"Erinna"American Governments. To tackle the issue of conversion therapy and its effects on its victims, one must first understand what exactly conversion therapy is and what its aims are. Conversion therapy is the supposedly corrective therapy that aims to change a person's sexual orientation. According to the LGBT Movement Advancement project, “Conversion therapy, also referred to as “Reparative Therapy” or “Ex-Gay Therapy,” is a widely discredited practice that attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Practices to “cure” individuals of their same-sex sexual orientations and transgender identities include a number of techniques ranging from shaming to hypnosis to inducing vomiting to electric shocks.” Simply because it's widely discredited doesn't mean its not still practiced. People still firmly believe in it. Patients will willingly sign up for it, but almost more concerning is that parents will force their children, minors that have no say in it to be participants. Conversion therapy exists as a hope to parents and patients alike to forcibly turn the LGBT person away from their attraction and towards what they would consider normal. It exists because to these parents the idea of their child; or in the case of willing patients, themselves, as gay is worse than the thought of the great psychological damages the treatment does.
While leading experts know that even if that were so and the benefits outweigh the consequences, conversion therapy is largely ineffective. Its largely ineffective at actually “curing” gayness but it's highly effective in causing self hate. Conversion therapy most profoundly impacts the patients. The national center for lesbian Rights is a movement centered on advancing gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights through litigation and legislation. They compiled a document about the myths and corresponding truths of the horrors of Gay transitional therapy, in which they state: “All of the nation’s leading professional medical and mental health associations have rejected conversion therapy as unnecessary, ineffective, and dangerous. These groups have cautioned that the practices do not work and have warned patients that they may be harmful. For example, the American Psychological Association “advises parents, guardians, young people, and their families to avoid sexual orientation change efforts that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and to seek psychotherapy, social support, and educational services that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support, and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth.”” (nlcrights.org). The damage done by conversion therapy on a person, especially a child’s sense of self is incredibly dangerous. “Conversion therapy can be extremely dangerous and, in some cases, fatal. In 2009, the APA issued a report concluding that the reported risks of the practices include: depression, guilt, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, social withdrawal, suicidality, substance abuse, stress, disappointment, self-blame, decreased self-esteem and authenticity to others, increased self-hatred, hostility and blame toward parents, feelings of anger and betrayal, loss of friends and potential romantic partners, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, sexual dysfunction, high-risk sexual behaviors, a feeling of being dehumanized and untrue to self, a loss of faith, and a sense of having wasted time and resources.” (nlcrights.org) The question then becomes, if leading experts agree that conversion therapy is not only damaging but also that doesn't work, and that the practice covers anything up to “electrotherapy”, then how is signing a child up for it any different than child abuse? And why is it still allowed? Conversion therapy is only outlawed for minors in 15 states and DC, leaving 35 states with no law banning the harmful practice, and an estimate of 60 percent of the LGBT population in states where it is still legal. The majority of LGBT youth are not protected from this so called treatment by law. The issue of gay rights was discussed and given a spotlight as a whole during the campaigns; however, very few people mention gay conversion laws specifically. And the fact that minors, who do not have a choice in the matter of their treatment are allowed under law to be sent to these facilities. During the presidential election more spotlight fell of gay conversion therapy due to the claim that Vice president Mike Pence supported gay conversion therapy due to the statement, “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 types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” Pence’s team stated that this was taken out of context, but LGBT Rights leaders still believe the claim. To begin any improvement on these conditions for our children, we must first ask ourselves why being unable to condemn the torture of children for simply being born who they are is not enough to discount a man from the second highest office in our county. And when we’ve answered that question we will know how far we have left to go before all children can be safe. The fact that this wasn’t more of an issue is an insight to how little regard or understanding a vast majority of people have towards this issue. In addition to the implications of what his election meant, his office and the powers there in are an obstacle to any law banning conversion therapy at the federal level. Gay rights remains a divisive issue, and with any divisive issue you must look to who has the power of a swing vote in the event of a tie: The Vice President, Mike Pence. Not only is he a major influencer, he also has the swing vote power which means that his opinions and ties to programs that support conversion therapy are a major issue. However, while the presidential election called into question the gains we had made in the years prior, so too did the midterms reignite hope. Due to the midterm election results, and the subsequent introduction of more representatives supportive of gay rights, activists are hopeful that with enough hard work, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and New York will join the ranks of those that have banned therapists from trying to change the sexual orientation of a minor through any means. But even more that that public opinion and attention is shifting to this issue thanks to movies highlighting its struggle in ways representatives are simply not, and that they are seeing an increase in volunteers since movies such as “Boy Erased” came out. There’s still much to do but activist such as the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ legal director Shannon Miller, are hopeful. “We’d be disappointed if we don’t get those this year — they’re overdue,” she states about the four states on the cusp of enacting bans statewide.
0 Comments
|
AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
Categories
All
|