Support for gay conversion therapy among trump backers

But after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in and more states followed, the influence of conversion therapy proponents waned. Sometimes called “reparative therapy,” it can range from. This article originally appeared on Statelinewhich is part of States Newsroom.

State laws typically levy fines or discipline the professional licenses of practitioners who try to engage minors in conversion therapy. A majority of Supreme Court justices seem to be leaning in favor of a Christian counselor who is challenging bans on LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy” for kids as a violation of her First Amendment rights.

Conversion therapy is a catchall term for controversial efforts to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ + people. The plaintiffs in the case were John and Janet Raymond, state-licensed professional counselors in Virginia who were represented by the Founding Freedoms Law Center, an organization that takes on conservative legal causes.

A Virginia court last month oversaw a consent decree in which Virginia agreed to not fully enforce its conversion therapy ban and to allow counselors to engage in talk conversion therapy with minors. Supreme Court in generations, medical organizations are growing more vocal in their opposition to conversion therapy.

Some states without such laws are going after municipalities that have banned conversion therapy. The post Trump Linked Groups Push Supreme Court to End State Bans on “Conversion Therapy,” a Discredited Practice That Tries to “Turn” LGBTQ+ Kids Straight appeared first on Baller Alert.

Supreme Court skepticism surrounds

Conversion therapy is a catchall term for controversial efforts to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ+ people. The American Medical Association has written model legislation for state lawmakers who want to ban conversion therapy, a reflection of the broad consensus in the medical community that homosexuality and gender nonconformity are not mental illnesses, said R.

Mills, a representative from the American Medical Association, in a statement to Stateline. The effects of conversion therapy—the practice by which therapists wrongfully claim that they can help patients change their sexual orientation and/or identities—are, in a word, disastrous.

Conservative majorities in the courts, in state legislatures and at the federal level have reshaped the legal landscape, opening the door for Republican lawmakers and conservative Christian groups to reinstate a practice that has been roundly discredited by the medical community.

As of this year, 23 states and Washington, D. Four more states restrict the practice, such as by not allowing public funding to go toward conversion therapy services. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Conservative legislators also are citing their Christian faith in their attempts to roll back state bans.

In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. But the ban has been blocked twice by a Republican-controlled legislative committee. Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. In March, the U. On the flip side, in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court cleared the way earlier this year for the state to permanently ban the practice.

Week after week, a teenage Brandon Long sat through counseling sessions that he said framed his identity as a failure. Michigan state Rep. At least five states have a law or policy prohibiting or deterring local-level ordinances that aim to protect youth from conversion therapy.

Sometimes called “reparative therapy,” it can range from talk therapy and religious counseling to electrical shocks, pain-inducing aversion therapy and physical isolation. Long testified in February before a Kentucky House committee against a Republican-sponsored bill that would cancel Democratic Gov.

But political currents are shifting. Conservative legal firms have filed lawsuits in states such as ColoradoMichigan and Virginia on behalf of Christian counselors who say the laws prevent them from practicing according to their faith-based values. In the past, some leading psychiatric and psychological associations were hesitant to support state restrictions because they saw the laws as intrusions into the doctor-patient or therapist-patient relationship, Drescher said.

He is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University whose research has focused on gender and sexuality.