Mike Huckabee Slams California's Gay Reparative Therapy Ban

Mike Huckabee Has Harsh Words For 'Ex-Gay' Therapy Ban

Mike Huckabee is sounding off on controversial California legislation banning therapy that aims to turn gay patients straight.

On the April 18 installment of his radio show, the former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate spoke with Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver, who slammed the law as a "dangerous" political statement.

"Let’s say a young person comes in and says, ‘You know, I’ve always believed I’m homosexual, believed that since I was 7 years old, but now that I’m 17, I’ve decided that I’m not, I’m heterosexual,’ and goes to a pro-homosexual counselor,” Huckabee told Staver. “Would that person be at risk?”

He then added, "It looks like some of those folks would be nervous that they couldn’t say, ‘Oh no, no you are homosexual all right because you thought that when you were seven, and therefore you have to stay that way."

You can listen to audio of the interview on Huckabee's official website here.

As The Advocate points out, the Liberty Counsel has been actively challenging the law which bars licensed California counselors from performing reparative therapy, a practice widely considered harmful by most mental health professionals. Although it was originally supposed to take effect in January, the California law is presently on hold after a number of therapists and families subsequently sued to block it, arguing that it violates free speech rights.

In 2010, Huckabee angered lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates when he equated same-sex marriage with drug abuse and gay adoption to a science experiment.

"Children are not puppies," he said at the time. "This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?"

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