New Jersey trial on ‘gay conversion’ therapy set to begin

Jury selection is under way over a New Jersey lawsuit that claims a nonprofit violated state consumer fraud laws when it offered treatment it said would turn gays into heterosexuals.

Four men and two of their mothers sued a Jersey City-based nonprofit that offers gay conversion therapy through affiliated counselors.

The plaintiffs claim they received treatment that included being told to spend more time naked with their fathers and participating in role-playing in which they were subjected to anti-gay slurs in a locker room setting.

One plaintiff says he was told to beat a pillow, representing his mother, with a tennis racket.

The nonprofit, Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing, contends there’s still debate over whether human sexual orientation is changeable and it isn’t an issue for courts to decide.