Conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people could make a comeback

This article was originally published Stateline part of the state newsroom.

Every week, teenager Brandon Long sat throughout the counseling session.

A long time Kentucky legislator, now an appointed pastor in northern Kentucky, spoke about the year he spent in years undergoing therapy designed to remove his “same-sex attraction.”

“Imagine being told a session after that session.

Long testimony in February before a Republican-sponsored Kentucky House Committee invoice It cancels the Democratic government’s Andy Besher cancellation 2024 Presidential Order It banned the controversial practice known as “conversion therapy” for minors.

Conversion therapy is a catch-all term for controversial efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity LGBTQ+People. It is sometimes called “repair therapy,” but from talk therapy to religious counseling Electric shockinduces pain Aversive therapy and Physical separation.

The bill told lawmakers “creating a legal shield for conversion therapy and allowing parents to exercise condemned by all major medical and mental health agencies around the world.”

Kentucky Republican-controlled Congress has passed the bill The governor’s veto was overturned in March..

Conversion therapy is American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Children’s Academy and Adolescent Psychiatry. They say it is ineffective and harmful, putting LGBTQ+ people at risk of depression, substance use, suicide and other mental health issues.

More than half of the state Since California first began doing so in 2012, it has banned or restricted the practices of minor patients, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a non-profit research organization that tracks LGBTQ+-related laws and policies.

However, political tides are changing. Conservative majority at the courts, state legislatures and federal levels have opened the doors to reconstruct the legal situation and revive practices that Republican lawmakers and conservative Christian groups have been roundly trusted by the medical community.

March, US Supreme Court I agreed to hear about the incident Challenging Colorado bans conversion therapy 2019 About freedom of speech. This decision shows changes from 2017when the court refuses to hear the challenge to California’s ban, 2023when he refused to hear the challenge of Washington’s ban.

A High Court decision not anticipated until next year could reverse or solidify the national ban on conversion therapy.

Last month, Virginia Courts partially I hit it State 2020 Law Prohibition Therapy for Minors is a victory for Conservative Christian Organizations. GOP councillor Michigan We have introduced a bill to abolish the state’s ban. and MissouriThe Republican Attorney General filed a lawsuit to overturn a local ban on conversion therapy.

Conversely, in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court I cleared the road Earlier this year, the state would permanently ban the customs.

“The world has changed.”

While organised attempts to “treat” homosexuality have existed for centuries, the “former gay” group that promised to change people’s sexual orientation in the 1990s as same-sex marriage and gay people serving the military emerged. He is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, whose research focuses on gender and sexuality.

However, after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004 and more states continued, the impact of conversion therapy advocates faded.

As of this year, 23 states and Washington, DC will prevent licensed healthcare providers from receiving conversion therapy to minors. analysis of state laws by the Movement Progress Project. Four more states limit practices, such as not allowing public funds to head towards conversion therapy services.

State law typically collects or disciplines professional licenses for practitioners seeking to involve minors in conversion therapy. They do not necessarily prevent clergy or unlicensed counselors from attempting such counselling.

The ban is not a commonly used precaution, but rather an official statement of acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, Drescher said.

“If homosexuality is not a mental disorder or illness, there’s no reason to pretend that it can be treated, and anyone who is acting outside of the mainstream science,” he told Drescher.

The American Medical Association writes Model method For state lawmakers who want to ban conversion therapy, it reflects the widespread consensus in the medical community that homosexuality and gender inconsistency are not mental illness, said RJ Mills, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement on Stateline.

In the past, several major psychiatric and psychological associations have hesitated to support state restrictions as they were seen as invasions into the relationship between a physician patient or a therapist with a patient.

Now, Trump administration policy There are new restrictions with LGBTQ+ people Most conservative That’s the US Supreme Court of Generation and Medical Institutions Grow more vocals Oppose conversion therapy.

“The world has changed,” Drescher said. “Everyone understands what is at risk right now.”

Free speech debate

Conservative legal companies Colorado, Michigan and Virginia On behalf of Christian counselors who say that the law prevents them from practicing according to their faith-based values. They say that the ban should be abolished, so practitioners will not face losing their careers by providing services informed by their faith.

Last month, Virginia Court oversaw a Virginia consent ruling I agreed not to fully implement the 2020 conversion therapy ban And to enable counselors to engage in conversational conversion therapy with minors. The plaintiffs in this case were represented by the Center for the establishment Freedom of Law, an organization that has expert counselors of Virginia’s national licensing, John and Janet Raymond, who assume conservative legal causes.

The type of talk therapy currently permitted may include sharing written material such as conversation, prayer, and religious Bible, Raymonds’ lawyer Josh Hetzler said at a public press conference after the court’s ruling.

“This court order will allow all counselors in Virginia to freely speak truthful and candidly with clients seeking to have those important conversations about their identity, and to hear faith-based insights from trustworthy experts,” he said.

Conservative lawmakers also cite their Christian faith in their attempts to rewind the state’s ban.

Republican Michigan Rep. Josh Schriver last month introduced a package of bills aimed at repealing what he calls “a minority.”Antichrist Law,” include Michigan ban in 2023 About conversion therapy for young people.

Legislative aides said Schliver was not available for interviews and instead introduced Statalin to the recent Saqraak Post where he emailed his constituents.

“As legislators, we are obligated to remove any statutes that overstep the powers granted by the state and federal constitutions,” Schriver said. I said In a post.

The Kentucky minister said the ban was necessary because “no one would be willing to enter conversion therapy.”

“The only reason a child experiences it is because the trusted authority, parents, pastors or therapists in their lives have said they are broken and need to be fixed.”

At least five states They have laws or policies that prohibit or curb local level ordinances intended to protect young people from conversion therapy.

Some states without such laws are chasing local governments that have banned conversion therapy.

Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Jackson County, Missouri in February, in Kansas City, disputing the county’s 2023 ordinance and Kansas City’s 2019 ordinance.

“Our children have the right to treatment that allows for honest, unlimited conversations without indoctrination of transgender,” Bailey said. statement February. He called ordinances that violated the rights of freedom of speech and religious freedom “a dangerous overdue.”

Republican losses

In at least one state, conservatives have reached a legal barrier.

In Wisconsin, the Democratic government of Tony Evers has been trying since 2020. Enacts a statewide conversion therapy ban It is proposed by a state agency that oversees the license of the provider.

But the ban is I was blocked twice by a legislative committee governed by the Republican Party.

The Evers administrator sued.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court took sides with Evers last month, finding that the state’s legislative committees are overflowing and that the rules cannot be blocked.

Stateline Reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be accessed at avollers@stateline.org.

Stateline It is a nonprofit news network that is part of the state newsroom and supports a coalition of grants and donors as a public charity of 501C(3). Stateline maintains editorial independence. For questions, please contact editor Scott S. Greenberger at info@stateline.org.