Mental Health Association Welcomes Section 53 Decision

The recent ruling on Section Fifty-Three of the Criminal Code is getting support from the Mental Health Association. The MHA says it applauds the Chief Justice’s recent ruling which is firmly based in law rather than emotion and upholds the right of privacy in consensual sexual activity between adults. According to the MHA, it is long overdue considering that the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1974. The MHA also believes that any move to reduce discrimination and the social stigma felt by LGBT people will have positive mental health consequences.  The association states that it is also supporting the official decision not to appeal the ruling and is firmly opposed to the idea of a referendum concerning the issue.  Any campaign on this issue would undoubtedly increase hate speech and lead to greater stigma and discrimination with severe mental health implications for the LGBT community. It states that, “the ruling in no way imposes a new morality on those who have religious or other objections to homosexuality who remain free to retain their own views and to base their own lifestyles on these views.”