Throughout the history of the queer community, which has seen decades upon decades of discrimination, there is a practice that has been the most troubling of all: conversion therapy While this practice has been outlawed in 22 states including D.C., it is still being illegally practiced in the states that have banned it.
Conversion therapy is a practice that aims at changing someones sexual orientation to straight. This practice has been denounced by many activists, as conversion therapy is very harmful. It can cause increase in suicidal ideation, depression, low self-esteem, and substance abuse.
Ted Lieu, a California representative, introduced a bill that would ban conversion therapy on a national level, citing that conversion therapy has no medical basis and truly doesn’t change anyones sexual orientation or way of being.
Sadly, hate goes a very long way in our community, so much so that parents are willing to sacrifice the well-being of their children to save themselves from “embarrassment” and hate from those around them. Parents are supposed to have unconditional amounts of love, not love with conditions.
This is a very tragic and unfortunate reality, as 10% of queer people have fallen victims to conversion therapy, and at least 17% of queer youth have been threatened with it. While they may seem like small percentages, they bring out big figures when put into numbers.
Alarmingly, author Casey Pick and her team found that more than 1,320 conversion therapy practitioners are working with religious organizations. One hundred of those are licensed therapists. Pick found that they work throughout almost every state except Hawaii and Vermont. This is very sad, as these states include almost all the states that have banned conversion therapy.
Pick also found that when people are searching for these so-called “practitioners,” their advertisements no longer use the original term, but rather words like “unwanted same-sex attraction” in order to get clientele.
This is just one of many things that the queer community has to deal with on top of the mountain of hate that we have to deal with on the basis. What many parents do not realize is that being queer goes beyond a “phase” that just goes away. It is a feeling that is felt in the depths of the heart, and it therefore should be respected.
