A growing number of states ban sexual orientation change efforts

Twenty states have now passed laws banning “conversion therapy;” psychologists continue to battle other efforts that seek to undermine LGBTQ rights.

Cite This Article in APA Style

Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. (2020, April 1). A growing number of states ban sexual orientation change efforts. Division 44 Newsletter. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/publications/newsletters/division/2020/04/ban-conversion-therapy

Comment:

On March 2, Virginia became the 20th state to prohibit mental health providers from offering sexual orientation change treatments to minors (often described as “conversion therapy”).

“The presumption behind these treatments is that any sexual orientation that’s not heterosexual is inherently flawed and in need of a therapeutic fix,” says Clinton Anderson, PhD, deputy chief of the APA’s Public Interest Directorate and director of the Office on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. “Our perspective is that there is nothing that needs to be fixed."

APA has expressed concern about sexual orientation change efforts since 1997, as have many other medical and mental health organizations.

Read the full news story on states banning sexual orientation change efforts.