A person holds up a sign that says, "Convention Therapy is violence."

Photo by Karollyne Videira Hubert on Unsplash

Conversion or reparative therapy (which also goes by "sexual orientation change efforts" or "gender identity change efforts") seeks to force someone to change their sexual orientation to straight or their gender identity to cisgender. It rests on the bigoted assumption that there's something wrong with being queer or trans.

This kind of therapy is never okay. And it's not even effective. Many people who have claimed to be "cured" of their "homosexuality" have later recanted, coming out again and saying that, while they tried to be straight, it never worked. In one striking example, the founder of Exodus International, perhaps the most prominent "ex-gay" organization, closed down his group after 37 years, admitting that it wasn't possible to change sexual orientation and apologizing to the LGBTQA+ community.

That being said, conversion therapy is doubly the wrong for children, tweens, and teens, who cannot truly consent to it and who are often forced into it against their will. As a response, many states have passed laws making this kind of therapy illegal.

Decades of research has shown this kind of therapy to be ineffective, at best, and enough to drive someone to suicide, at worst. It has been condemned by major medical organizations and human rights groups.

Nevertheless, it is still widely advocated by ultra-conservatives and by fundamentalist religious communities. While illegal in about half of the US states, parents in those states can still send their children to a reparative therapy program in another state where it's legal.

Note that the US Supreme Court has heard a case this fall about the constitutionality of banning conversion therapy and is expected to release a decision in June of 2026.

You can learn more from the sources below.

  1. APA [American Psychological Association] RESOLUTION on Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (PDF)
  2. Born Perfect
  3. Charting conversion therapy’s harrowing history – from its barbaric roots to present day cruelty
  4. Conversion Therapy
  5. Conversion Therapy and LGBT Youth
  6. ‘Conversion therapy’ can amount to torture and should be banned says UN expert
  7. Conversion Therapy Is Still Happening in Almost Every U.S. State
  8. The Damage From Gay Conversion Therapy Still Lingers For Many LGBTQ+ People
  9. The Dark History of Exodus International, the Group at the Center of Netflix's 'Pray Away'
  10. Ending Conversion Therapy
  11. The evidence against “conversion therapy”: Insights from psychological research
  12. Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins
  13. Gay Conversion Therapy: Does It Work? (LGBTQ+ Documentary) (YouTube)
  14. GLAAD Media Reference Guide – In Focus: “Conversion therapy”
  15. Just as They Are: Protecting Our Children From the Harms of Conversion Therapy
  16. The Lies and Dangers of Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
  17. Position Statement on Conversion Therapy and LGBTQ Patients
  18. Reparative or Conversion Therapy
  19. Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (so-called “conversion therapy”) (PDF) (American Medical Association issue brief)
  20. Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy, by Lucas F. W. Wilson
  21. Truth Wins Out
  22. What Is Conversion Therapy?
A white hand and arm is pictured from behind. There's a rainbow stripe painted on the person's hand and wrist. They're holding up their middle finger.

Photo by Anna Shvets.