[READ ALSO: #CHILE Psychiatric center denounced for offering “sexual orientation treatment”] For over a hundred years, health professionals and people in positions of religious authority have used different techniques to try to change LGBT people. Conversion therapy is the most widely used today, although there are those who still practice “aversion treatments,” methods that induce vomiting, paralysis, and the application of electric shocks.

Protection laws

Nine states, 32 localities, and the District of Columbia have laws protecting young people under 18 from receiving conversion therapy from a healthcare professional. According to the WHO, any treatment related to sexual orientation has harmful effects on individuals, which can lead to suicide, and in all cases, it is classified as torture because it violates a person's identity, confusing them with outcomes that, far from being effective, only cause harm. The study determined that 6,000 young people between the ages of 13 and 17 had received conversion therapy in one of the states where the practice is prohibited. However, these bans do not apply to religious or spiritual advisors. “With such a large number of teens at risk for conversion therapy, we must ensure that families, faith communities, and healthcare providers have information about sexual orientation and gender identity to reduce stigma and promote acceptance of LGBT youth and their families,” said Kerith Conron, director of research at the Williams Institute. Christy Mallory, director of local and state policy at the Williams Institute and lead author of the research, commented, “Many health professional associations and the public support the use of conversion therapy for LGBT youth. Our research shows that laws prohibiting these treatments could protect tens of thousands of teens from what medical experts say is a harmful and ineffective practice.” Several states across the country will consider banning conversion therapy this year, and the pending Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act seeks to prohibit the practice nationwide. UCLA Newsroom ]]>