June Is Pride Month
June is Pride Month. Meaning a plethora of businesses are posting rainbow flags to help show their support of the LGBTQ+ community. My hope for you is that you read this blog and you leave with an understanding of the negative effects of Conversion Therapy and then call your senators to let them know you support the passing of Ohio Senate Bill 50 that would outlaw conversion therapy in minors in Ohio.
What is Conversion Therapy?
Conversion therapy refers to the dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It could mean attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation from lesbian, gay, or bisexual to straight or their gender identity from transgender or nonbinary to cisgender. And it could include efforts to change a person’s gender expression (to make a person act more stereotypically masculine or feminine, for example), or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward a person of the same gender. (Trevor Project)
Why is a Chiropractor Talking About Conversion Therapy?
If you could reduce the risk of death in a group of a population by 2.5x, would you? It’s really that simple. Many people don’t know what conversion therapy is and its devastating effect on LGBTQ+ youth. Read on and that 2.5x will make more sense.
Data On Conversion Therapy
2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 10% of LGBTQ youth reported undergoing conversion therapy, with 78% reporting it occurred when they were under age 18. Youth who reported undergoing conversion therapy reported more than twice the rate of attempting suicide in the past year compared to those who did not.
Furthermore, a peer-reviewed study published by The Trevor Project 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.
Despite, wide opposition by prominent professional medical associations including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, conversion therapy is still legal in over half the United States.
The American Psychological Association Task Force found that conversion therapy, in addition to being ineffective, can have a wide range of harmful side effects to participants, including:
Shame
Guilt
Helplessness
Hopelessness
Loss of faith
Decreased self-esteem
Increased self-hatred
Social withdrawal
Feeling dehumanized and untrue to self
Depression
Increased substance abuse
High-risk sexual behaviors
Suicidality
All the Data and Research out there points to Conversion Therapy being dangerous and completely ineffective.
This is a a public health issue and a human rights issue where we can make a difference.
We can make a difference by contacting our US Senators and letting them know they need to end Conversion Therapy being Legal.
Here is a link to the contact information of our Senators.
Contact Info