title:  Minnesota Republican: Gay People Are Mentally Ill, Need Treatment For ‘Unhealthy Sexual Addiction’ (AUDIO)
text: He probably believes  pray the gay away  is the treatment, too.There is no law forcing straight people to seek such treatment, so this is clearly about stealthily trying to  cure  gay people when they do not need to be  cured  at all.But Minnesota GOP Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen thinks gay people have an  unhealthy sex addiction  that needs to be fixed.During an interview on WCCO Radio with Chad Hartman last week, Gruenhagen declared that gay people are mentally ill and should be forced to undergo treatment for their  unhealthy sexual addiction. Claiming that he has gay friends and friends who were former homosexuals, Gruenhagen fretted about the number of Americans who have an STD in this country, which the Centers for Disease Control says is about one-third of the population.Hartman then sought clarification. You are telling the millions of people in this country who are homosexual   and the rest of their lives are no different than me or yours   but that the reason they have described themselves as homosexual is because they have an unhealthy sexual addiction?  Hartman asked.After being given a chance to reverse himself, Gruenhagen didn t backtrack. Yeah,  he replied.  You can go on the Internet and there s treatment for sexual addictions right here in Minnesota, whether it s pornography or unhealthy sexual behavior. You can receive treatment for that and be free from those compulsions. Here s the audio via Raw Story.What Gruenhagen is likely talking about is dangerous conversion therapy which can cause lasting psychological damage and even be fatal. That s why it is opposed by the American Psychological Association.But Gruenhagen isn t just attacking gay people, he also thinks being transgender is a mental illness, too, and he has sponsored a bill in the Minnesota statehouse that would force them to use bathrooms corresponding to their  biological sex.  Such bills have been popular with Republicans as of late, with North Carolina being the latest red state to embarrass themselves with such a law on the books.Gruenhagen s proof that LGBT people have a mental illness comes from outdated versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which was updated in 1973 and 2012 to declare that being gay or trans is no longer considered a mental disorder.Republicans really need to stop being so obsessed with gay sex and it makes one wonder what Gruenhagen is hiding in his closet. After all, the lawmakers who fight homosexuality the most usually seem to be those who have homosexual attractions themselves. If that s the case, then Gruenhagen is the one who needs therapy, not to convert, but to stop living in denial.Featured image via Facebook