ISSUE BRIEF

Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (so-called “conversion therapy”)

Background

So-called “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy” refers to any form of intervention, such as individual or

group, behavioral, cognitive, or milieu/environmental operations, that attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or sexual behaviors (sexual orientation change efforts [SOCE]) or an individual’s gender identity (gender identify change efforts [GICE]). Practitioners of change efforts may employ techniques including:

• Aversive conditioning (e.g., electric shock, deprivation of food and liquids, smelling salts and chemically- induced nausea)

• Biofeedback

• Hypnosis

• Masturbation reconditioning

Underlying these techniques is the assumption that any non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identities are mental disorders, and that sexual orientation and gender identity can and should be changed. This assumption is not based on medical and scientific evidence. Professional consensus rejects pathologizing sexual and gender identities. In addition, empirical evidence has demonstrated a diversity of sexual and gender identities that are normal variations of human identity and expression, and not inherently linked to mental illness. However, the unfounded misconception of sexual orientation and gender identity “conversion” persists among some health, spiritual and religious practitioners.

According to the UCLA Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, as of 2019, almost 700,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) adults in the U.S. had received “conversion therapy;” in addition, an estimated 57,000 youths will receive change efforts from religious or health care clinicians before they turn 18 years old. In a national survey of over 35,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13–24, 13% of respondents reported being subjected to “conversion therapy,” with 83% reporting it occurred when they were under18.

Another study found that nearly 18% of middle-aged and older men who have sex with men reported experiencing “conversion therapy.”

The study also identified racial inequity: Black and Hispanic Black men were more likely to experience “conversion therapy” compared to non-Hispanic white men. This racial disparity was similarly observed in a another survey, which additionally noted double the rate of conversion therapy reported by transgender/nonbinary youth compared to their cisgender counterparts.

. . .