"As Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson told the Court, conversion therapy is a completely discredited practice that often causes devastating and long-lasting harm to its victims⎯namely LGBTIQ+ people⎯and their loved ones. Common negative outcomes for those who undergo it include serious depression and suicidal ideation, particularly severe in minors subjected to it. Stephenson explained that "people have been trying to do conversion therapy for a hundred years with no record of success,""
"She further detailed how "all of the theories underlying conversion therapy" through the years have been proven to be false. From "homosexuality is a pathology that we need to treat" to "homosexuality is caused by trauma" to "homosexuality is caused by a relationship you had with your parents"-all have been "debunked." Colorado's law is a measured response to the harms conversion therapy causes. It only prohibits the practice when performed on minors-not on consenting adults."
The U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge to Colorado's ban on LGBTQ+ conversion therapy in Chiles v. Salazar. The Colorado statute, similar to laws in over 20 states, bars licensed healthcare providers from any practice aimed at changing a minor's gender expression or eliminating same-sex attraction. Conversion therapy is characterized as discredited and causative of devastating, long-term harm including serious depression and suicidal ideation, especially among minors, and lacks evidence of efficacy. The law restricts only licensed providers and minors, permits clergy and unlicensed life coaches to engage, and allows public advocacy for conversion therapy.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]