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"I am living proof that what conversion therapy can destroy, self-acceptance can save."
-Sam Brinton

Months before my seventh-grade year, I realized I had a crush on my best friend, who happened to be male.

I was too young to understand why anyone would think this was wrong and that not everyone would support me. After beatings failed to work, and at the beckoning of my church, I was put into conversion therapy, the dangerous practice used by some therapists and counselors to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. For me, and countless others like me, it can only be described as mental torture.

I was told I was sick. I was told God hated me. I was told every other gay person on earth had been executed. By the end of the so-called "treatments," I believed the government was looking for me, that I had somehow contracted AIDS, and that I would die alone. The mental pain this caused is something I cannot fathom going through again, yet thousands of youth across the country are placed in the same situation every day.

When psychological abuse was not sufficient to change my sexual orientation, my therapist moved to what can only be called physical abuse. My hands were tied down and ice was placed on them while I was shown pictures of men. Later sessions would include copper heating coils, needles in my fingers, and electric shocks. Similar to Pavlov's experience with dogs, I was supposed to associate the touch of a man with pain. By the end, even hugging my father brought on flashbacks.

To end the pain those years caused, I would go on to attempt suicide several times. During one attempt, I climbed onto the roof of my apartment building and looked down. In that moment, I decided I would rather lie and tell everyone I had become straight than jump. It worked. For a while the torture stopped and my life returned to some degree of "normality."

It wasn't until college that I was able to come out and begin my life being who I am. Once I finally started living truthfully, everything got better. I threw myself into school, extracurricular activities, and advocacy.

This year, I graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with dual master's degrees in nuclear engineering, and technology and policy. I am living proof that what conversion therapy can destroy, self-acceptance can save.

Today, I know who I am. I'm strong in my faith, and I'm strong in my identity. And I know that I can't change what I never chose.

This torture continues to have repercussions with youth, but it doesn't have to continue. We have the chance to save LGBT youth from ever having to experience what I went through.

If you are a survivor of conversion therapy, consider sharing your story and speaking out to protect others. Your email to us will be confidential. We will not share your story without your permission. Even if you do not want to share your story publicly, hearing about your experience can help us learn more and protect others from being harmed by these damaging "therapies."

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"I am living proof that what conversion therapy can destroy, self-acceptance can save." -Sam Brinton BY SAM BRINTON NCLR Contributor Months before my seventh-grade year, I realized I had a crush on my best friend, who happened to be male.

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Leelah Alcorn's Suicide: Conversion Therapy Is Child Abuse

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We cannot allow religious beliefs to cross the line of medicine and harm our youth

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Donald Trump had no sooner delivered his victory speech and my Facebook page - LGBTrump (the largest gays for Trump Facebook page) - was inundated with messages from LGBT Americans fearful that the president-elect would take away their rights.

Why were so many messages pouring in? The LGBT Left was off the rails telling the LGBT community that its rights - especially marriage - were on the chopping block under President-elect Trump.

"This morning, LGBTQ people - particularly young people and their parents - woke up scared and filled with questions about our country and their place in it," Sarah McBride, national spokeswoman for the LGBT Left Human Rights Campaign, said. McBride added that "much of our community's progress over the last eight years is at risk after yesterday's election."

But what progress was McBride talking about? What exactly would a President Trump Donald John Trump Trump: 'Excitement in the air' ahead of Kim meeting Trump doubles down on criticism of EU, Canada Merkel: EU will retaliate against Trump tariffs MORE take away from the 14% of LGBT citizens that voted for him, this author included?

There are no signs that the LGBT community will be in the crosshairs of a Trump administration. In fact that evidence is just the opposite.

In the 1980s & 1990s Trump donated heavily to charities that focused on the AIDS outbreak. When he floated a third party presidential run in 1999 he went on record saying he would consider adding sexual orientation to the Civil Rights Act. Trump is also believed to be the first private club owner in Palm Beach - in this case Mar-a-Lago - to admit a gay couple. This is not the resume of an LGBT foe.

Fast forward to the 2016 election and Trump's view of the LGBT community remained unchanged. In June 2015 he forcefully condemned the terror attack at Pulse nightclub, a LGBT club. In condemning this attack, Trump bravely spoke an ugly truth many in the elite dare not speak - radical Islam and the LGBT community do not mix. Trump took this truth to Cleveland when he vowed to protect the LGBT community.

"Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted LGBTQ community," Trump told the Republican delegates. "As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology."

During the same convention, Trump asked gay Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel to address the Republican delegates. Thiel accepted then and is now a part of Trump's transition team. And now Trump is said to be considering Richard Grenell, an openly gay man, to be his ambassador to the U.N.

Trump, therefore, does not fit the LGBT Left narrative about Republican politicians. This narrative holds that since the Moral Majority of the 1980s the entire Republican Party is connected to the bromance of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

The shelf-life of this logic has now expired with the Christian Right's influence pertaining to same-sex marriage shrinking in GOP circles and the election of Trump's, the first post-culture war GOP president.

"It's irrelevant because it was already settled. It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it's done," Trump told Lesley Stahl when the CBS reporter asked the president-elect whether he supported marriage equality.

Trump doubled down and suggested he would not appoint judges that would seek to overturn the ruling. " It's done. It-- you have-- these cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled. And, I'm fine with that."

"I'm fine with that" surely does not fit the talking points being promulgated by the LGBT Left. Here was the president-elect, a man who has long been compared to Hitler by progressives, saying he was fine with marriage equality. What did the LGBT community have to fear if their right to marriage was safe?

Even more telling, Trump made it clear that there was one case he would work to overturn - the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. Even though that was "settled" law, Trump stated he would appoint Supreme Court justices to return the issue back to the states.

"The judges will be pro-life," Trump said while advocating a state-by-state approach to abortion. When Stahl pointed out under such an approach some women might be denied an abortion, Trump stated, "Yeah, well, they'll perhaps have to go, they'll have to go to another state."

Translation - Trump has no qualms seeking to overturn Supreme Court precedent, but he has no desire to do so when it comes to marriage equality. Trump, thus, was telling evangelicals he was with them on the issue of life - our most fundamental right - but was not willing to do battle over civil marriage. This was the surest signal to the LGBT community that Trump was not a foe, but a friend.

If one needs further proof, look no further to my former employer, the American Family Association. Spokesperson Bryan Fischer, hearing the news of Grenell, tweeted: "Heads up to conservatives: we'll have to fight Trump as hard on the homosexual agenda as we would have had to fight Hillary." Fischer knows he and AFA are toast; political dinosaurs that are so marginalized on LGBT issues that they are political parodies born of a sad joke.

So if the Christian Right is so impotent that no amount of blue pills can help them and Trump is not a foe to the LGBT community, where does the great LGBT threat reside? That would be with a LGBT Left that must keep the gay community in a perpetual state of culture war to raise indefinite amounts of cash.

If equality is achieved and the current GOP president unequivocally stated he will protect that equality, why do we need groups like HRC? We don't and that is why the claws are out.
Joseph R. Murray II, is administrator for LGBTrump, former campaign official for Pat Buchanan, and author of "Odd Man Out". He can be reached at jrm@joemurrayenterprises.com. The views of Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill

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Memo to the LGBT community: Donald Trump is not your enemy

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Donald Trump had no sooner delivered his victory speech and my Facebook page - LGBTrump (the largest gays for Trump Facebook page) - was inundated with messages from LGBT Americans fearful that the president-elect would take away their rights. Why were so many messages pouring in?

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"We don't support that, religiously," Alcorn's mother told CNN on Wednesday, her voice breaking. "But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy."

Crossing out the name "Josh," the 17-year-old signed the name "Leelah" in a suicide note posted to Tumblr.

The note was programmed to publish after Alcorn's death Sunday. The teenager was struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 71 about 2:15 a.m., about four miles from home in the tiny town of Kings Mills, northeast of Cincinnati.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the death as a suicide.

"Please don't be sad, it's for the better. The life I would've lived isn't worth living in ... because I'm transgender," the note said. "I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy's body, and I've felt that way ever since I was 4. I never knew there was a word for that feeling, nor was it possible for a boy to become a girl, so I never told anyone and I just continued to do traditionally 'boyish' things to try to fit in."

The teenager's death has ignited intensely emotional reactions across social media. The hashtag #LeelahAlcorn is carrying messages of support for all transgender people. Many posts are hateful and vengeful notes directed at the teen's parents.

In her interview with CNN, Carla Alcorn referred to her child as her son and used male pronouns.

After the death, a Facebook post apparently from Carla Alcorn said her child "went home to heaven this morning. He was out for an early morning walk and was hit by a truck. Thank you for the messages and kindness and concern you have sent our way. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts."

Some on social media have seized on that post and reposted her message, crossing out the male pronouns and the name Josh and replacing them with female pronouns and the name Leelah.
'He just quit talking about it'
In Leelah's note, she explains that when she was 14, she first understood what transgender meant and "cried of happiness."

"After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn't make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don't tell this to your kids," the note says. "Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don't ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won't do anything but make them hate them self. That's exactly what it did to me."

Carla Alcorn told CNN that her child was depressed and that counselors and a psychiatrist gave the teenager medication.

"He just quit talking about (being transgender)," she said.

She worried Wednesday that hateful messages directed toward her and her husband are making them out to be "horrible people," she said. She has other children, she said, and they are incredibly sad about losing a sibling.

She said that there has not been a service for the teen because people have threatened to protest.

Her child came to her only once to talk about being transgender, Carla Alcorn insisted.

The first time she heard the name Leelah was on the teen's suicide note.

"He never said that name before," she said.
'The cruelty of loneliness'
Leelah's suicide note, however, says she struggled for a long time to gain her parents' acceptance as a transgender teen.

"My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to christian therapists, (who were all very biased) so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me of my depression. I only got more christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help."

At 16, she wrote that she realized her "parents would never come around" and that she would have to wait until she was 18 to start any kind of medical treatment to transition to being a female.

That, she said, "absolutely broke my heart. ... I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man in drag for the rest of my life."

Carla Alcorn recalled her teen asking for transition surgery.

She told her child no, she said, because "we didn't have the money for anything like that."

In her suicide note, Leelah said she cried herself to sleep that night.

Leelah told her friends she was transgender.

She came out as gay at school, a move that was supported by friends but made her parents angry, she wrote.

"They wanted me to be their perfect little straight christian boy, and that's obviously not what I wanted."

Carla Alcorn said that she took away her child's access to social media because the teen was looking at "inappropriate" things on the Internet but would not say what those things were.

Leelah describes what it was like to not have social media to connect with friends: "This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I'm surprised I didn't kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parents' disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness."

It all began to feel like too much weight to the teenager, she wrote. Convinced she had few friends, and feeling the pressure of saving enough money to move out of her home, keep her grades up and face people at church who she felt had only judgment for her, she decided to end her life.

"I'm never going to find a man who loves me," she wrote. "I'm never going to be happy."

Give all of her things and money to the transgender civil rights movement and to transgender support groups, Leelah instructed.

"The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was, they're treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. ... Fix society. Please."

If you decide to bring a child into the world, the very least you can do is love them unconditionally #LeelahAlcorn
- M J R (@MJRgrs) December 31, 2014

Two days after the teen's death, grieving in that stomach-punch way that only parents who have to bury a child understand, Carla Alcorn kept repeating that she loved her child.

"He was an amazing musician and artist," she said. "He was an amazing boy."
More education, time and compassion
Not far from where the Alcorns live, Shane Morgan was thinking a lot about Leelah.

The executive director of the Columbus-based advocacy group TransOhio said the teen's suicide evoked memories of what it was like 15 years ago when he struggled with telling friends and family he was transgender.

"I came out as gay. ... I didn't understand what gender identity was at that time," he said.

As Morgan got older and met different people and had new experiences, he gained confidence and courage.

He wrote a letter to his family and friends, telling them he was transgender. With the exception of his father and brother, he said, everyone was loving.

Morgan said he understands the anger some people feel toward Leelah's parents, but "there's no excuse for threats to the family."

Since Leelah's death, parents of transgender children have sent TransOhio photos and letters saying how much the tragedy has shaken them and that they love and accept their children no matter what.

Their greatest fear is that their child will feel unloved. And statistics show that that can lead to suicides like Leelah's.

A 2011 study by the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 41% of 6,450 responding transgender and gender nonconforming people had attempted suicide.

If he could have talked to Leelah, Morgan would have said that he understood how tough it is and how awful it feels. He would have told her that when she got a little bit older, she would be freer to adopt another kind of family -- one of friends who would accept and cherish her.

"I wouldn't have told her that it gets better, but it changes," he said. "There are people she could have met. I don't know if she ever met a transgender person. But she could have seen something else. She could have been given some hope."

The appropriate response to your child coming out as lesbian, gay, bi or trans is I LOVE YOU. That's all you need to say! #LeelahAlcorn 😞
- Dini Dimakos (@DiniDimakos) December 31, 2014

Aidan Key also knows well what it's like to endure a transgender adolescence. The founder of the family education and support organization Gender Diversity in Washington grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household and now works with families with deep religious beliefs to help them understand what being transgender means.

He considers himself lucky to have a mother and twin sister who adored him regardless of his gender identity.

"My compassion is there for the parents. All any parent wants is love for their children, for their children to live good lives. Transgender is such a new thing in society, and we've not faced it or discussed it as a society. We've kept it in a dark corner where some people still think it's some deviant sexual behavior," said Key.

"If the parents would have reached out for more information or said 'This is a lot. We need some time,' or if they had access to a group that would welcome them to talk, that might have made the difference for Leelah."

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ohio transgender teen's mom: 'he was an amazing boy' - cnn

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Ohio transgender teen's mom: 'He was an amazing boy' - CNN

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"We don't support that, religiously," Alcorn's mother told CNN on Wednesday, her voice breaking. "But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy."

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So-called "conversion therapy," sometimes known as "reparative therapy," is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against LGBTQ people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy. Minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide.

To date, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia have enacted​ laws or regulations to protect minors from being subjected to conversion therapy by state-licensed mental health providers. Additionally, a growing number of municipalities have enacted similar protections, including cities and counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

In August of 2013, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California's law, which was signed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown in 2012. In May of 2015 and again in February of 2016, the United States Supreme Court let stand decisions of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding New Jersey's law, which was signed by Republican Governor Chris Christie in August of 2013. In February of 2015, a NJ Superior Court judge ruled that misrepresenting homosexuality as a disorder violates the state's consumer protection laws. Additionally, in June of 2015, the jury in that case found a conversion therapy provider liable for consumer fraud and ordered the provider to pay the plaintiffs for refunds and damages.

In February 2016, the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a consumer fraud complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against People Can Change, a major provider of conversion therapy. The complaint alleges that People Can Change's advertisements and business practices which claim they can change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity constitute deceptive, false, and misleading practices and can cause serious harm to consumers, all in direct violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The complaint urges the FTC to take enforcement action to stop these deceptive practices and investigate all practitioners making similar claims.

Some right-wing religious groups promote the concept that an individual can change their sexual orientation or gender identity, either through prayer or other religious efforts, or through so-called "reparative" or "conversion" therapy. The research on such efforts has disproven their efficacy, and also has indicated that they can be affirmatively harmful. Beyond studies focused solely on reparative therapy, broader research clearly demonstrates the significant harm that societal prejudice and family rejection has on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, particularly youth. Furthermore, there is significant anecdotal evidence of harm to LGBTQ people resulting from attempts to change their sexual orientation and gender identity. Based on this body of evidence, every major medical and mental health organization in the United States has issued a statement condemning the use of conversion therapy.

Psychiatrist Dr. L. Spitzer, who once offered a study on reparative therapy, has since denounced the practice and has apologized for endorsing the practice. Read more here.

Research on the Impacts of Reparative Therapy, Harms Caused by Societal Prejudice

In 2007, a task force of the American Psychological Association undertook a thorough review of the existing research on the efficacy of conversion therapy. Their report noted that there was very little methodologically sound research on sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) and that the "results of scientifically valid research indicate that it is unlikely that individuals will be able to reduce same-sex attractions or increase other-sex sexual attractions through SOCE." In addition, the task force found that "there are no methodologically sound studies of recent SOCE that would enable the task force to make a definitive statement about whether or not recent SOCE is safe or harmful and for whom." Read the full report.

In short, there is clear evidence that conversion therapy does not work, and some significant evidence that it is also harmful to LGBTQ people.

In contrast, there is ample evidence that societal prejudice causes significant medical, psychological and other harms to LGBTQ people. For example, research on the issue of family acceptance of LGBTQ youth conducted at San Francisco State University found that "compared with LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a little rejected by their parents and caregivers because of their gay or transgender identity, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:

Organizational Positions on Reparative Therapy
American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry
"The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds no evidence to support the application of any "therapeutic intervention" operating under the premise that a specific sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression is pathological. Furthermore, based on the scientific evidence, the AACAP asserts that such "conversion therapies" (or other interventions imposed with the intent of promoting a particular sexual orientation and/or gender as a preferred outcome) lack scientific credibility and clinical utility. Additionally, there is evidence that such interventions are harmful. As a result, "conversion therapies" should not be part of any behavioral health treatment of children and adolescents."
The AACAP Policy on "Conversion Therapies".
American Academy of Pediatrics American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy American College of Physicians American Counseling Association
"The belief that same-sex attraction and behavior is abnormal and in need of treatment is in opposition to the position taken by national mental health organizations, including ACA. The ACA Governing Council passed a resolution in 1998 with respect to sexual orientation and mental health. This resolution specifically notes that ACA opposes portrayals of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation. . . . In 1999, the Governing Council adopted a statement 'opposing the promotion of reparative therapy as a cure for individuals who are homosexual.' . . .
American Medical Association American Psychiatric Association
... In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issues, which states that "there is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of "reparative therapy" as a treatment to change one's sexual orientation."

The potential risks of "reparative therapy" are great and include depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone "reparative therapy" relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian are not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed...
American Psychoanalytic Association
"As with any societal prejudice, bias against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression negatively affects mental health, contributing to an enduring sense of stigma and pervasive self-criticism through the internalization of such prejudice.
American Psychological Association
"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association affirms that same-sex sexual and romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and positive variations of human sexuality regardless of sexual orientation identity;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association reaffirms its position that homosexuality per se is not a mental disorder and opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Psychological Association concludes that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation;
American School Counselor Association
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth often begin to experience self-identification during their pre-adolescent or adolescent years, as do heterosexual youth. These developmental processes are essential cognitive, emotional and social activities, and although they may have an impact on student development and achievement, they are not a sign of illness, mental disorder or emotional problems nor do they necessarily signify sexual activity.
American School Health Association
"[T]he American School Health Association . . . expects that comprehensive sexuality education in schools will be scientifically accurate and based on current medical, psychological, pedagogical, educational and social research . . . [and recommends] that teachers be well-trained and competent to teach sexuality education as defined by . . . insight into and acceptance of their own personal feelings and attitudes concerning sexuality topics so personal life experiences do not intrude inappropriately into the educational experience."
Quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
National Association of Social Workers Pan American Health Organization (PAHO): Regional Office of the World Health Organization
Just the Facts Coalition (American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of School Administrators, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, American School Counselor Association, American School Health Association, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Social Workers, national Education Association, School Social Work Association of America)
World Psychiatric Association
"There is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed. Furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality can create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish, and they can be potentially harmful (Rao and Jacob 2012). The provision of any intervention purporting to "treat" something that is not a disorder is wholly unethical.

....

Government Positions on Conversion Therapy
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
"Specifically, conversion therapy-efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression -is a practice that is not supported by credible evidence and has been disavowed by behavioral health experts and associations. Conversion therapy perpetuates outdated views of gender roles and identities as well as the negative stereotype that being a sexual or gender minority or identifying as LGBTQ is an abnormal aspect of human development. Most importantly, it may put young people at risk of serious harm"
Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President of the United States
"The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm.
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon
Jerry Brown, Governor of California
"These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery."
Gov. Jerry Brown bans gay-to-straight therapy for minors

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The Lies and Dangers of "Conversion Therapy" | Human Rights Campaign

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So-called "conversion therapy," sometimes known as "reparative therapy," is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against LGBTQ people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy.

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While Donald Trump and some of his defenders have tried to paint him as more lenient on LGBT issues than his fellow Republicans, the GOP presidential nominee has promised to help anti-gay groups implement their policy agendas and has surrounded himself with anti-LGBT advisers. One striking example of this is the Trump advisers who promote the harmful practice of so-called "conversion therapy" for LGBT people.

These pseudo-scientific treatments have been condemned as harmful and unethical by the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association and many other leading medical organizations.

The Human Rights Campaign describes 'conversion therapy' as a:

range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against LGBTQ people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy. Minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide.

This summer, the Republican Party approved a platform that included a rejection of state laws preventing the practice of conversion therapy on minors. The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, now a member of Trump's "pro-life advisory council," fought for the platform to endorse the practice even more strongly. Perkins has said that Trump's campaign was the only GOP campaign in recent history that he hasn't had to fight with over issues of "human sexuality" in the party platform.

Trump's running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, once proposed diverting state funds from HIV/AIDS prevention efforts to groups that practiced conversion therapy, writing on the website of his 2000 congressional campaign, "Resources should be directed towards those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior."

This isn't even to mention the article that ran in a journal Pence published that claimed that "gaydom" is a "pathological condition."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was instrumental in rallying the Religious Right behind Trump when he led a meeting between the candidate and hundreds of evangelical and Catholic leaders in June, has defended conversion therapy, claiming last year that the government is preventing chaplains from recommending "assistance" for those in the "homosexual lifestyle."

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Trump's 'Conversion Therapy' Supporting Allies | Right Wing Watch

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While Donald Trump and some of his defenders have tried to paint him as more lenient on LGBT issues than his fellow Republicans, the GOP presidential nominee has promised to help anti-gay groups implement their policy agendas and has surrounded himself with anti-LGBT advisers.

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Campaign volunteers take down signs at one of Hillary Clinton's campaign offices in Miami, Fla., on Wednesday. Credit... Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

The election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency sent panic through much of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, which for the first time in eight years will face an administration hostile to its civil rights goals and a president-elect who has expressed a desire to reverse many of its political gains.

Jay Brown, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, said its office had received calls throughout the day on Wednesday from frightened people who wanted to know what the election results might mean for them.

Some callers wondered if they should speed up wedding plans so they could be married before the inauguration, in case a President Trump tries to overturn gay marriage, he said. Others worried that the military would reinstate "don't ask, don't tell," the ban on openly gay and lesbian service members that ended in 2011.

"This is a devastating loss for our community," Mr. Brown said. "It is something a lot of folks are still trying to wrap their heads around."

Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, agreed. "All across America right now there are millions of people who are terrified," she said.

Mr. Trump has no reputation for personal animosity toward gay people, and the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay and lesbian political organization, congratulated him on his victory. He employed gay people in the Trump Organization, spent most of his life in socially liberal New York City, and surprised some Republicans this year when he said transgender people should "use the bathroom they feel is appropriate," a view held by few others in the party.

But many L.G.B.T. leaders said they were unmoved by accounts of Mr. Trump's personal tolerance.

"Even if people believe that about Trump, what is true is he will now be held to the G.O.P. platform," said Rea Carey, the executive director of the National L.G.B.T.Q. Task Force. She called it the most anti-L.G.B.T. platform in recent memory.

Among its provisions: opposition to same-sex marriage, support for state laws limiting which public bathroom transgender people can use, and support for a parent's right to subject gay and transgender children to "conversion therapy" to change their sexual orientation or gender identity, a practice the Obama administration has said should be banned for minors.

Ms. Carey called Mr. Trump's public statements on gay and transgender issues "confusing and conflicting." As a candidate, Mr. Trump told Fox News that he would "strongly consider" appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn same-sex marriage but later in the campaign held a rainbow flag onstage and presented himself as gay friendly.

Mr. Trump has also promised to nullify all of Mr. Obama's executive orders, including one that bans anti-L.G.B.T. discrimination by federal contractors and another that protects the rights of transgender students, she said.

Gay and transgender leaders said they were especially alarmed when Mr. Trump chose Mike Pence, who has a long record of opposition to gay rights, as his running mate.

"What we know about Mike Pence is that he led a direct, massive and concerted effort in the state of Indiana to deny equality to L.G.B.T. people," Ms. Carey said. "It's not like Trump didn't know who he was."

As governor of Indiana, Mr. Pence opposed gay marriage and signed into law a bill that made it legal for businesses to cite religious freedom when refusing service to gay and transgender people, for example a bakery that refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

As a member of Congress, Mr. Pence voted against employment nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people and also voted against the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

His opposition to gay rights goes back at least to his first congressional campaign, in 2000, when he opposed same-sex marriage and the nondiscrimination laws that protected L.G.B.T. people.

He also argued for public funding of conversion therapy and said federal funding for H.I.V./AIDS treatment should be renewed only if the government could certify that no money went to "organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the H.I.V. virus," according to an archived version of his campaign website.

Mr. Brown called Mr. Pence "one of the most anti-L.G.B.T. politicians out there."

The divisive nature of Mr. Trump's campaign and his positions on immigration, Muslim Americans and women's issues also posed a threat to large numbers of gay and transgender people, Mr. Brown said.

"There is an enormous amount of fear and concern over what a Trump presidency means for those of us who are also part of the immigrant community or Muslim community or who look, think and believe differently than the folks he will be putting in charge of our agencies and our government," he said.

News that Mr. Trump would be the next president of the United States inspired an early wistfulness for the Obama administration among some leaders. Ms. Keisling called Mr. Obama "a remarkable president for transgender rights."

But the struggle for gay and transgender rights would continue, she said, even if the political climate drastically changed. She said she had faith in "the strength and resilience of transgender people."

"We are going to keep working to advance policy," Ms. Keisling said. "We're going to fight like hell to keep existing policies, and we are going to win more than we are going to lose."

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Trump Victory Alarms Gay and Transgender Groups

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The election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency sent panic through much of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, which for the first time in eight years will face an administration hostile to its civil rights goals and a president-elect who has expressed a desire to reverse many of its political gains.

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There's no question that in last night's vice presidential debate, Virginia senator Tim Kaine missed an opportunity to slam Indiana governor Mike Pence on the issue that put Pence, infamously, at the center of national attention in 2015: his signing of a draconian anti-LGBT "religious liberty' bill into law. Kaine even mentioned persecution of LGBT people under Vladimir Putin in Russia in criticizing both Donald Trump's and Pence's embrace of the authoritarian leader, but didn't draw the direct line to Pence and the bill in Indiana he signed that drew harsh condemnation from big business, which forced Pence to soften the ugly law somewhat.

But the bulk of the responsibility here goes to moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS, who is generally seen to have done a poor job at maintaining control of this debate. Sure, a debater should be practiced and skilled enough to insert important issues, pivot, and turn questions back on an opponent, as Hillary Clinton did deftly during the first presidential debate with Trump. Conservatives attacked moderator Lester Holt for not bringing up their pet issues, but most of those issues have been very visible and settled -- like Benghazi and Clinton's emails -- and the responsibility was on Trump himself to remind the audience if he wanted to do so, and he did a terrible job.

But on the Religious Restoration Freedom Act in Indiana, which became an international news story in March of last year -- in the news cycle for days as Pence became a laughingstock on national television unable to defend the law -- we've seen scant coverage in this campaign, with Pence rarely asked about it and much of the media hardly raising it. And yet, it's a defining issue for him, and one that was built upon years of anti-LGBT attacks by Pence as a radio host and commentator and as a member of Congress, where he even proposed cutting funding for AIDS and diverting the money to "ex-gay" therapy programs.

Here we had two men of with deep religious convictions -- one who sees his faith as a call for equality (Kaine supports marriage equality and supports anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT people), and the other who sees it as a bludgeoning tool to persecute a minority group. There couldn't be a more clear distinction on something so prominent and it was just too big for Quijano to ignore. Furthermore, Trump has in fact supported much of Pence's anti-LGBT agenda -- consistently opposed to marriage equality for years, and recently solidifying his support for the anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act -- and yet has been lazily portrayed in the media as " more accepting on gay issues" as Trump has tried to play it both ways.

This was an opportunity for the moderator to finally show the sharp contrast between these presidential tickets on a civil rights issue of our time and draw Pence out as an extremist on the issue who has been embraced by Trump. To her credit, Quijano did this on the issue of abortion. But she failed on LGBT rights.

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Mike Pence's Blatant Anti-LGBT Extremism Completely Ignored In Debate

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There's no question that in last night's vice presidential debate, Virginia senator Tim Kaine missed an opportunity to slam Indiana governor Mike Pence on the issue that put Pence, infamously, at the center of national attention in 2015: his signing of a draconian anti-LGBT "religious liberty' bill into law.

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Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years

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Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, opposed gay marriage, ending Don't Ask Don't Tell and fighting workplace discrimination.

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A mass shooting at a popular gay club in Orlando, Florida, left 50 people dead early Sunday morning, including the gunman, according to officials. An investigation is ongoing into the reason for the rampage, and authorities are looking into the possibility that it is terrorism-related.

Politicians were quick to offer their somber support for people in Orlando.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton personally took to Twitter to weigh in on the "devastating news" from Florida early Sunday morning.

After more information of the shooting came out, Clinton issued another statement some hours later, declaring the murders "an act of terror" and "also an act of hate."

"For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home," she said. The former secretary of state specifically commented on the attack of an LGBT nightclub during Pride Month.

"To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America," she said.

She concluded her statement with a call for stricter gun control reforms, saying the incident "reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets."

According to a campaign press release, Clinton's June 15 campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin will be postponed. President Obama was scheduled to attend.

Donald Trump, the Republican party's presumptive nominee, also commented on the "really bad shooting" via the social media platform.

A few hours later, Trump sent another message on Twitter asking, "When will we get tough, smart & vigilant?'

And in another message, Trump touted the "congrats" he had received for "being right on radical Islamic terrorism."

Just minutes before President Obama was scheduled to address reporters from the White House regarding the Orlando shooting, Trump once again fired off another critical tweet:

Trump also tweeted out unconfirmed reports of the shooter declaring "Allah hu Akbar" as he opened fire on the nightclub.

In a longer statement sent out by his campaign Sunday afternoon, Trump repeated his call for the president to step down, slamming the chief executive for having "disgracefully refused to even say the words 'Radical Islam.'" He called on Clinton to get out of the general election race for the same reason.

"Because our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen - and it is only going to get worse," he said. "I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can't afford to be politically correct anymore."

Trump further implied that he would decrease immigration from the Middle East because "since 9/11, hundreds of migrants and their children have been implicated in terrorism in the United States."

"Hillary Clinton wants to dramatically increase admissions from the Middle East, bringing in many hundreds of thousands during a first term," he charged. "And we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing."

Trump further tweeted that he "called" the attack and "asked for the ban" of any Muslims entering the U.S.

The suspected shooter, Omar S. Mateen, was an American citizen born in New York to Afghan parents, according to the FBI.

Responding to Trump, Clinton's communication director slammed the billionaire in her own statement Sunday evening.

"Donald Trump put out political attacks, weak platitudes and self-congratulations," Jennifer Palmieri wrote of his response to the Orlando shooting. "Trump has offered no real plans to keep our nation safe and no outreach to the Americans targeted, just insults and attacks. In times of crisis more than ever, Americans are looking for leadership and deserve better."

Speaking to NBC's "Meet the Press" early Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called the murders "horrific" and "unthinkable."

"Our -- just -- hopes go out to all those who were shot that they can recover," Sanders said, before discussing his previous support for bans on selling automatic firearms in the U.S.

"Twenty-five years ago, I believed that in this country that we should not be selling automatic weapons which are designed to kill people," the Vermont senator added. "We have got to do everything that we can on top of that to make sure that guns do not fall into the hands of those who should not have them: criminals, people who are mentally ill. So that struggle continues."

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian party's presidential nominee and a former governor of New Mexico, called the slaughter "both cowardly and infuriating" but warned against politicizing the situation.

"In this immediate aftermath of what is clearly a tragic and despicable attack, our thoughts must be with the victims. Regardless of what the motivation is ultimately found to be, this violence against innocent people simply going about their lives is both cowardly and infuriating," Johnson said in a statement released Sunday afternoon. "We must allow the authorities to do their jobs, understand how this attack came about, and then respond accordingly. It is not a time to either politicize or jump to conclusions."

The Orlando shooter put up a protracted gun battle with police, according to a U.S. intelligence source. He was heavily armed with an assault rifle, a handgun, and a "device" of some kind that officials believed was a threat.

President Obama was briefed Sunday morning by Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism top homeland security officials, according to a statement from the White House press secretary. The president requested to receive regular updates on the situation as the FBI, the Orlando police, and other federal officials continue to carry out their investigation.

Appearing from the White House Sunday afternoon, the president addressed reporters on the shooting.

"This was an act of terror and an act of hate," Mr. Obama said. "The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism." He acknowledged that it was an "especially heartbreaking day" for the LGBT community.

Of the suspected shooter, the president said that "what is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred." Mr. Obama named the Orlando massacre as "the most deadly shooting in American history" and noted that the killer was armed with at least two guns. He said the day further served as a reminder "of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on" a weapon.

He also seemed to chastise legislators for their inability to agree on passing stricter gun reforms.

"We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be -- and to actively do nothing is a decision as well," Mr. Obama said.

The president issued a proclamation Sunday for the American flag to be flow at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds (including military posts, naval stations, U.S. embassies and facilities abroad) until sunset of June 16.

Vice President Joe Biden was also briefed Sunday by his national security advisor.

In a statement from the vice president's spokesperson, Biden "offered his prayers for all those killed and injured in the shooting and sends his condolences to all the families and loved ones of the victims."

In a statement from the vice president himself, Biden offered his own prayers and condolences for the Orlando shooting victims but noted that "our prayers are not enough to end these kinds of senseless mass shootings."

"The violence is not normal," he said, "and the targeting of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans is evil and abhorrent."

He is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to receive regular updates as well. The vice president, who was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in Miami Sunday, will instead head to Washington, D.C.

Other local politicians offered up their own prayers for the families of the shooting victims, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who pledged to "devote every resource available" to assist.

The Republican governor declared a state of emergency later in the day.

In an extended statement, Scott commented on the "act of terror."

"This is a time of great tragedy, and in every tragedy, there is a flood of sadness, confusion and despair," he said. "But, this is an attack on our people. An attack on Orlando. An attack on Florida. An attack on America. An attack on all of us."

He also issued a warning against those who may try to commit other mass acts of violence: "To the people who did this or may be thinking about doing something similar: you don't want to commit an act of terror in our state. In Florida, our justice system is swift and our penalties are severe. We are at a 45-year crime low and proud to be a safe state for our 20 million residents and 100 million tourists."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, once a candidate for president, tweeted out his own call for central Florida residents to donate blood after several dozens were rushed to local hospitals.

Rubio, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released a fuller statement later in the day discussing the threat of domestic terrorism.

"Confronting the threat of violent homegrown ‎radicalization is one of the greatest counterterrorism challenges our law enforcement and intelligence community faces," he said. "‎We must do more at every level of government and within our own communities to identify and mitigate this cancer on our free society and prevent further loss of innocent life."

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2016 candidates react to mass shooting at Orlando gay club

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A mass shooting at a popular gay club in Orlando, Florida, left 50 people dead early Sunday morning, including the gunman, according to officials. An investigation is ongoing into the reason for the rampage, and authorities are looking into the possibility that it is terrorism-related.

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Note: This page is a reproduction of the Hillary for America policy proposal on LGBT rights and equality.

Thanks to the hard work of generations of LGBT advocates and activists who fought to make it possible, our country won a landmark victory last June when the Supreme Court recognized that in America, LGBT couples-like everyone else-have the right to marry the person they love.

We've come so far, but we still have work to do.

As president, Hillary will:

Fight for full federal equality for LGBT Americans. Hillary will work with Congress to pass the Equality Act, continue President Obama's LGBT equality executive actions, and support efforts underway in the courts to protect people from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in every aspect of public life.

Support LGBT youth, parents, and elders. Hillary will end so-called "conversion therapy" for minors, combat youth homelessness by ensuring adequate funding for safe and welcoming shelters, and take on bullying and harassment in schools. She'll end discriminatory treatment of LGBT families in adoptions, and protect LGBT elders against discrimination.

Honor the military service of LGBT people. Hillary applauds the Pentagon's decision to allow transgender personnel to serve openly, and as Commander-in-Chief, she will upgrade service records of LGBT veterans dismissed due to their sexual orientation.

Fight for an AIDS-free generation.

Protect transgender rights. Hillary will work to protect transgender individuals from violence, make it easier for transgender Americans to change their gender marker on identification documents, and invest in law enforcement training focused on fair and impartial policing, including in interactions with LGBT people.

Promote human rights of LGBT people around the world. Hillary will promote LGBT human rights and ensure America's foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people, including increasing our investment in the Global Equality Fund to advance human rights.

Hillary has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights throughout her career.

In the U.S. Senate, Hillary championed legislation to address hate crimes, fought for federal non-discrimination legislation to protect LGBT Americans in the workplace, and advocated for an end to restrictions that blocked LGBT Americans from adopting children.

As secretary of state, Hillary advanced LGBT rights abroad and enforced stronger anti-discrimination regulations within the State Department, declaring on the global stage that "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights." She led the effort to pass the first-ever U.N. Resolution on LGBT Human Rights, launched the Global Equality Fund, ended State Department regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families equal rights, helped implement LGBT-friendly workplace policies, and updated the State Department's policy so that transgender individuals' passports reflect their true gender.

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LGBT rights and equality - The Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton

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Note: This page is a reproduction of the Hillary for America policy proposal on LGBT rights and equality. Thanks to the hard work of generations of LGBT advocates and activists who fought to make it possible, our country won a landmark victory last June when the Supreme Court recognized that in America, LGBT couples-like everyone else-have the right to marry the person they love.

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It's been two weeks since a gunman ended the lives of 49 victims and injured dozens of others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. As survivors heal and a community embraces the wounded and honors the dead, questions linger about what happened that night - and how the U.S. would respond after its deadliest mass shooting in recent history.

Many details of the attack still aren't known. But thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's become clearer - if still impossible to comprehend - what transpired in Orlando in the early hours of June 12, between 2:02 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. ET.

'All Hell Broke Loose'

The weekend had already started on a tragic note, with the death on Saturday morning of a former contestant on The Voice. Christina Grimmie had been shot the night before as she signed autographs following a performance at an Orlando theater, and the city was struggling to come to terms with this violent crime.

Saturday night was Latin Night at Pulse, one of the city's best-known gay clubs, and the place was packed with patrons both gay and straight, young and not-so-young, from the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and elsewhere, having a good time, dancing salsa and bachata.

At 2:02 a.m., according to an FBI timeline, Orlando police received reports that multiple shots had been fired at Pulse. An off-duty officer was working there and "engaged in a gun battle" with the shooter, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina. "The suspect, at some point, went back inside the club, where more shots were fired," Mina said. Additional officers had arrived at 2:04 a.m. and entered Pulse four minutes later, exchanging fire with the attacker.

At 2:09 a.m., a warning appeared on the club's Facebook page: "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."

Many did. But not everyone could.

As soon as Angel Colon heard the gunshots, he and his friends ran for their lives. But Colon was shot three times. He fell and was trampled. All around him, he heard shots and cries for help.

"I could just see him shooting at everyone and I can hear the [shots getting] closer, and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me," he said. "And I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead.' "

"Just all hell broke loose, people running for the door, jumping over the gates," said Ray Rivera, also known as DJ Infinite, who'd been playing music that night in the patio area. He took cover behind his booth, shielded two others and was able to flee to safety.

Some wounded clubgoers played dead on the dance floor. Others barricaded themselves inside bathroom stalls and, not wanting to speak, texted loved ones for help. The gunman paced around the rear of the club, laughing and shooting at bodies already on the ground.

A SWAT team was called at 2:18 a.m.

At 2:35 a.m., about half an hour after the shooting began, the shooter made oneof several 911 calls, according to the FBI.

"I wanna let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings," the gunman told the operator during this 50-second call, according to a transcript released by the FBI.

"What's your name?" the operator asked.

"My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State."

At 2:48 a.m., the gunman - whose name was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen - spoke with crisis negotiators from the Orlando police. He had a second conversation with them at 3:03 a.m. and a third at 3:24 a.m.

Mateen identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and threatened to detonate explosives, including a car bomb and a suicide vest - the kind "used in France," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris last November. Searches inside and outside the club failed to turn up these items, investigators said.

Mateen is also believed to have spent time online during his siege of the club, checking Facebook and searching for "Pulse Orlando" and "shooting." He called a friend. He texted his wife.

At 3:58 a.m., the Orlando Police Department's Twitter account warned residents to stay away from the area.

At 4:21 a.m., police cleared a way for some people trapped inside the club to escape by dislodging an air conditioning unit from a Pulse dressing room window. As clubgoers were being rescued, they told police the shooter had threatened to put bomb vests on four people within 15 minutes.

As 5 a.m. approached, those inside had been trapped for nearly three hours, some wounded and bleeding, calling police from their cellphones and pleading for help.

Police used explosives to try to breach the exterior cinder block wall of a bathroom where a dozen or so people were hiding, near another bathroom where Mateen had holed up with several hostages.

"I could see his feet, like scooting back, scooting back, scooting back, as he heard the police outside," said Patience Carter, one of the hostages with Mateen.

At 5:02 a.m., a SWAT team and the Orange County Sheriff's Office Hazardous Device Team "began to breach [the bathroom] wall with explosive charge and armored vehicle to make entry," according to the FBI.

"And the last thing that I heard before the police said, you know, 'Move away from the walls' - because, obviously, they were about to bust through again - [the shooter] said, 'Hey, you,' to someone on the floor inside the bathroom," Carter said. "And shot them. Shot another person, and then shot another person who happened to be directly behind me."

When the wall was broken, hostages began to emerge - and so did Mateen.

"The suspect came out of that hole himself, armed with a handgun and a long gun," Orlando's police chief said.Mateen began firing at police, and they fired back. An officer was hit in the gun battle but was saved from serious injury by his Kevlar helmet.

At 5:15 a.m., police reported the shooter was down.

A police tweet confirmed Mateen's death at 5:53 a.m., just before sunrise Sunday morning.

Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.
- Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 12, 2016

'I Don't Know Why He Did It'

The 29-year-old gunman was a U.S. citizen, born in New York in 1986. His parents moved to New York from Afghanistan in the 1980s, and eventually, the family relocated to Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mateen's last known residence was in Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County - about a two-hour drive from Orlando.

Investigators said Mateen legally purchased the two weapons he used at Pulse, a Sig Sauer MCX assault-style rifle and a handgun, in Port St. Lucie in the week before the attack. A third weapon was found in his vehicle.

According to public records, Mateen had possessed a valid firearm license since September 2011. He was also licensed to be a security officer, working most recently for the global security company G4S, where he'd been employed since 2007.

FBI Director James Comey said Mateen had been investigated in 2013 and again in 2014. In May 2013, Mateen claimed to have ties to both al-Qaida and Hezbollah, sparking a 10-month inquiry that sought anything tying him to more substantial threats. He was placed on a watch list when the investigation began, and taken off when it was closed in March 2014.

In July 2014, FBI agents again looked at Mateen as they investigated anyone with possible ties to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a U.S. citizen from Florida who blew himself up in a 2014 suicide attack in Syria. "No ties of consequence" were found, Comey said.

Mateen was married twice and had a 3-year-old son. The gunman's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, condemned the attack. "I apologize for what my son did. I don't know why he did it," he told NBC News. "He is dead, so I can't ask him. I wish I knew."

The elder Mateen said his son had become angered recently at the sight of two men kissing. But multiple media outlets reported that some Pulse regulars recognized Mateen and said he had frequented the nightclub as a patron. At least two men said they interacted with Mateen on gay dating apps. But "the FBI has found no evidence so far to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or communicated on gay dating apps," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mateen's first marriage ended in divorce. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, said he was an abusive husband. A grand jury is looking into what his second wife, Noor Salman, might have known about her husband's plans to target Pulse and whether she should face charges in connection with the attack. Mateen texted Salman as the attack was underway.

Mateen's motivations remain unclear. Although he claimed allegiance to ISIS, he also said during his 911 conversations that the Tsarnaev brothers, who attacked the Boston Marathon in 2012 (but did not affiliate themselves with ISIS), were his "homeboys," the FBI said.

His father has insisted the attack had "nothing to do with religion."

'We Will Be Defined By How We Respond'

"Around 2:00 [a.m.] or so, we got word that there were some shootings," Dr. Gary Parrish, medical director of the emergency department at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, told reporters on June 14. "But we didn't know quite what was about to hit us."

Patients suffering wounds to the chest, pelvis, extremities and abdomen began flooding into the emergency room shortly after 2 a.m., said Dr. Chadwick Smith, a surgeon at the hospital.

The wounded were brought in by the "truckloads and ambulance loads," doctors said. So much blood was lost that the hospital exhausted its entire medical supply. More had to be brought in from nearby hospitals.

Operating rooms, Smith said, were cleaned hastily between surgeries, in about a minute - again and again and again.

"We are dealing with something we never imagined," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer tweeted the morning after the attack. But, he said later, "We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater. We will be defined by how we respond, how we treat each other."

Vigils around the country and the world have honored the memory of the victims. On Friday, Florida's governor and Cabinet members placed 49 state flags for the victims on the lawn of Florida's historic capitol in Tallahassee.

Meanwhile, gun sales increased in the days following the massacre. A Florida congressional candidate announced a contest on Facebook to give away an AR-15 rifle, similar to the weapon Mateen used, on July 4.

In Washington, D.C., the Senate voted on four gun-control measures. All four failed.

Dr. Joshua Corsa, a surgeon who was on duty at the Orlando Regional Medical Center the night of the attack, has vowed to continue wearing the bloodstained shoes he had on that night, until every wounded victim is discharged from the hospital.

On Thursday, 11 days after the attack, Pulse's owner hosted a "Latin Night" street party for employees, patrons and friends, with music blaring and a dance floor in a restaurant parking lot. A thousand people showed up. "It's not a party, really, but I feel happy to see everyone," said one Pulse patron, who'd survived after hiding in a bathroom during the June 12 attack. "We needed this."

The section of Orlando's Orange Avenue near Pulse has reopened for business and traffic, though the club itself remains closed for now. "We can't feel normal yet after what happened," a Pulse employee told the Orlando Sentinel. But life is returning to a scarred city.

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3 Hours In Orlando: Piecing Together An Attack And Its Aftermath

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It's been two weeks since a gunman ended the lives of 49 victims and injured dozens of others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. As survivors heal and a community embraces the wounded and honors the dead, questions linger about what happened that night - and how the U.S.

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Donald Trump: Opposes Nationwide Marriage Equality | Human Rights Campaign

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Trump recently expressed support for the so-called First Amendment Defense Act which would expose LGBT people to more discrimination.