a month we have our competition for high school students. this year, issues on the new president and congress. our second price high school winners are 11 and 12th-graders from oak grove and california. they are in franklin high school. their documentary on lgbt therapy and conversion is -- take a look. 318 point 9 million people living in the united states. people000 of those identify themselves as gays or lesbians. >> trans-genders. while lgbt issues have received more attention, not all of it has been positive. one of these issues is conversion therapy. >> we are going to and the harmful practice of so-called, conversion therapy.

so-called conversion therapy. therapy is a topic that is come up a lot in this past election and recent years. but what is it really? we turn to some experts. do with changing someone from gay-to-straight. usually that is done in the context of some kind of group .herapy there's usually some kind of religious backing behind it, meaning they are converting into specifically their piece of that is reparative therapy which is psychological. because by the belief that there was some kind of disconnect between a male and his father female and her mother. is notersion therapy about praying away the gay, it is an emotional torture against our most innocent citizens, our children. according to the american

psychological association, sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to sexual orientation. the national association of social workers says conversion therapy cannot and will not change sexual orientation. these psychologists do not consider it a therapy because there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that conversion therapy is useful or effective. in fact, there are no scientific anyies that indicate there positive benefits from conversion therapy. >> despite this both rivera -- reparative therapies and ask game ministries permit -- exists. this is been around since the 1800s. a populationarm, report california says early and stream attempts to change caymans sexuality include lobotomies and castration. as well as techniques are not in use by modern practitioners, conversion there p and its roots are still harmful. >>'s happening in the shadows, where parents would find the

confession signed the kids up to be converted. some team would come and snatch them from their bed and take them to this camp where they were to be converted. they try to stick something in a style that was not wrong. the harsh practices go back for decades in an attempt to beat the gay out of them. their identity whether the sexual orientation, gender identity, trying to force someone to be something that they are not can be incredibly damaging to their development as an individual, to their relationships with others, and can put additional stresses on their life that will harm a cross-section of their development. there is existence speaks to a larger problem concerning the except -- safety and acceptance of lgbt is, or a lack of that which has consequences. >> the world in which lgbt are growing up can orient towards a

style that people assume. >> in my age group, or they are place., it was the same they were so uncomfortable with being gay in their social environment. nine times out of 10 if not more, there is a religious element to this. there is aof whether religious element of not there is an overwhelming sense of shame being who you are because the environment in which you are raised that this is not right. do not living up to your best. the researchers that people who have gone through conversion therapy tend to -- they are more suicidal, partly because the families and not as excepting, they don't have that acceptance they want. they tend to have a constant feeling that i -- they have failed god. being are never who they are supposed to be, like what i went through, there

is this feeling that something is always wrong with them. >> according to the human rights campaign, projected lgbt youth were more to it -- likely to experience depression, suicide, or be at risk for stds compared to those with no rejection. .> just let your child not only tell them they can be whatever they want to become, a fireman, astronaut, teacher, but also tell them they can be whoever they want. they can have the opportunity to find their own gender identity, sexual orientation. >> rejected youth need protection and acceptance. we as individuals cannot change every environment, every mind. 45% of lgbt youth feel that their state government is not accepting of them, 34% feel the same way about their local government. the government is meant to protect them and their rights. some states have recognized the harm of conversion therapy end up supporting it.

conversion there p is illegal in california, or don, illinois, vermont, new jersey, and washington, d.c. five states out of 50 is not enough. we ask our congress and new president to take on the urgent issue of conversion therapy and ban its harmful practice in 2017. we ask you to stand up for america's lgbt, and take a stand against this. take a stand alongside our nations capital. no minor should be up or forgotten because of who or how they love. all minors should feel protected by their government. ♪ to watch all the documentaries in the sears student competition, visit studentcam.org. ♪ tonight on q and a... >> it was everywhere in decline,

nationalists were raising up. big strategic question that the u.s. faced was, should it support britain against the rising nationalists, or should it try to create a new order mediating between nationalists and british? >> michael durand on his book, ike's scandal, america's rise and dominance in the middle east about the 1956 suez crisis and its aftermath. >> soviet union coming in a lightning with the nationalists -- lining with the nationalists taking control of the middle east. we cared about oil because it looked -- 100% of european oil came from the middle east. we wanted to make sure we had friendly arab regimes, if not align with the united states, keep the soviet union out. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q and a. >> senate judiciary committee meets tomorrow to vote on the nomination of neil gorsuch to be

an associate justice on the supreme court. live coverage on c-span2 at eastern. the full senate will then take it up. majority leader mcconnell announced he points to hold the final confirmation vote on friday, april 7. watch the senate live on c-span two. case you missed it on c-span, for research institute and the senate intelligence hearing. of 2015,the end started 2016, the russian system began pushing messages seeking to influence the outcome of the u.s. presidential election. russia's covert trolls soft sideline opponents on both sides of the spectrum with adversarial views towards the kremlin. they were in full swing during the republican and democratic primary season and may have helped sink the hopes of candidates more hostile to russian interests on before the field narrowed. >> botanic general to grow so on the shortage of pilots in the military. --the total force including

was short on thousand 555 pilots across all missionaries. of this amount the total force was short over 12,000 fighter pilots. it should be noticed that the cops -- posted train it fighter pilot can prepare him or her for the first operational squadron is approximately $11 million. at ade receiver congressional >> forum on policing and minority communities. there are a lot of police officers that are not involved in the communities that they are serving, or supposed to be serving in. i have this crazy theory that if i am a lot more likely to treat you better than if i don't. relationship with you, with that relationship i will not be so quick to lock you up. >> general joseph martel on

security challenges in the middle east. >> while we consider to establish and accountability of our corrections, it is important to clearly recognize that the enemy does use human shields, has little regard for human life and uses civilian casualties as a tool into our operations. arizona congresswoman marcy mix sally at the american israel policy conference. >> the state of israel is a modern-day david, and goliath is the arsenal of hundreds of thousands of rockets and missiles and -- and at the jewish state by terror groups but hezbollah and hamas. had a majore israel upgrade in technology that will help to take down the next giant. amen. [applause] the david sling missile-defense system, which was co-developed by israel ref failed systems and the american defense contractor.

>> c-span programs are available at www.c-span.org, announcer: now a discussion on the future of the republican party. from washington journal, visit 30 minutes. spencer, the dave founder of tactically -- practically republican, which is what? >> the best way to think of it is i am an endangered beasties, i'm an old-fashioned, rockefeller republican. i have always been interested in politics and the parties changed so much in the last 30 years. i am worried that we have gone away from a lot of our core values of what the party stands