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Multiple U.S. states are considering bans on conversion therapy - a practice that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identityTroy Stevenson is a director of state advocacy campaigns at The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth
In the first few weeks of 2023, we’ve already seen a record-breaking number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in states across the U.S. At last count, we are tracking more than 271 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across 25 states — which is more than we saw in all of last year.
I’ve been part of the LGBTQ+ rights movement for the past two decades and these staggering numbers are a great cause for concern and worry.
Yet, in the face of all of this, I am not defeated. In fact, I have hope.
At the moment, we’re seeing historic progress and momentum in state-wide and local legislation that would protect LGBTQ+ young people from the dangerous and discredited practices of so-called “conversion therapy,” a term encompassing any number of practices that aim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Conversion therapy is disavowed by every prominent professional medical association, including the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). And research consistently demonstrates that this so-called “therapy” is alarmingly linked to negative mental health outcomes and increased suicide risk.
Currently, there is a pending state-wide bill in Minnesota that would protect young people from this abusive practice. It is advancing quickly in the state legislature, and notably, with bipartisan support. This bill potentially sets Minnesota up to be the 21st state in the U.S. to enact protections via state-wide legislation. This would mark a major milestone as it’s been nearly two years since we’ve seen such a state-wide push to outlaw conversion therapy (the last was enacted in Virginia in March 2020).
Many other states are considering similar legislation, or have deemed the issue a top priority amongst legislators or even governors. It is entirely possible that we see multiple states enact such protections in 2023.
Lawmakers working to end conversion therapy serves as a beacon of hope in allowing young people to see their leaders act in a rare bipartisan fashion to say: “We hear you; we see you and we will act to protect your dignity and your right to live your truth.”
It’s incredibly motivating to witness policymakers in cities and states — red and blue, rural and urban, big and small — rise above party divides and unite in efforts to save the lives of LGBTQ+ young people in their constituencies, a group that is already marginalized and stigmatized by society just for being who they are.
According to The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health, 17% of LGBTQ+ youth living in the U.S. reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, including more than one in five transgender and nonbinary youth. And a 2020 study published in the “American Journal of Public Health” found that LGBTQ+ youth who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide and more than 2.5 times as likely to report multiple suicide attempts in the past year.
Further, peer-reviewed analyses in “JAMA Pediatrics” indicate that the practice of conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ youth, and its associated harms – such as substance abuse and negative mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts – cost the U.S. an estimated $9.23 billion, annually.
A future where every single LGBTQ+ young person across the U.S. is protected from the harms of conversion therapy is long overdue. But there is hope to be had in the progress we see right now, which has been built on the foundation of advocates, survivors and lawmakers over the past decade.
To get us to that future, we need your help — we need your voice. Your elected officials need to know that the people they represent stand for protecting LGBTQ+ young people. This is about more than legislation, it’s about accepting young people for who they are, and putting an end to a practice that has caused tremendous and undue trauma to some of the most marginalized members of our society.
I truly believe there is good reason to have hope for the future of our LGBTQ+ youth — and I ask that you hold onto it, too.
