
physical, verbal, emotional or sexual.
The law defines such abuse to include:
1.
Physical Abuse, which is defined as
non-accidental physical trauma or injury inflicted by a parent or caretaker on a
child. It also includes a parent's or a caretaker's failure to protect a child
from another person who perpetrated physical abuse on a child likely to cause
bodily harm; and,
2.
Emotional Abuse which is defined to
include verbal assaults, ignoring and indifference, or family conflict resulting
in degradation of the child.
From elaboration of the
LIAR organization’s structure, function, goals and rules for the conduct of its
subjects, contained both on the organization’s internet websites and reported in
the media, it appears that – at a minimum – emotional abuse as defined in
Tennessee statutes constitutes the core of its “program” of enforcing change in
sexual orientation.
This is in no way to
suggest or imply that violations of the law in the form of physical abuse have
not also occurred, for, as is made painfully clear in the following quote from
the Reverend John J. Smid, LIAR’s executive director, neither the physical
security nor the psychological integrity of its subjects are of central
concern: "I would rather you
commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay
lifestyle. In a physical death you could still have a spiritual resurrection;
whereas, returning to homosexuality you are yielding yourself to a spiritual
death from which there is no recovery."
If the foregoing statement
from LIAR’s chief executive officer is not sufficient to trigger such grave
concern on the part of Tennessee’s public authorities as to result in an
immediate and thorough investigation of this organization, and if necessary its
immediate closure as a threat to public health and the welfare of children, then
I must question what precisely the words of your state’s child protective
legislation are intended to mean, and whether it is the intention of Tennessee’s
public authorities to enforce the law in a meaningful, rational and equitable
manner. Additionally, I must
question whether the egregiousness of this situation would not merit simply
criminal investigation of the LIAR organization and its principals, but of the
parents of Zach Stark as well, with
a view toward the termination of parental rights given the willful and knowing
abandonment of their child to the “care” of Reverend Smid and his
colleagues.
(b)
Unlicensed
practice of medicine & clinical psychology; Maintenance of an unlicensed
“rehabilitative” facility
The Tennessee Department of Health Board of Medical Examiners
and Board of Examiners in Psychology controls, respectively, the licensure of
physicians and psychologists in Tennessee under the provisions of Sections 63-1 and 63-11 of the Tennessee
Code. Similar legislation addresses
the licensure of professional counselors and of psychotherapeutic treatment
centers. Early in June, 2005, the
Tennessee Department of Health addressed a letter to LIAR stating its concern
that the latter may have been operating such a center without a license,
specifically in connection with its substance addiction treatment programs. In response to that letter, Reverend
Smid, who insisted that LIAR’s program is a spiritual, and not a
counseling, center, purportedly agreed
to remove references to “therapy” from its Web site. As of today, July 17th, the
following continue to appear:
“Refuge is a daughter program created out of Love In Action
International, an addictions treatment center. Love In Action
International was started in 1973
by Frank Worthen, a lay minister. Love In Action
International empowers men,
women, youth, families, and loved ones to systematically face the powers of
addiction and all its inherent implications.
With close to 30 years of
research and experience, Love In Action
International has gained
worldwide recognition as a leading authority on healing from sexual brokenness.
It is used as a referral by ministries such as Focus
on the Family and The 700 Club. They are also a member of the referral listing of Exodus
North America.
Under the direction of Rev. John J. Smid,
Love In Action
International has developed the
reputation as a forerunner in residential recovery ministry.
There
is no such creation as a "gay" or "homosexual" person. There is only
homosexual attraction and behavior; accordingly, there can be no change from a
sexual identity that never existed in the first place.
Reverend Smid,
citing the program's confidentiality rules, has forbidden teenage participants
in Refuge to speak with anyone the program does not approve of, including
representatives of the media. Requests made through Mr. Smid to interview Mr.
Stark's parents were reportedly declined.
Consequently, Reverend Smid and LIAR are in complete control of any
information emerging from their venue apart from former disaffected participants
in their programs and information obtained by force of law from governmental
authorities. Insofar as LIAR is not
a licensed facility, apart from initiating an investigation sua sponte, no
governmental oversight of LIAR’s actions exists. The central question – that
LIAR has taken pains to prevent affected third parties currently involved in their programs from
answering - seems to be whether LIAR is simply a "Christ-centered
ministry" that does nothing more than offer a Christian alternative, or a
"treatment center" that is offering services to extremely vulnerable people by
unprofessional practitioners in an unlicensed, unaccountable environment? Former participants from the program,
who have been widely quoted in the media, uniformly affirm the
latter.
The mere fact
that LIAR has amended some of the language contained in its website does not
alter the substance of its work and that of its personnel, and ought not exempt
it from compliance with Tennessee licensure laws.
Since no major mental
health organization views homosexuality as a mental illness or disorder of any
fashion, any licensed practitioner who approaches a homosexual person with bias,
and/or offering "treatment" to alter their sexual orientation, may lose their
license permanently – or risk censure by professional organizations - for being
in violation of professional ethics. That said, it appears that LIAR really has
no choice to become a licensed facility, simply because their model of therapy
does not follow the ethical and scientific standards that are required to
acquire such licensing,
In this last connection, I
note that LIAR appears to have one Tennessee licensed counselor on its staff,
but it appears that this individual (Mr. Daniel Cosby) may be licensed only for
the practice of substance addictions counseling. If Mr. Cosby is involved in LIAR’s “reparative therapy”
program, he is functioning outside of his licensed parameters of practice and –
even were he to be so licensed – is practicing an unlawful, unscientific and
proactively harmful process under the guise of “therapy.” My concern with Mr. Cosby’s role in
LIAR’s reparative “therapy” program for homosexual people is given rise to by
his having commented on this program publicly in the media.
Finally, some of
the “rules” applied to subjects of LIAR’s program force one to conclude that it
maintains an environment of authority and control far closer to a faux
psychotherapeutic facility than it does to a religious ministry.
Internet postings indicate that program rules
given to parents that aren't supposed to be seen by patients. There are several
ridiculous provisions forbidding the wearing of any clothing from Abercrombie
& Fitch and of dining at places like TGI Fridays (because there is a bar
attached to the restaurant) but coupled with other measures evoke an environment
of brain-washing and mind-control.
Program rules of greatest concern to this writer, however, are the clear double standards employed in “encouraging honesty, self-examination and reflection” in patients when – and only when – those processes lead to a denigration and repudiation of homosexuality. The fact is that this extremely negative view of homosexuality held by LIAR contributes to the very “brokenness, abandonment, and rejection” felt by the people they claim to offer treatment and counseling (or to use their present parlance, "prevention and remediation"). The heart of the matter is that I am concerned that such views endanger the well-being of gay, and lesbian youth on a daily basis who may already face prejudice, and hatred, often resulting in emotional and physical abuse. I call to your attention, again, Reverend Smid’s amazing words:
"I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave
Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle. In a physical death you
could still have a spiritual resurrection; whereas, returning to homosexuality
you are yielding yourself to a spiritual death from which there is no
recovery."
According to former subjects of
LIAR, selected rules provide that participants study the Bible,
meet continuously with counselors and keep a "moral inventory," a journal in
which they detail their struggle with same-sex temptation over the years, which
they read at emotionally raw group meetings, although they are otherwise
prohibited from keeping a journal. Because teenagers, unlike adult clients,
return home at night parents are asked to help keep them away from television
and internet connections.
Because Zach Stark has not
updated his internet web log since around June 4th, there is
widespread concern for his well-bring, particularly his psychological
state.
(c) Consumer
fraud statute violation
Tennessee’s
Consumer Protection Act of 1977 (as amended) is contained in Section 47-18-101
et seq. of the Tennessee Code.
Subsection 104 defines unfair and deceptive acts under the statute as
including:
(5)
Representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics,
ingredients, uses, benefits or quantities that they do not have or that a person
has a sponsorship approval, status, affiliation or connection that such person
does not have;
(13) Representing that a service, replacement or repair is
needed when it is not;
(27) Engaging in any other act or practice
which is deceptive to the consumer or to any other person.
LIAR (Love in Action
Refuge) offers services to the public that, inter alia, purport to cure
addictive disorders, sexual addiction and other forms of “pathological”
misconduct, and more particularly in the instant matter, to “cure,” “prevent”
and “remediate” homosexuality. In
respect to the last named of these, two programs are available to consumers:
a two-week program costing $1,500.00 and a
six-week commitment sold for $4,000.00.
Suggesting to
potential clients that homosexuality is a disease in need of cure (which is
LIAR’s premise, as opposed to stating in a religious context that “homosexuality
is a sin in need of repudiation” although it should be noted that that claim as
well is made in LIAR’s promotional materials), and subject to “reparative
therapy” and to “remediation and prevention” is deceptive under the provisions
of (13) and (27) above, and implying that such efforts fall under the aegis of
scientific treatment or therapy is in violation of (5) above, insofar as each
and every major professional and scientific organization in the United States
has formally and for many years expressly denied that homosexuality is in any
fashion a mental disorder, disease, dysfunction, abnormality or pathological
syndrome or process of any kind, much less a condition that merits
treatment. To continue to permit
LIAR and kindred organizations to foist upon a vulnerable (and often, woefully
misinformed) public a notion to the contrary, and to derive pecuniary advantages
therefrom is tantamount to supporting quackery of the most reprehensible
kind. It is noteworthy that
of the two individuals who appear to be on LIAR’s staff bearing the title
“counselor” one (apart from Mr. Cosby mentioned above) is not a licensed
counselor but does claim membership in an American Association of Christian
Counsellors and NARTH: the National Association for Reparative Therapy of
Homosexuality. NARTH’s activities
in attempting to change the sexcual orientations of homosexual individuals has
been condemned by every major mainstream professional behavioral sciences
organization in the country. The
risks attendant to such “therapy” are seemingly embraced in LIAR’s broadly
drafted “Waiver of Liability” clause requiring signature before participation in
its program(s), thus:
LIAR Enrollment
Agreement
Section
12”
I am aware that this program is not a
substitute for psychiatric treatment, psychotherapy, or professional therapeutic
counseling. I am voluntarily participating in the activities of Refuge with
full knowledge of the facts stated herein, and I hereby agree to accept
complete responsibility for my own psychological, mental, and emotional
well-being, as well as any and all risks attendant
thereto.
As consideration for being permitted by
Refuge, or one of its affiliated organizations, to participate in their
activities, I hereby agree that I, my heirs, assigns, guardians, administrators,
executors, legal representatives, and the like will not make any claim
against, sue, or seek to attach the property of Refuge, or any of its affiliated
organizations, as a result of these activities or the negligence, or other acts,
of any nature whatsoever, however caused, by any employee, agent, officer,
director, participant, or any other person or entity that might be claimed to be
liable to me as a result of my participation in this
program.
I, on behalf of myself, heirs, assigns,
guardians, administrators, executors, legal representatives, and the like,
hereby release Refuge and any of its affiliated organizations from all
actions, claims, or demands that I, my heirs, assigns, guardians,
administrators, executors, legal representatives, and the like now have, or may
hereafter have, for any injury (physical, emotional, or mental) or damage
resulting from my participation in the Refuge program.I will work toward an
acceptance of the rules of Refuge and consideration of my participation in the
services offered. I will do my best to follow the policies and regulations of
the Refuge program. I agree to release Refuge in consideration for these
services from all claims or demands, whatsoever, in law or in equity, which
I, my heirs, assigns, guardians, administrators, executors, legal
representatives, and the like can, shall, or may have. acknowledge that I have read the Release
of Liability (Part 12) and fully understand its contents. I am aware that this
is a release of liability and a contract between myself and Refuge and/or its
affiliated organizations and sign it of my own free will.
Indeed, all of the
professional organizations referred to hereinabove have expressly renounced the
need for, safety of, and very concept of such “therapy” in graphic terms. I have
quoted here in their entirety two statements in this regard from the American
Psychiatric Association. These are
illustrative of statements issued by other organizations concerned, including
but not limited to the American Psychological Association, the National
Association of Social Workers and the American Academy of
Pediatrics.
(i) Position Statement of the
American Psychiatric Association (December, 1998)
In the past, defining
homosexuality as an illness buttressed society's moral opprobrium of same-sex
relationships. In the current social climate, claiming homosexuality is a
mental disorder stems from efforts to discredit the growing social acceptance of
homosexuality as a normal variant of human sexuality. Consequently, the
issue of changing sexual orientation has become highly politicized. The
integration of gays and lesbians into the mainstream of American society is
opposed by those who fear that such integration is morally wrong and harmful to
the social fabric. The political and moral debates surrounding this issue have
obscured the scientific data by calling into question the motives and even the
character of individuals on both sides of the issue. This document attempts to
shed some light on this heated issue.
The validity, efficacy and
ethics of clinical attempts to change an individual's sexual orientation have
been challenged. To date, there are no scientifically rigorous outcome
studies to determine either the actual efficacy or harm of "reparative"
treatments. There is sparse scientific data about selection criteria, risks
versus benefits of the treatment, and long-term outcomes of "reparative"
therapies. The literature consists of anecdotal reports of individuals who have
claimed to change, people who claim that attempts to change were harmful to
them, and others who claimed to have changed and then later recanted those
claims .
Although there is little
scientific data about the patients who have undergone these treatments, it is
still possible to evaluate the theories, which rationalize the conduct of
"reparative" and conversion therapies. Firstly, they are at odds with the
scientific position of the American Psychiatric Association which has
maintained, since 1973, that homosexuality per se, is not a mental disorder. The
theories of "reparative" therapists define homosexuality as either a
developmental arrest, a severe form of psychopathology, or some combination of
both (10-15). In recent years, noted practitioners of "reparative" therapy have
openly integrated older psychoanalytic theories that pathologies homosexuality
with traditional religious beliefs condemning
homosexuality.
The earliest scientific
criticisms of the early theories and religious beliefs informing "reparative" or
conversion therapies came primarily from sexology researchers. Later, criticisms
emerged from psychoanalytic sources as well (28-39). There has also been an
increasing body of religious thought arguing against traditional, biblical
interpretations that condemn homosexuality and which underlie religious types of
"reparative" therapy.
Recommendations:
(1.) APA affirms its 1973
position that homosexuality per se is not a diagnosable mental disorder.
Recent publicized efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it
can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric
research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil
rights for gay men and lesbians. APA recommends that the APA respond quickly
and appropriately as a scientific organization when claims that homosexuality is
a curable illness are made by political or religious
groups.
(2.) As a general principle,
a therapist should not determine the goal of treatment either coercively or
through subtle influence. Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or "repair"
homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is
questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of "cures" are counterbalanced by
anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, "reparative"
therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate
their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends
that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals'
sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no
harm.
(3.) The "reparative" therapy
literature uses theories that make it difficult to formulate scientific
selection criteria for their treatment modality. This literature not only
ignores the impact of social stigma in motivating efforts to cure homosexuality;
it is a literature that actively stigmatizes homosexuality as well. "Reparative"
therapy literature also tends to overstate the treatment's accomplishments while
neglecting any potential risks to patients. APA encourages and supports
research in the NIMH and the academic research community to further determines
"reparative" therapy's risks versus its benefits.
(ii) Position Statement of the
American Psychiatric Association (December, 1998)
The potential risks of
reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive
behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against
homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. Many
patients who have undergone reparative therapy relate that they were
inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never
achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might
achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or
lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing the effects
of societal stigmatization discussed. The APA recognizes that in the course of
ongoing psychiatric treatment there may be appropriate clinical indications for
attempting to change sexual behaviors.
Furthermore, in
demonstration of the inappropriate, deceptive and unethical character of such
“therapy” as is administered by LIAR and its staff (under whatever name or names
that form of treatment may be called), I quote (following) in extenso
from the Medical Post of
August
23, 2000 (Volume
36 Issue 28) in an article captioned 'Converting' homosexuals no longer approved therapy” by
Charles-Gene McDaniel:
“Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and doctors
should not try to change homosexuals into heterosexuals, the American Medical
Association says. Attendees at the AMA's annual House of Delegates meeting
adopted a resolution opposing "any psychiatric treatment, such as 'reparative'
or 'conversion' therapy, which is based on the assumption that homosexualityper
se is a mental disorder or based on the a priori assumption that the patient
should change his/her homosexual orientation." Certain fundamentalist religious
organizations and some psychoanalysts claim that sexual orientation is a choice
and therefore amenable to change. They have sought to convert gay men and
lesbians to heterosexuality. Even though their efforts have been widely
publicized nationally, they have been condemned and criticized for lack of
scientific rigour in that there are no follow-up studies to support claims of
long-term or permanent reorientation. In some instances these efforts have been
damaging, and many of those who have been "converted" revert to their
psychobiological sexual orientation. In the early and mid-1970s, the American
Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association adopted the
position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and that dysfunction
results from the negative attitudes of families and society. The American Psychiatric Association and
the American Academy of Pediatrics also have adopted policy statements
condemning reparative or conversion therapy and say that societal homophobia
rather than sexuality itself should be addressed.”
In demonstration of
the willfully deceptive character of LIAR’s “therapeutic” offerings, it is
noteworthy that much of the statistical underpinning for negative assertions
relating to the homosexuality result from the decades-spanning work of one Dr.
Paul Cameron, and his associated organization the Institute for Family Research,
of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dr.
Cameron’s work is widely cited and relied upon by the anti-homosexual group
Exodus International organization, which LIAR’s website claims to have
accredited the LIAR facility.
Dr. Cameron has over the past several years been expelled by several professional scientific organizations for distorting colleagues’ work and for distorting his own research results to achieve predetermined anti-homosexual outcomes. Since then, his organization's fraudulent propaganda has grown increasingly incendiary and he is the architect of many unreliable 'surveys' that purport to show strains of violence and depravity in gay life, earning the Family Research Institute notoriety for its listing as a as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dr. Cameron has had his license to practice clinical psychology withdrawn by the state of Nebraska for professional misconduct in this same connection. Finally, United States District Court Judge Gerald Buchmeyer. has cited Paul Cameron for having misrepresented research data submitted as evidence in court proceedings topical to the issue of homosexual civil rights litigation..
I hope the foregoing information is helpful to you, and I request that you kindly treat the instant correspondence as a formal request for the commencement of an investigation of Reverend Jon Smid and his staff and of the Love in Action Refuge organization.
The favor of your promptest possible reply is requested.
Thank you very much,
Sincerely yours,
William A.M. Courson, FLLA
Executive Director
The Magnus Hirschfeld Center for Human Rights
cc:
Hon. Phil Bredesen, Governor (phil.bredesen@state.tn.us)
Stacy Miller, Esq. General Counsel, Tennessee Department of
Childrens Services
Stacy.Miller@state.tn.us
Beth
Kasch, Executive Director, Office of Child Safety, Tennessee
Department of Childrens Services (Beth.Kasch@state.tn.us
)
Virginia
T. Betts, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
(oca.mhdd@state.tn.us)
Kenneth S. Robinson,
MD, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of
Health
(TN.health@state.tn.us)
Debra Davenport,
Chair; Nicole Armstrong, Esq., General Counsel,
Tennessee Board of Examiners
in Psychology (TN.health@state.tn.us)
Mary Clement, Director, Tennessee
Division of Consumer Protection
(Consumer.Affairs@state.tn.us)
Mary Moody, Esq., General Counsel,
Tennessee Division of Consumer Protection
(Mary.Moody@state.tn.us)