https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/opinion/gay-conversion-therapy.html

OPINION: What I Learned from Gay Conversion Therapy

>>On Saturday, a group of Christians will gather in Washington for the Freedom March, an event that organizers describe as “a celebration of freedom from homosexuality and transgenderism.” The march will feature speakers like Elizabeth Johnston, the woman behind the Activist Mommy, a right-wing Facebook page with over 500,000 followers.

>>In the national conversation about conversion therapy, people often focus attention on the 10 states (plus Washington) that have banned the practice for minors. But these laws, and this conversation, address conversion therapy only as it’s practiced by mental health professionals with minors. That’s not where most conversion therapy is happening, though. I know, because I spent the better part of my 20s involved in it.

>>Most conversion therapy occurs not with mental health professionals but in conservative Christian communities. Numbers are hard to come by, because the communities usually don’t come out and say they’re doing conversion therapy; in fact, they’re often skeptical of therapy in general. Groups that help people “leave homosexuality” are usually nonprofit ministries, and the counseling is facilitated by pastors and lay leaders who are not trained professionals. These groups are protected by religious freedom laws, so laws banning conversion therapy for minors do not apply to them.

I like what pundit Chris Matthews says on the subject: "How old were you when you made the choice?" Or as a friend of mine once told me: "Nobody every wants to be gay."

Sadly, bigotry is still at epidemic levels in this country,and even though there are many "enlightened faiths" who see the issue for what it is; the narcissistic intolerance of many "religious sorts" still survives.

>>The numbers of minors exposed to some form of conversion therapy is already staggering: In January, the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law released a report that estimates that 57,000 youths between 13 and 17 will receive conversion therapy from religious advisers before the age of 18 and 20,000 will receive conversion therapy from a licensed mental health professional before the age of 18 in the 40 states that still allow it.

>>I was taken to an “ex-gay” organization when I came out at the age of 17, and I spent almost 10 years involved in a member ministry of Exodus International, an umbrella organization that promoted conversion therapy and that shut down in 2013.

>>I attended several of my gay friends’ weddings to people of the opposite sex, and I sat across from them years later when they grieved over the end of their marriage. They might have changed the way they identified, but they felt a longing for intimacy with someone of the same sex that simply could not be met by their spouses. Some white-knuckled their way through the rest of their lives in these marriages, often with secret hookups that left them deeply ashamed, sometimes suicidal. Others eventually ended their marriages, and they despaired over the pain they caused their spouses and children.

>>These stories never show up in the short videos on ex-gay ministries’ websites.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2018 12:22PM by SL Cabbie.

The statistics are grim.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24.
LGB youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth.
LGB youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth.
Of all the suicide attempts made by youth, LGB youth suicide attempts were almost five times as likely to require medical treatment than those of heterosexual youth.
Suicide attempts by LGB youth and questioning youth are 4 to 6 times more likely to result in injury, poisoning, or overdose that requires treatment from a doctor or nurse, compared to their straight peers.
In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25.
LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.
1 out of 6 students nationwide (grades 9–12) seriously considered suicide in the past year.
Each episode of LGBT victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average.


Things aren't so great for adults either:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-transgender-murder-rate-reveals-the-ugly-lie-of-acceptance-10


No rational, thinking person with a brain believes it's a "choice."

Instead of shame, hate, and rejection, learn how to be a good ally:
https://transequality.org/issues/resources/supporting-the-transgender-people-in-your-life-a-guide-to-being-a-good-ally