By Joni Hess and Diana Cariboni -
openDemocracy
The efficacy of US bans against so-called
LGBTQ +
conversion therapies
was called into question when mental health professionals recommended by a prominent conservative religious group
volunteered to "remedy" the "unwanted gay attraction" of an undercover reporter.
About 20 states have laws that prohibit offering these fraudulent services to people under the age of 18, but an undercover investigation by openDemocracy found that two therapists, practicing in states with these bans, advised a reporter (posing as a woman 17-year-old lesbian)
“suppress” her sexual orientation, including through fasting.
These professionals offer treatment for what they call "homosexuality problems" and "gender identity problems" in a list of mental health specialists in the United States that was created by Focus on the Family, a conservative organization that promotes similar actions in Costa Rica, where it has its Latin American office installed, according to the investigation.
40% of LGBTQ youth considered suicide in 2020, study finds
June 30, 202104: 19
["They are terrible and harmful": These US cities are leading efforts to ban 'conversion therapies']
In Virginia, one of those professionals told the reporter that LGBTQ + people were "sickly," and advised her not to eat until she reached the point of seeing herself "on the cross with Christ [...] hanging, dying, bleeding ”, because“ that is transformative ”.
Another counselor in Colorado said he was dealing with "unwanted homosexual attraction," an expression that is used to disguise
conversion therapy
and is rejected by the LGBTQ + community.
Leading health and legal experts claim that the openDemocracy disclosures constitute "explicit" examples
of conversion therapies
, "blatantly unethical", that violate local laws and raise questions about the effectiveness of current legislation to restrict them.
The
conversion therapy
is defined differently in different states in the
US.
But a UN expert report describes them as “interventions of various kinds” that are based on the mistaken belief that people's sexual orientation and gender identity
“can and should be changed or repressed”
and focus on whether people are heterosexual or cisgender.
Specialists call these actions "efforts to correct gender orientation and identity" (ECOSIG).
International health and human rights organizations condemn them for being "dangerous" and "ineffective".
In 2018, research conducted in the United States revealed that LGBTQ + youth who underwent these
therapies
were "more than twice as likely to report suicide attempts."
Dozens of professionals serve children and adolescents, even in states where 'conversion therapy' for minors is prohibited.Inge Snip / openDemocracy
The Focus on the Family Counseling Network
The Christian Counselors Network is an online listing created by the conservative religious group Focus on the Family, active since the 1970s, that offers referrals to more than 100 certified mental health professionals who provide specific treatments for "homosexual problems." , “Gender identity issues” or both.
Dozens of them serve children and adolescents, even in states where
conversion therapy
for minors is prohibited.
The verification system for professionals to be included in the Focus on the Family network requires “accreditation in mental health care from the state” where these people practice and complete a form in which they are asked to explain “what do you understand that the Bible teaches about homosexuality and gender identity ”and how the“ focus of your treatment ”will be on these issues. They also have to pay an annual fee of $ 129.
In addition, applicants must pledge that they will abide
by the organization's
sexual identity counseling
, which states: “Legal bans on any aid for youth that does not conform to LGBT values and identity are advancing.
Religious freedoms sacred to American life and families, client autonomy, individual well-being and parental rights are at stake. "
In 2018, a study revealed that LGBTQ + youth subjected to these so-called 'cures' were "more than twice as likely to report suicide attempts." Inge Snip / openDemocracy
In response to our questions, Focus on the Family provided us with a link to that same statement, as it expresses its “position regarding those seeking help for unwanted same-sex attraction”.
"We support and believe in the availability of professional guidance on sexuality matters that is respectful, safe, ethical, and responsive to the client's values and wishes," the statement reads.
And he adds that LGBTQ + people
"often suffer from stress, family tension and questions that are deeply disturbing."
"At the foot of the cross"
An openDemocracy journalist contacted two professionals whose profiles are published on the Focus on the Family website using the "Find a Counselor" search engine, which allows users to query based on their location.
The reporter introduced herself as a 17-year-old teenager and had several paid virtual sessions with these two professionals, who were in Virginia and Colorado, two of the 20 states with current bans.
The Virginia and Colorado standards share the definition of conversion therapy 'as any practice or treatment that' seeks ',' attempts ', or' purports 'to' change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to modify behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce romantic or sexual attractions or feelings towards individuals of the same gender ”.
These young Latinos are an example of inclusion, tolerance and inspiration for their followers
June 20, 202101: 32
The guidelines prohibit health care providers or professionals accredited by those states from implementing these practices with a person “under 18 years of age”.
Doing so constitutes "unprofessional conduct" and may lead to "disciplinary action" under the two laws.
The first counselor told the reporter that he was in Virginia, although on the website he appeared as a resident of another nearby state, where these practices have no restrictions.
In the first session, the therapist told the reporter that she
should "repress" her desires, read the Bible, and avoid having contact
with any Christian group that accepts and affirms sexual diversity.
"They are not going to tell you that your depression, your anxiety, all that, will not go away if you follow the gay lifestyle," he said.
["We are invisible": discrimination and risks multiply for indigenous LGBTQ +]
The therapist described LGBTQ + communities as "unhealthy," and said that their "suicide rate is considerably higher than the national average."
“The rate of sexual attacks, crime, all of that is higher.
Communicable diseases, those numbers are higher in the gay community [...] All those numbers are there [...] Focus on Family has done this type of study ”.
AND
The professional also assured him that this falsehood: that gay men have an average of 1,000 partners throughout their lives, and lesbian women, 500.
The Government takes measures to guarantee the protection of LGTBQ students in schools
June 17, 202100: 32
In response to these claims, Douglas Haldeman, professor of psychology and former president of the California Psychological Association, told openDemocracy: “A therapist attempting to manipulate by
disseminating inaccurate and unscientific information [...] including incorrect data about the LGBTQ community
and unfounded predictions about the future of a gay person, is flagrantly unethical. "
Explaining same-sex attraction to an underage patient as a "gay lifestyle," as the therapist did, "is insulting," said Lisa Linsky, a prominent New York attorney who has been awarded for her work in LGBTQ issues.
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, stated: "This constitutes 'explicit conversion therapy.'
But he cautioned that those who engage in such activities very rarely tell their patients, "You're gay, I'm going to change that."
Linsky, of the American Bar Association's diversity committee litigation area, noted that “these people express themselves in such a way that you don't even see the terms
conversion therapy
[...].
They have become much more sophisticated and underhanded in the methods of attracting young people and changing them
[...] and that is terrifying.
Some people believe that local regulations do little to prevent these practices, so they should be criminalized. Inge Snip / openDemocracy
The therapist also suggested fasting as a "remedy" for gay people.
"It would be fantastic [...] When you deprive yourself of eating and drinking [...] you are completely depending on the sustaining power of Christ [...] while you do it and pray, you can see yourself on the cross with him, with him there above,
hanging, dying, bleeding, and then at the foot of the cross, crying and crying out.
It is transformative ”.
After two sessions, this mental health professional sent our journalist four emails insisting on resuming the meetings.
About these exchanges between reporter and therapist, psychology professor Haldeman said that “using differential power in the therapeutic relationship and harassing a client who comes with questions is reprehensible and
clear evidence of why we need laws against 'therapy of conversion
'approved in all 50 states' of the country.
For Minter, the legal expert, "this conduct violates the law."
Pride month: young Mexican-American defends LGBTQ + rights in the US
June 9, 202102: 06
"Speak with God"
The second mental health counselor, based in Colorado, stressed the importance of praying and "talking to God" about fears and desires, rather than sharing feelings with family and other loved ones, despite the reporter telling him that she tended to withdraw when she felt depressed.
“Problems with God are not going to appear because he doesn't have any.
Other people, their problems, are going to appear and that is going to be hard to face.
So there will be a time and place for that, but now, it starts with God, ”this professional told our reporter in a session.
When the journalist commented that she was afraid of being judged for her sexual orientation, he replied: "If you have a lot of judgment, a lot of shame [...] you may inadvertently be looking for more shame that validates the shame you already feel for yourself." .
Although he warned that he mainly cared for men with "unwanted homosexual attraction", he was willing to provide similar treatment to our journalist.
He clarified that he was certified as a counselor in Colorado, but since the reporter was in another state, he proposed counseling sessions (
coaching
, in English) that are not regulated or defined by law.
In addition, he commented that he could cut his professional fee in half, since his activity, he said, had "generous donors."
We asked the two therapists to answer our investigation.
Neither of them responded.
LGBTQ youth are more likely to struggle with their weight, study finds
Dec. 29, 202001: 51
Low impact
Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia prohibit mental health professions from providing 'conversion therapy' to minors, as do at least 90 cities, counties and other US municipalities.
But Amie Bishop of LGBTIQ rights organization OutRight Action International said: "The findings from openDemocracy highlight the urgent need for existing bans to be enforced."
These practices are also in "flagrant violation" of the codes and regulations that govern the mental health professions, he added.
Only the prohibitions will not be enough to end the misnamed 'conversion therapy' ”.
Amie Bishop, OutRight Action International
Some argue that local regulations do very little to prevent these activities and should therefore be criminalized.
However, there are other avenues to bring these acts to justice, according to Mathew Shurka, a survivor and prominent activist against
conversion therapies
.
“We represented a young woman in Berkeley, California, who
sued her therapist and won
.
We are now representing survivors who are filing complaints with state professional certification authorities, ”said Shurka, who leads the National Center for Lesbian Rights' Born Perfect project dedicated to litigation and campaigning for legislative change.
According to Shurka, the areas in which these providers are vulnerable are business malpractice and fraud.
In 2015, for example, a ruling against the group Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing found it guilty of consumer fraud, for offering services that claimed to change people's sexual orientation or gender identity, and ordered it to immediately shut down its operations.
But OutRight's Bishop noted that "bans alone will not be enough to end so-called 'conversion therapy.'
She believes that the demand for these services will persist "
until LGBTIQ + people are fully accepted
by their families, their religions and their communities."
Dánae Vílchez contributed to this article