The Pros And Cons Of Conversion Therapy

Nearly one in three LGBTQ youth will experience some form of conversion therapy, post coming out (Gonzales, 2016). Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, has been used on those who identify as transgender, bisexual, and homosexual for decades. Though the LGBTQ community has made amazing steps in civil rights and social acceptance, this is still one of the many problems the community faces today. Throughout this paper I will look at conversion therapy to see what exactly is going on, what those in power are saying about it, and how horribly damaging it is to those who are “treated”.
Conversion therapy is defined as any clinical effort to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity (Gonzales, 2016), or in other words,
These forms of therapy can be extremely damaging both physically and mentally. Those practices that harm individuals physically are referred to as aversion therapy. These techniques intend to change a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity with treatments that include, but are not limited to, shock therapy, sensory deprivation, and submersion in ice-cold baths (Gonzales, 2016). While some practices included in conversion therapy are legitimate forms of therapy to treat mental illnesses, homosexuality is not a mental illness.
A word that is sometimes used interchangeably with conversion therapy is reparative therapy, but this form of therapy specifically refers to the idea that suggests homosexuality is a person unconscious attempt to repair parts of them that have been effected by past experiences and to improve feelings of self-worth. This therapy convinces patients that the reason they are experiencing homosexual thoughts is due to previous trauma in their lives. This causes individuals to doubt their true emotions and be brainwashed to believe that homosexuality is
For decades, the American Psychiatric Association has recognized that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not a mental illness and that trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is ineffective and dangerous (Boone, 2017). The majority opinion of professionals is that conversion therapy simply does not work. The abuse being inflicted on patients may traumatize them enough to never feel comfortable to come out as homosexual or engage in sexual acts with a person of the same sex. But that does not mean that person was converted to being heterosexual, which is what conversion therapy claims to do. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence claiming that this form of therapy does nothing but cause harm to the individuals involved. Yet still there are people who practice this form of therapy to this day. Even our current U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence, has made comments in years past that have depicted his support in conversion therapy. While addressing his standpoint on the Ryan White Care Act. This act provides federal funding for H.I.V patients and during the time of his comment it was up for reauthorization, the comment states “Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the