Conversion Therapy Is an Abomination
The Supreme Court has agreed to take a case that challenges Colorado’s ban on so-called “conversion therapy.” As the name suggests, conversion therapy is an alleged treatment that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and any and all expressions of those, that don’t conform to rigid straight, heterosexual norms.
I’m a psychotherapist. If you were to ask me the most damaging thing I could do in therapy, it would be to try to convince someone that they’re not okay being who they inherently are. And that is precisely what conversion therapy does. But it’s not therapy, of course. So, let’s not call it that. It’s attempted indoctrination. It’s bigotry impersonating help. It’s oppression masquerading as liberation. It’s a handmaid of privileged, straight, white male supremacy that says women are to be subservient, homebound, baby-incubating women and men are to be unquestioned, dominating, all-powerful men.
I’ve had the honor of doing therapy with quite a few people who’ve gone through conversion therapy. I’ve heard the horror stories. The agonizing shame and self-hatred and disorientation created by the attempted brainwashing can’t be overstated. It’s profound. It can seep into one’s bones. And it can take many years to undo the extreme damage not only to one’s very sense of self, but the damage caused by the tremendous betrayal of friends and family, the “therapist,” and the mental health and medical communities. I strongly believe that anyone who may be troubled by their sexual orientation or gender identity is only troubled because they’re navigating the internalized shame projected onto them or the interpersonal strife caused by these bigoted people and institutions. The beautiful range of gender identities, sexual orientations, and all the ways humans express them, are as natural as can be. The only thing that needs to be converted is bigotry and oppression and the small-mindedness that creates them.
That SCOTUS has agreed to take the case says a lot in and of itself. Regardless of what it ultimately decides, it means enough of the justices think it’s a case worth hearing. It has merit. If they decide in favor of Kaley Hayes, the counselor who claims her 1st Amendment rights are being violated with the Colorado ban, this could have a ripple effect, overturning the existing bans in other states, codifying this practice nationwide.
I call on my fellow psychotherapists as well as counselors, social workers, and all mental health (and medical professionals) to speak out against overturning the ban on the abomination that is conversion therapy.
Sign the petition here: https://chng.it/CGgTMdsRTy