On March 5, 2014 lawyers from Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld filed a amici curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the case of King v. Christie (Case No. 13-4429) on behalf of four survivors of “sexual orientation change efforts” (“SOCE) and the sister of a man who was subjected to SOCE as a child and ultimately committed suicide.
The amici brief is in support of a New Jersey law (A3371), which, according to the brief, “is necessary to protect minors from the serious harms caused by the junk science techniques, collectively referred to as SOCE, that continue to be used by some practitioners nearly 40 years after the mental health profession roundly rejected the idea that homosexuality is a disorder or condition that can or should be changed.”
A full copy of the brief is available here: Amicus Guay et al
Introduction to the brief: “Amici Curiae are four survivors of “sexual orientation change efforts” (“SOCE”) and the sister of a man who was subjected to SOCE as a child and ultimately committed suicide. Amici submit this brief to recount the serious harms that they, their families, and others suffered because they were subjected to these dangerous practices, illustrating the serious risk that thousands of minors will be severely and irreparably harmed if A3371 is not upheld. This brief reflects the harmful effects of SOCE on five individuals. The experiences of three amici, James Guay, Ryan Kendall, and Peter Drake, led them to testify before committees of the California legislature in support of CaliforniaSenate Bill 1172, which similarly prohibited SOCE in California and was recently upheld by the Ninth Circuit. Similarly, this brief recounts the harms suffered by John Metzidis-Drennan who, like James and Peter, voluntarily sought out SOCE therapy but found that it had lasting, damaging effects. Finally, Maris Ehlers recounts the story of her brother, Kirk Andrew Murphy, who took his own life after being subjected to SOCE as a child.”