LGBTQ+ Nation is soliciting personal stories from LGBTQ+ individuals about moments when they broke free from shame and self-hatred. The publication's March 2026 issue focuses on conversion therapy as a cultural practice, examining what it means to live in a society where significant populations believe LGBTQ+ people should change their identities. Conversion therapy operates on shame and perpetuates cultural stigma against LGBTQ+ people. The Supreme Court case Chiles v. Salazar will determine whether state conversion therapy bans violate free speech rights, despite psychological researchers rejecting the practice. LGBTQ+ Nation invites readers to share transformative moments—whether discovering representation, experiencing love, or receiving correct pronoun usage—that contributed to their journey toward self-acceptance.
"Conversion therapy is based on the assumption that we, as LGBTQ+ people, should be so ashamed of ourselves that we want to change. The practice is dependent on a larger culture of shame in order to drive people to it, and its existence is a justification for shaming LGBTQ+ people."
"What does it mean to live in a society where a significant part of the population believes that LGBTQ+ people can and should change who they are? What will it mean for the Supreme Court to give its approval to a practice that actual researchers in the field of psychology have rejected?"
"Breaking free of that shame is a lifelong struggle, but it's a series of successes and growth. Maybe there was a moment where you finally saw an LGBTQ+ person like yourself on TV and realized you weren't the only one. Maybe you found love and understood the beauty of your sexuality."
Read at LGBTQ Nation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]