‘Conversion Therapy’ Misleads, Harms Patients

The proliferation of digital technology, such as apps and websites, have enabled targeted discriminations toward LGBTQ individuals. For instance, Facebook came under fire last year when LGBTQ users complained that their feeds were inundated with offers for for-profit conversion therapy programs. Similarly, Google recently reported its removal of conversion therapy ads in its searches. Amazon announced in July it would stop selling books by the late Joseph Nicolosi, the so-called “father of reparative therapy,” author of books such as A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.

Nonetheless, digital technology has also empowered community building and political activism within the LGBTQ communities and serves as an outlet of self-empowerment for affected LGBTQ individuals: they have been able to share their conversion therapy survival stories on YouTube and find their communities on Reddit/Tumblr.

“As technology becomes more integrated with our daily lives, clinicians and medical organizations should be mindful of technological resources and their pitfalls in order to better support their LGBTQ patients,” Ambrose said.

Politically, the tide is turning against conversion therapy, at least in the United States. In 2012 California became the first state to ban conversion therapy for minors, and now a total of 18 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, ban the practice for minors. Many more states have introduced similar legislation. Twenty years ago, APA issued its first official position statement condemning reparative or conversion therapy, a position that has been refined and strengthened over the years. The American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, National Mental Health Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics are also among those that have spoken out against these misguided attempts to “cure” individuals who are LGBTQ.

Both Drescher and Ambrose said that APA’s support of its district branches and state associations is critical, along with educating psychiatrists about the harms of conversion therapy, to secure more widespread passage of these bans. A major shortcoming of these state laws is that they apply only to licensed therapists and only when the conversion therapy is aimed at minors.

“Its practitioners are usually nonlicensed and quite marginal, with a few exceptions,” Drescher said. “So the laws don’t apply to them.”

Another avenue for advocacy includes the passage of stronger consumer protection laws, Drescher said. In 2015, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled against a conversion therapy outfit known as JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality), finding it liable for unconscionable business practices and violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Defendants testified that during their treatments at JONAH, they were blindfolded and pummeled with basketballs, bound with duct tape, rolled up into blankets, and subjected to anti-gay slurs.

In June, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced HR 3570, The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2019, which would ban commercial conversion therapy on any person nationwide and curtail most forms of advertising for it. It has strong support from Democrats.

APA is backing a broader antidiscrimination bill, HR 5, the Equality Act, which would clarify the definition of gender-based discrimination under existing civil rights laws to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It passed the House in May after several Republicans broke party ranks to vote for it, but the bill’s route to passage in the Senate remains unclear. ■