By Meghan Serceki
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson officially announced plans to ban conversion “therapy.” More accurately, though, they plan to restrict it. Because there’s one huge group excluded from the motion: trans* individuals.
It’s a step, but not a sufficient one. Conversion “therapy” is still in existence throughout the world, and it continues to put queer people in harm’s way.
What is it?
Conversion “therapy,” put simply, is any organized effort to “change” someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
We put “therapy” in quotes because it is not, in fact, therapy. Rather, it’s a harmful practice often packaged and marketed as therapy to imply that queerness is a sickness which needs to be treated.
Many organizations like the American Psychological Association have spoken out against the practice. In an official statement, the APA deemed conversion “therapy” to be unethical, unproven, harmful, and unnecessary. Therefore, legitimate and ethical healthcare providers will not condone or promote these programs today.
What does it look like today?
The phrase “conversion ‘therapy’” might bring to mind images from American Horror Story: Asylum or Cable Girls, where lesbian Lana Winters or transmasculine Óscar Ruíz undergo torture to “correct” their “deviancy.” Images from these period dramas may distance the issue as they seem out of reach today. But, while the forms of this “therapy” have changed, the practice and its detrimental impacts on individuals’ lives have not.
A 2019 study conducted by the Williams Institute concluded that 698,000 people in the United States have received, or are receiving, conversion “therapy.” Of this, nearly 350,000 were adolescents at the time of “treatment.”
Each person’s experience varies. Peter Gajdics recounts being drugged and forced to smell his own feces when he had “homosexual thoughts.” Other efforts might at first seem more innocuous, marketed as counseling, treatment, prayer, or the like. But its psychological effects are damning.
In the Netflix documentary Pray Away, Julie Rodgers recalls being told that her gayness is a result of locked away trauma with men — an internal struggle she must overcome in order to be “saved” and return to heterosexual life. Her experience with this distorted “talk therapy” approach made her feel less than or unworthy, believing in the need to change a part of herself that is actually natural, beautiful, and enduring.
“Talk therapy” is the most common form of conversion “therapy” today, and while it might not seem as immediately dangerous as “aversion therapy” or the like, it has lasting and devastating effects on its survivors.
How harmful is it?
LGBTQ+ individuals are already at the highest demographic risk of facing mental health challenges and suicide (see “The Stigma of Seeking Help”). Conversion therapy compounds the issue.
The Williams Institute found that cisgender conversion therapy survivors are twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who have not. That’s 34%. For the general population, it’s only 2.4%.
There is little data about trans* survivors, but given that trans* individuals already encounter challenges to their mental health at higher rates than other groups, it’s reasonable to conclude that the trend would carry over to those who have survived conversion therapy.
What now?
We need to continue to foster an environment of support and to advocate for all individuals. People’s lives are at risk, and everyone deserves support.
Survivors have vastly different experiences, and it’s important to listen to their stories. Some may have sought out conversion “therapy” or stay in it because they feel trapped; they feel like they need to change that part of themselves to be worthy and accepted.
What we can do is show our support for them to be exactly who they are, to be there for them, and to support resources that truly help them. We need to leave the door open for those who have lost hope and let them know that they can live as their authentic selves. They won’t be alone.