Brendan O'Neill on Conversion Therapy and Exploiting Children to Curtail Liberty

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In response to a WhiteHouse.gov petition calling for conversion therapy to be banned, President Obama's people said they shared the petitioners' concerns about the "devastating effects" such therapy can have on "the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer youth." As part of "our dedication to protecting America's youth," the Obama team "supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors," the statement said. Protecting American youth, including gay ones—who could be against that? Only the cold-hearted and possibly homophobic, surely? Actually, writes Brendan O'Neill, it depends on who's doing the protecting.