Even Texas’ GOP Chair Doesn’t Believe In ‘Reparative Therapy’ For Gays

Steve Munisteri, Republican Party of Texas Chairman, talks to the media following a hearing in Federal Court, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, in San Antonio. A federal judge has told Republican leaders in Texas to plan as ... Steve Munisteri, Republican Party of Texas Chairman, talks to the media following a hearing in Federal Court, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, in San Antonio. A federal judge has told Republican leaders in Texas to plan as though the state's primary will be May 29 because the long-running dispute over redistricting likely won't allow for it to be held any earlier. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) MORE LESS
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Much hay has been made of the Texas GOP’s recent endorsement of “reparative therapy” for gays, and now the chairman of the state party said he disagrees with that platform plank.

Chairman Steve Munisteri told Texas Public Radio on Thursday that he doesn’t believe it’s possible to convert an LGBT individual to a heterosexual by talking to them.

“And I just make the point for anybody that thinks that may be the possibility: Do they think they can take a straight person to a psychiatrist and turn them gay?” he said.

Munisteri also told Texas Public Radio that he’s been inundated with phone calls and emails from fellow Republicans who oppose the party’s endorsement of reparative therapy. A group of Republicans had used a tricky “parliamentary maneuver” to pass the plank into the platform at the convention, he said.

Munisteri’s position on the practice is a stark contrast from that of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). Perry “stepped right in it,” by his own admission, when he recently compared being gay to being an alcoholic. The governor was also caught flat-footed in a CNBC interview when he said he didn’t know if reparative therapy actually worked.

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