in the wake of cara schaum’s disgusting “joke” of a scam in which she posed as a lesbian attempting to raise funds to escape conversion therapy (link), there is a ton of misinformation spreading about conversion therapy practices. this is still a human rights issue. to this day, we are still fighting for our lives around the world.
there is no nationwide ban in the united states. the williams institute at the UCLA school of law estimates that 698,000 LGBT adults in the U.S. have received conversion therapy, almost half of whom endured this horrific treatment during adolescence. and in the 37 states that currently do not ban this practice, thousands of LGBT youth will receive it from a licensed health care professional before the age of 18. (map) (source)
only four countries have nationwide bans on conversion therapy. others have de-facto protections, regional bans, or pending legislation. but most have no laws in place. (map)
these brutal practices are still happening around the world, every day. and in countries where there are official bans in place, informal conversion efforts are still spearheaded by communities, anyway.
this is not a “bygone” issue, nor “distant”, “foreign” problem, and we ought to stop speaking like it is. this is a pressing, global human rights issue. and the continuous dehumanization we face will never be a “joke”.
for more information:
- human rights watch updates
- the #bornperfect campaign from the national center for lesbian rights
- policy and position statements on conversion therapy from various medical organizations
- a timeline of homophobia and conversion efforts from the southern poverty law center
- living through gay conversion therapy, a half-hour special by vice
- some survivor stories: (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)
- resources for conversion therapy survivors
- links from beyond ex-gay
if you have been personally impacted by conversion therapy and are in need of resources, contact the national center for lesbian rights at bornperfect@nclrights.org.
Published
ugh 