APA Resolution Officially Discredits Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy
The American Psychological Association (APA) has long condemned the controversial and harmful practice of conversion therapy for queer people but has not always done the same for those who identify as trans within the LGBTQ community. For the first time on Monday, March 3, the organization officially discredited the treatment’s impact on trans patients in an APA Resolution on Gender Identity Change Efforts.
“I am extremely grateful to the APA for using its platform and expertise to advocate for better health outcomes for all LGBTQ youth,” states Sam Brinton, Vice president of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project, one of the leading LGBTQ mental health organizations in the country.
The APA stated in the resolution that, “Gender Identity change efforts (GICE) cause harm by reinforcing anti-transgender and anti-gender nonbinary stigma and discrimination,” and inform that “a number of national and international professional healthcare organizations have publicly warned against the harmful effects of GICE and SOCE (Sexual Orientation Change Efforts).”
LGBTQ conversion therapy aims to closet a transgender or queer person through shame, trauma, and physical abuse and remains legal in most states today. In a study from the Williams Institute at UCLA, more than 700,000 LGBTQ people have undergone this harmful therapy as they are coached into believing their gender identities and sexual orientations are unnatural or sinful.
A 2018 study by The Family Acceptance Project found that the rates of attempted suicide by LGBTQ young people whose parents tried to change their sexual orientation were more than double the rate of LGBTQ young adults who reported no conversion experiences.
“There is a growing body of research that shows that transgender or nonbinary gender identities are normal variations in human expression of gender,” APA President Jennifer F. Kelly said in a statement. “Attempts to force people to conform with rigid gender identities can be harmful to their mental health and well-being.”
Although this is a step in the right direction, this is still happening today and an estimated 80,000 LGBTQ youth will experience this unprofessional conduct in coming years. According to the Movement Advancement Project, there are still 26 states and 4 territories that have no state law or policy around conversion therapy.
