ADDENDUM::What Is Conversion Therapy, Exactly?

"It is not therapy; it is quackery, pure and simple, often legitimized in the name of religious freedom.”

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At its core, conversion therapy assumes incorrectly that sexual orientation and gender identity are caused by environmental factors within the family. “Conversion therapy is a pseudoscience that blames homosexuality on bad parenting. Specifically, the practice claims — without evidence — that a rift between a child and a same-sex parent can lead to a child rejecting that parent and his or her gender role. At puberty this leads to sexualizing the same sex,” says Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, a nonprofit group that speaks out against the ex-gay movement and anti-gay messages.

“Conversion therapy seeks to reverse this alleged process through a combination of prayer, talk therapy, and creating non-sexual same-sex friendships. It also includes masculinity exercises for men, such as touch football and drinking Gatorade, and lipstick seminars for girls,” Besen tells Yahoo Health.

Experts agree that the practice is not only ineffective — it can be dangerous, especially for children and teens, who are still developing their sense of self and trying to figure out their place in the world, Pettus says.

“Young people perceive conversion therapy as a form of family rejection. Family rejection of LGBT youth has been demonstrated to greatly increase their risk for depression, HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, drug use, and suicide,” Gill says. “Family acceptance, on the other hand, is a critical protective factor that helps LGBT youth to grow and thrive.”

Conversion therapy can also have lasting negative effects into adulthood, Haldeman explains. “Adults who have been through some form of this so-called ‘treatment’ as youngsters often become depressed and suicidal due to inner conflict about sexual orientation — and guilt over the inability to change it. Such survivors of conversion efforts often become unable to form intimate relationships in adult life,” he says.

What Is Conversion Therapy, Exactly?