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A new study found that so-called "conversion therapy" continues to damage LGBTQ+ young people nationwide.
Transgender young people are the targets of the latest iteration of the damaging and discredit practice.
With a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case on the horizon, a new report warns that conversion “therapy,” a practice widely condemned by medical experts as dangerous and ineffective, continues across much of the United States despite a patchwork of state bans. The Movement Advancement Project and The Trevor Project released the findings in late July, as the Court prepares to hear Chiles v. Salazar next term. The case could upend existing protections for LGBTQ+ youth.
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Conversion “therapy” has been branded as “reparative,” “reintegrative,” even “exploratory.” Whatever the name, the premise is the same: being LGBTQ+ is something to be fixed. Every major medical and mental health association in the United States has condemned it. The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims has categorized conversion therapy as a form of torture that LGBTQ+ people are uniquely at risk of experiencing. In its 2020 report, It’s Torture, Not Therapy, the group cites the Independent Forensic Expert Group’s conclusion that conversion therapy “is likely to cause individuals significant or severe physical and mental pain and suffering with long-term harmful effects.”
Related: Trump HHS posts ‘so-called report’ pushing conversion therapy for trans kids
The 19-page MAP analysis shows the practice persists, operating in secrecy and under shifting labels, even as 23 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to shield minors from it.
Fifty-one percent of LGBTQ+ youth live in states with full bans on licensed professionals performing conversion “therapy” on minors. Another eight percent live under partial restrictions. Four states and Puerto Rico have limited measures in place. The rest live in jurisdictions with no statewide guardrails at all.
For a decade, bans have drawn bipartisan support. In every state that has passed one, Republican lawmakers voted for it. Republican governors signed one-third. As of July, Republican legislators had sponsored or voted for such laws at least 682 times.
Related: Supreme Court to decide whether states can protect LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy
The report warns that since 2020, political attacks on LGBTQ people, particularly transgender youth, have intensified. In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that repeatedly invoked “exploratory therapy” while disparaging gender-affirming care, a move advocates see as a calculated effort to keep conversion “therapy” alive under another name.
The Supreme Court justices in March agreed to hear Chiles v. Salazar. Kaley Chiles, a counselor in Colorado, is challenging her state’s 2019 ban, arguing it violates her First Amendment rights. She is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, the same conservative legal group behind a 2023 challenge to Washington State’s ban. That earlier case never reached the merits: the Ninth Circuit upheld Washington’s law, and the Supreme Court declined to hear it, though Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh indicated they would have.
Colorado’s law survived review at the 10th Circuit last year, with judges holding that the state can regulate professional conduct to protect public health. But a ruling for Chiles could erase existing safeguards.
The next term of the Supreme Court begins in October.
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