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Read This: How Conversion Therapy Hurts LGBTQ+ Kids and Teens
As we enter Pride month, we’re turning our attention to LGBTQ+ kids and teens. Their rights have been increasingly attacked lately, especially when it comes to being protected from dangerous threats including “conversion therapy.”
What is conversion therapy?
So-called “conversion therapy” is a practice that tries to force LGBTQ+ people into being straight. It is not based on any scientific evidence or medical standards. It particularly targets kids and teens.
Extremist religious groups push the use of conversion therapy to try to forcibly change people’s gender or sexuality, despite it having been debunked and shown to cause serious harm.
This isn’t just a political opinion. Medical, educational, and religious professionals and practitioners agree – conversion therapy has been discredited and condemned by all major medical and psychological associations, many educators’ groups, and hundreds of religious groups and leaders.
How does conversion therapy harm kids?
“Conversion therapy” is forced upon kids whose families or communities refuse to accept their gender or sexuality. It uses painful and abusive methods including electric shock, starvation, and even sexual reconditioning. The United Nations has labeled it torture and called for its ban.
Just like any forms of hate and prejudice can cause mental and physical harm, conversion therapy can lead to mental health issues like depression and anxiety, drug abuse, homelessness, and suicide.
LGBTQ+ youth who have been subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to those who weren’t subjected to it. And LGBTQ+ kids who are not accepted by their parents, caregivers, or family members are 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times more likely to be depressed, and 3 times more likely to use drugs compared to their LGBTQ+ peers who were more accepted by family.
Why are we talking about conversion therapy now?
Many states and cities have laws protecting kids from conversion therapy, and all of those laws received bipartisan support when they were passed. But these protections may change now due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Colorado was one of the states with a ban on conversion therapy, but in March of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado’s ban violated a Christian counselor’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech. It essentially overturned Colorado’s ban by ordering the state to re-assess it. The fear is that this could now happen in more states.
How can we protect LGBTQ+ kids from the harm of conversion therapy?
Being LGBTQ+ is not a disorder and does not need to be cured. The majority of Americans agree that kids should be protected from conversion therapy. It causes pain, confusion, guilt, and shame when we should be giving children unconditional love and support.
You can learn from and get involved with organizations like PFLAG, The Trevor Project, and the Human Rights Campaign who help us advocate for LGBTQ+ kids and teens. They also have resources for families looking for support or licensed mental health providers.
You can also learn and share about The Trevor Project’s Lifeline, a free and confidential crisis support service where LGBTQ+ youth can connect with trained crisis counselors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, by phone, text, or online chat. This is the critical, life-saving support our kids need – NOT “conversion therapy.”
Stay tuned for more easy actions to support LGBTQ+ youth in the coming weeks!
Watch This: Author Jodi Picoult Talks about the Problem with Book Bans.
Some of our favorite authors are getting banned, and it’s usually for very questionable reasons. Check out our conversation with best selling author, Jodi Picoult as she shares how one parent had 20 of her books banned in one county.
If you want to hear more of our conversation with Jodi, listen to her full interview on our podcast, The Suburban Women Problem. You can also listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Read This: What’s Up With All The Book Bans?
These days it might feel like everyone is talking about book bans, from the U.S. president to the PTA. That’s because these bans are happening all over our country, and affecting every community. Whether it’s a ban in a school, a bookstore, or a public library, these bans affect us all, so it’s important to learn about these book bans and why they are happening.
Ok, so what exactly are these book bans all about? Despite the fact that 80% of Americans oppose banning books, in the last few years extremists have become laser focused on trying to control what our kids can read. It’s not enough to just tell their child to not read a book – under the guise of “parents’ rights,” they want to stop all kids from reading certain books. And it’s not because these books are actually dangerous or harmful. It’s because they are written by or about people of color or the LGBTQ+ community or they discuss things extremists don’t want kids to learn about, like accurate American history, sexual education, mental health, even climate change!
Who is banning books? Are you ready for a really crazy statistic? It turns out that just 11 people are behind nearly all banned or challenged books in the US! In many cases, just one person can get dozens of books banned, simply by filing a complaint – even if they haven’t read the literature. They don’t even have to be a local parent or member of the community to do it. This is why the same books tend to get banned across several communities – well-funded, national groups posing as grassroots organizations are targeting these books.
How are our kids impacted by book bans? First, we want to make sure it’s clear these books are being banned and challenged under false pretenses. Age-appropriate books are being pulled from shelves every day for misleading reasons with really harmful consequences. Not having access to these books prevents kids from better understanding the world around them and better understanding themselves, making them less prepared for the real world. We are not helping our kids by banning teaching accurate American history, by erasing LGBTQ people from our schools, or by eliminating comprehensive sex education curriculum.
Want more info? Check out the map below from American Library Association or click here to see a map from Pen America of where books are being banned and why.