Please don't make me.
"Reparative" or "Conversion Therapy" is a dangerous practice that targets gays and seeks to change their sexual orientation. 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.
Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against gay people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy. Minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, alcohol abuse, self-mutilation, homelessness, and suicide, as these images indicate.
Depression
Anxiety
Drug abuse
Alcohol abuse
Self-mutilation
Homelessness
Suicide
To date, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice. Eight of these state laws or regulations were enacted under Republican governors. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including at least 70 cities and counties in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
On three occasions—May 2015, February 2016, and April 2019—the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) allowed decisions of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding New Jersey’s anti-conversion therapy law to remain in effect. SCOTUS also refused to hear challenges to California's anti-conversion therapy law in May of 2017 and June of 2014, leaving in place decisions of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the law’s constitutionality.
According to a recent report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 20,000 gay minors in states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed healthcare professional if state officials fail to act. In April 2018, national organizations representing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals, educators, and child welfare advocates declared their support for legislative protections against conversion therapy.
Some right-wing religious groups promote the concept that an individual can change their sexual orientation, 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 are affirmatively harmful. Beyond studies focused solely on reparative therapy, broader research clearly demonstrates the significant harm that societal prejudice and family rejection has on gay people, particularly youth. Furthermore, there is significant anecdotal evidence of harm to gay people resulting from attempts to change their sexual orientation. 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.
No way can you turn off gay feelings and desires like you turn off a light switch!
