BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2199
A
AUTHOR: Bonnie Lowenthal
B
AMENDED: April 14, 2010
HEARING DATE: June 23, 2010
2
CONSULTANT:
1
Tadeo
9
9
SUBJECT
Sexual deviation: research
SUMMARY
Removes the requirement that the Department of Mental
Health (DMH) be responsible for research into the causes
and cures of sexual deviation, including deviations
conducive to sex crimes against children, and the causes
and cures of homosexuality.
Requires DMH to instead, plan, conduct, and cause to be
conducted scientific research into the prevention of sex
crimes against children and into methods of identifying
those who commit sexual offenses.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Requires DMH, acting through the superintendent of the
Langley Porter Clinic, to plan, conduct, and cause to be
conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of
sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex
crimes against children, and the causes and cures of
homosexuality, and into methods of identifying potential
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2199 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
Page 2
sex offenders.
This bill:
Removes the requirement that DMH, acting through the
Langley Porter Clinic, plan, conduct, and cause to be
conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of
sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex
crimes against children, and the causes and cures of
homosexuality.
Requires DMH to plan, conduct, and cause to be conducted
scientific research into the prevention of sex crimes
against children and into the methods of identifying those
who commit sexual offenses.
FISCAL IMPACT
No costs were cited in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis of AB 2199.
The analysis pointed out that there would be negligible
savings to DMH, which does not currently conduct research
into the causes of homosexuality.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, the statute that AB 2199 is
directed at mischaracterizes and institutionalizes bigotry
against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
community because it considers such individuals child
molesters and deviants in need of a cure. The author adds
that although the study to find a cure for homosexuality is
no longer enforced or acted upon, it is still in the
Welfare and Institutions Code. The author points out that,
similarly in the past, race restrictions on property deeds
were in the code books, but have been removed by
legislation. The author argues that not enforcing a code
is not enough, that such codes need to be removed to make
it clear that California is moving forward as a society.
The author contends that the code section this bill seeks
to change not only reflects misguided and out-of-date
science, it enshrines bigotry and false stereotypes in law.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2199 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
Page 3
According to information received from the author, the law
was adopted into the code during a 1950 special session
dealing with sex crimes. This First Extraordinary Session
included several bills dealing with sex offenders and
sexual psychopaths. This statute was last amended in 1977
to conform with the then Department of Mental Hygiene's
name change to DMH. However, the statute's requirement to
find a cure for homosexuality was still left intact, even
though it had already been four years since homosexuality
had been removed from the American Psychological
Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM).
The American Psychological Association and sexual
orientation
According to the American Psychological Association (APA),
the concept of sexual orientation refers to more than
sexual behavior. It includes feelings as well as identity.
Some individuals may identify themselves as gay, lesbian,
or bisexual without engaging in any sexual activity. Some
people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed;
however, sexual orientation develops across a person's
lifetime. Individuals may be become aware at different
points in their lives that they are heterosexual, gay,
lesbian, or bisexual.
According to the APA, all major professional mental health
organizations have gone on record to affirm that
homosexuality is not a mental disorder.
In 1973 the APA's Board of Trustees removed homosexuality
from its official diagnostic manual, the DSM, Second
Edition. The action was taken following a review of the
scientific literature and consultation with experts in the
field. The experts found that homosexuality does not meet
the criteria to be considered a mental illness.
The APA reports that no one knows what causes
heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
Homosexuality was once thought to be the result of troubled
family dynamics or faulty psychological development. Those
assumptions are now understood to have been based on
misinformation and prejudice. Currently there is a renewed
interest in searching for biological causes for
homosexuality, although, to date there have been no
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2199 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
Page 4
replicated scientific studies supporting any specific
biological etiology for homosexuality. Similarly, no
specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for
homosexuality has been identified, including histories of
childhood sexual abuse. Sexual abuse does not appear to be
more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay,
lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as
heterosexual.
In 1992, the APA, recognizing the power of the stigma
against homosexuality, issued the following statement:
Whereas homosexuality per se implies no impairment in
judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or
vocational capabilities, the American Psychiatric
Association calls on all international health
organizations and individual psychiatrists in other
countries, to urge the repeal in their own country of
legislation that penalized homosexual acts by
consenting adults in private. And further the APA
calls on these organizations and individuals to do all
that is possible to decrease the stigma related to
homosexuality wherever and whenever it may occur.
The Langley Porter Psychiatric Clinic
According to its website, the Langley Porter Psychiatric
Hospital and Clinics, which exists within the University of
San Francisco, consists of an adult inpatient unit, an
Adult Partial Hospital Program, and adult/child outpatient
services. Primary diagnoses for patients in all services
include major depression, anxiety and psychosis. The
clinic employs psychiatrists, psychologists, and
neuroscientists working toward the discovery of better
treatments, prevention strategies, and cures of
neuropsychiatric disorders.
Arguments in support
According to Equality California, the sponsor of AB 2199,
this bill would repeal an archaic law directing mental
health officials to seek a cure for homosexuality which
wrongly links sexual orientation with child molestation and
sexual deviance, and calls for research into a cure for
homosexuality. The sponsor points out that, in 1973, the
APA removed homosexuality from the DSM, and prior to that,
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2199 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
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gays and lesbians were wrongly considered to have a mental
disorder by the APA. The sponsor adds that this statute
continues to help perpetuate a number of unfounded concerns
regarding the LGBT community and children. These concerns
include false claims that same sex parents are not as good
as heterosexual parents and that gay men are prone to
sexually abuse children. The sponsor contends that fixing
the code is long overdue.
Arguments in opposition
According to Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays
(PFOX), the statute in current law protects children
against sexual abuse by predators. PFOX adds that the
scientific evidence shows that no one is born a homosexual
and no 'gay gene' nor DNA for sexual orientation exists.
PFOX contends that research into the causes of homosexual
behavior is a legitimate form of science and benefits both
ex-gay and gay communities.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Public Safety Committee 4-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee17-0
Assembly Floor 70-1
POSITIONS
Support: Equality California (sponsor)
AIDS Project Los Angeles
American Civil Liberties Union
Berkeley City Council
California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists
California Communities United Institute
California Mental Health Directors Association
California Psychological Association
California Teachers Association
California Women Lawyers
Disability Rights California
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and
Lesbians
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2199 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
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Oppose: International Healing Foundation
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays
Several individuals
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