Conversion therapy under fire
Several states consider tighter rules on controversial practice
Conversion therapy has made headlines after President Obama called for an end to the controversial practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation.
A petition with more than 121,000 signatures has called for a federal ban on the practice, also referred to as reparative therapy or aversion therapy. The petition was inspired by Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender teen from Ohio who committed suicide last December.
Several states are considering legislation, including Washington, where the state House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to ban conversion therapy for minors by a vote of 60-37. The revised bill has gone back to the Senate.
Gabi Clayton, a mental health counselor in Olympia, said conversion therapy is traumatizing and unethical. She has heard horror stories of people undergoing torturous electroshock treatment, for example, and suffering psychological damage that lasts a lifetime.
Clayton has become an advocate for the gay community in the 20 years since her son, Bill, took his own life at age 17 after he was assaulted in a hate crime. She said Bill had love and support from his family when he came out at age 14.
“I don’t believe you can change sexual orientation,” said Clayton, who is hopeful the state’s ban on conversion therapy will pass. “There are some people who say the therapy works, but I don’t believe them.”
Leslie, a transgender woman from Olympia, was subjected to the therapy while living as a teenage boy in Texas.
For about four years, Leslie was forced by her abusive father to attend secret therapy sessions. The sessions consisted of men berating Leslie as she sat in a chair in a dark room under a spotlight, she said.
The goal of the therapy sessions, she said, was to instill shame.
“They’d go on and on about how disgusting it is to be pretending to be female when your body is obviously male,” Leslie said.
The American Counseling Association rejects conversion therapy as a viable treatment option and reports there is no research that supports the therapy as an effective treatment.