Dozens of people spent about 4 hours Sunday protesting gay conversion therapy near the entrance to a major local proponent of the practice. The demonstrators gathered near the intersection of Churn Creek Road and College View Drive near Bethel Church. Some of the church’s leaders have recently called on their congregation to contact state legislators and express opposition to some bills that would further delegitimize the practice of gay conversion therapy. It’s already illegal in California to subject juveniles to the ordeal, which seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. It’s a transformation that most of modern science considers to be impossible and potentially harmful to its subjects. The legislation moving through Sacramento would define the practice as medical fraud, and make it illegal to profit from providing the therapy. Bethel’s stance on the matter has drawn sharp criticism from many members of the community, and led the management of the Redding Civic Auditorium to issue a statement distancing themselves from the church, which holds its “School of Supernatural Ministry” at the auditorium.