New Jersey Judge: ‘Pray Away The Gay’ Group Can’t Call Homosexuality A Disorder Or Disease

Back in 2012, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of four gay men–Michael Ferguson, Benjamin Unger, Sheldon Bruck, and Chaim Levin–who had been clients of the more notorious conversion therapy outfits, Jews Offering New Alternatives For Healing (formerly Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality). The suit alleges that JONAH’s “therapy” amounted to fraud under New Jersey law. The men contend that during their sessions, they were forced to strip naked in front of their counselors, beat effigies of their parents, and engage in other highly degrading practices. They further claim that after plunking down $10,000 or more in fees, they were told that their “treatment” didn’t work because they weren’t willing to change.

The Hudson County Courthouse in Jersey City (courtesy Ted Kerwin's Flickr)
The Hudson County Courthouse in Jersey City (courtesy Ted Kerwin’s Flickr)

Well, on Tuesday, the plaintiffs won a major victory when the presiding judge in the case ruled that JONAH and other “pray away the gay” groups operating in New Jersey are breaking state law when they call homosexuality a mental illness or disorder that can be “cured.” Hudson County Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso ruled that any conversion therapy group that describes homosexuality as “a mental disorder, disease, or equivalent” has made a “misrepresentation” under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, the law that the SPLC is hoping to use to shut JONAH down. According to the SPLC, it is first time a judge at any level has declared that it is fraudulent for conversion therapists to claim that homosexuality can somehow be cured.

Read the full ruling here. It was made in response to an SPLC request for summary judgment that JONAH has engaged in practices that violate the Consumer Fraud Act. Bariso wrote that there is ample evidence that JONAH “repeatedly disparaged gay people” by claiming that they were “damaged, disordered, physically ill, promiscuous, incapable of happiness, etc.” as a result of their same-sex attraction. Having already concluded that the consensus of mental health professionals is that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, Bariso held that any claims to the contrary amount to fraud. Bariso also ruled that JONAH made an additional misrepresentation by touting success stories even though it didn’t track how their clients did after using its services.

Simply put, this ruling is absolutely scathing. The entire business model for conversion therapy groups has been effectively torn to shreds. If they can’t claim that homosexuality is a disorder, there really is no rational basis for them to exist. This is actually the second legal smackdown that JONAH has suffered this month. Just last week, Bariso disqualified several of JONAH’s expert witnesses because their testimony was centered on the premise that homosexuality was a disorder–an argument that, as Bariso put it, “like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it … is outdated and refuted.” The case is due to go to trial on June 1. However, with much of its case essentially wiped out and its business model declared illegal, JONAH would be suicidal to not be in settlement talks at this point.

JONAH already faced a significant credibility gap when this case was first filed. In 2010, South Florida Gay News and Truth Wins Out revealed that JONAH’s founder, Arthur A. Goldberg, was really Arthur Abba Goldberg, the mastermind of one of the most outrageous frauds ever uncovered in this country’s history. In the mid-1980s, Goldberg sold over $2 billion in fraudulent municipal bonds to several cities and pocketed $11? million in illegal profits. What made this fraud even more monstrous was that many of the victims were impoverished communities with large minority populations. He jokingly said that he was “selling bonds to cannibals.” In 1987, a federal grand jury in Guam indicted him on 52 counts of fraud and conspiracy. Goldberg had bilked so many of the Pacific island’s residents that it was impossible to empanel a jury there; the trial had to be moved to Los Angeles. Later, he was indicted on separate charges in Illinois. Rather than face the rest of his life in prison, in 1989 Goldberg pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. When this came to light, Goldberg resigned as executive secretary of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, a leading conversion therapy think tank–but not before trying to blame his critics for trying to smear him by digging through his past.

Seen in this light, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that an unrepentant con man has merely moved from one scheme to another. And just like in the 1980s, it looks like Goldberg is about to face a long-overdue reckoning. If JONAH is foolish enough to let this go to trial, the only question will be how many zeroes will be in the final settlement.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.