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Essay: Protect LGBTQ+ Youth: The Harmful History & Ineffectiveness of Conversion Therapy

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  • Subject area(s): Essay examples
  • Reading time: 3 minutes
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  • Published: 26 February 2023*
  • Last Modified: 22 July 2024
  • File format: Text
  • Words: 848 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 4 (approx)
  • Tags: Essays on LGBTQ+ rights

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This page of the essay has 848 words.



Many people nowadays understand the fact that people are born who they are. Yet some still believe that you are able to manipulate someone’s sexuality or gender. Hard conversion therapy or “reparative therapy” was pushed onto many LGBTQ+ people. Conversion therapy was first created to convert gay men into the “norm” heterosexual society. Since then, the specific therapy is enforced on many lesbians, transgenders, gay men, etc. Conversion therapy was first put into the spotlight when TIME magazine reported an article titled, “Homosexuals Can Be Cured” in 1965. It stated that psychiatrist, Samuel Hadden was issuing long therapy sessions to “cure” homosexual men out of their “perverted state.” The sessions went on for up to 8 years and were called a complete success.

Conversion therapy is a very controversial act that causes a distinct two-sided opinion. Some people even to this day believe that homosexuality is a sin and mental sickness that can be cured, mostly due to their religious beliefs. These people see this therapy as a blessing but see right past the dangers it causes to the patients. Many of the treatments were very harmful caused great damage to one's mental state. As stated in the article, “Born Perfect: The Facts About Conversion Therapy” by nclrights.org, “In the past, some mental health professionals resorted to extreme measures such as institutionalization, castration, and electroconvulsive shock therapy to try to stop people from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.” One of the most known treatments was Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, created in the 1930s in Italy. ECT was not only used for conversion therapy but also used to fight other mental illnesses. Although ECT is useful sometimes, it can be very dangerous and cause long-term damage. As stated in the article, “Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)” by mayoclinic.org, “Much of the stigma attached to ECT is based on early treatments in which high doses of electricity were administered without anesthesia, leading to memory loss, fractured bones, and other serious side effects.” In other words, ECT can cause a lot of physical problems, memory loss, confusion and let alone can't change someone’s sexuality. Conversion therapy also heightens a person's depressive state. Many of these people end up trying to commit suicide not wanting to live in this world anymore. As shown in a diagram in the article, “The Lies and Dangers of Reparative Therapy” by hrc.org, LGBTQ+ unaccepted in the world are 8 times more likely to commit suicide and 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression; some even going down the wrong path in life making them 3 times more likely to use illegal drugs.

The big question towards conversion therapy is whether it works. Although some say it did convert them to heterosexuality, the simple answer is no. Many people have announced that it just causes them to repress their feelings and hide who they were born to be. As stated in the previous paragraph, it also caused higher depression. Homosexuality has been around for thousands of years yet many people still believe that it is a choice people have made. In a timeline shown in the article “Bringing LGBTQ History to the Classroom” by glsen.org, documents every known event of the community. Dating as far back to 2450 BCE, with two Egyptian servants who were buried together with images of them embracing and “nose kissing” put around their tomb and a inscription stating “joined in life and joined in death” making them the first same-sex couple known in history. This with many other recorded history proves that homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community has always been around yet as time went on wasn’t accepted in modern life. This causing the idea of conversion therapy pointless and fake.

Luckily there are many laws that help protect people from conversion therapy. The first act was released in 2012, Senate Bill 1172 in California. It stated protection for LGBTQ+ youth from dangerous and scientifically discredited efforts by state-licensed therapists to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. This made California the first state to protect LGBTQ+ youth from this therapy. Since then New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Seattle, and three South Florida Cities–Miami Beach, Wilton Manors, and Miami all have similar laws. These states and cities have come to the conclusion it is too dangerous to change someone's sexuality or gender. These laws are needed to ensure that therapists who are licensed by the state are providing safe care and are not harming patients. Without these laws, many people in the LGBTQ+ community would experience these riskful practices used in the past.

Instead of attending any type of conversion therapy there are many other alternatives to help cure your mental state. The best thing to do is find a therapy will a highly trained ethical therapist who is willing to work with you collaboratively. Therapy is made to help you grow as a person not try to “convert” you to anything. It helps many people unravel their deep untouched emotions and leads to a more comfortable confident long-living life.

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