Let's Talk About Conversion Therapy

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Post 11: Reflection

         This project was a bit emotionally draining. There is plenty of research out there about conversion therapy but the draining part comes from reading horrific stories of people’s real experiences with this type of “therapy”. Not only does it pain me as a human to think of others going through this but as a member of the queer community it is heartbreaking to know there are people in situation that are so unaccepting to the point they are forced to “convert”.

           This research has taught me the importance of looking at topics through an intersectional lens versus just thinking in my single opinion about the topic. It pushed me to be accepting of other view that may differ from mine while also pushing me to think about the structures that perpetuate these treatments still existing. After completing this project I am very interested in the shift from medical use of this treatment to religion. It is important to remember this idea of the necessity for this therapy came from somewhere and to analyze its existence and how to reform our thinking to move away from it.

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Post 10: Additional Resources

The following links provide access to resources either used in these series of blog posts as well as some additional sources. Included with each is a brief description of what the source is.

http://www.nclrights.org/our-work/bornperfect/

           This is the NCLR website which includes a page that has a breakdown of conversion therapy. It provides educational resources on what conversion therapy is, facts about this therapy, and other resources about laws and policy making.

http://drdoughaldeman.com/doc/ScientificExamination.pdf

           This is the article mentioned in post three by Haldeman. This is an article there is a history provided about conversion therapy as well as a discussion of how it is still very prevalent in today’s society. He also addresses the medical professional side of treatment.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4065319.pdf?acceptTC=true

           This link is to the article discussed in post four. It is about the ill-treatment of humans. Included is narrative of a man that was forced into conversion therapy. This article also provides useful ways in which the government could implement changes to end conversion therapy and protect minors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML85PFluEoE

           This video is of a past workshop Sam Brinton (The real life example from post five) help in which he talks about his experience with conversion therapy. He also touches on the history of conversion therapy as well as a bit about current movements around the topic. *This video does include details about his experience/violence

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samhsa-conversion-therapy_561fb2eee4b050c6c4a47482

           This web page further discussed a federal report made to push for banning conversion therapy especially to protect LGBTQIA youth. I talks a bit about policies and  why states should join the movement against conversion therapy use.

http://www.hrc.org/resources/the-lies-and-dangers-of-reparative-therapy

           This is a link to the Human Rights Campaign web page on conversion therapy. They provide resources to educate on the subject but also statistics on conversion therapy. It also lists some organizations and their stances on these types of therapies.

https://www.splcenter.org/issues/lgbt-rights/conversion-therapy

           This was an article put out by a law practice that aims to protect LGBTQIA folks. In this article they expose how conversion therapy is dangerous. Their website provided legal resources as well.

http://prospect.org/article/my-so-called-ex-gay-life

           This is more of a narrative form a person who experienced lack of acceptance and conversion therapy treatments. *This is a true story/ includes some description of treatments

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Post 9: Recommendations

      One recommendation I would put forth is the obvious which is expanding movements to result in the government banning conversion therapies in all fifty states. This is obviously something that is a work in progress and is more recent since the first state to ban it (in regards to minors) only did so three years ago. This is important because we now allow same sex marriages which shows the need for acceptance of people with different identities yet in those same states conversion therapy is allowed to continue with is doing the opposite work of promoting acceptance. The banning of conversion therapy in total may be a stretch because as mentioned above some people can willingly participate but expanding protection of minors who might not have a choice is an achievable goal.

           A second recommendation would be to expand conversion therapy as a topic in education.  Conversion therapy should be expanded outside of education received by medical students. Higher education systems have a chance to offer whichever courses they choose which means offering courses about conversion therapy but also treatments that harm people like this could be beneficial in increasing awareness about the topic. It could not only be included in LGBTQIA studies but other departments like psychology and history to reach more students and have a broader impact.

           A third recommendation would be to reform the training that medical professions receive. This would be beneficial in many ways including to end conversion therapy. If the training was formatted in a way where there was a more intersectional approach to teaching about the queer community then it could possibly create a safer environment for folks within the community. We cannot expect medical professionals to understand experiences of LGBTQIA folks unless we offer better resources and education on those experiences. This could reduce stigmas attached to the community and possible reduce the acceptance of discriminatory harmful practices such as conversion therapy.

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Post 8: Summary

         The research done on this topic specifically within this blog has demonstrated the need for the analysis and possible reform of the structures that hold power to keep harmful practices such as conversion therapy going. This topic is important because conversion therapy is something that targets a specific community in ways that are abusive in many ways and even considered torturous to some. This topic is relevant because it is not yet illegal in the United States as whole to carry out these practices.

           This topic expands beyond just research because we see in real life examples such as Sam Brinton’s story how these treatments look in real life application. Being confronted with these real examples is so vital to exposing folks who may have no knowledge about conversion therapy to what it truly entails. Through the research of this topic I have even expanded my knowledge and  understanding regarding looking at multiple factors that are included in the discussion of conversion therapy versus just that it is awful and viewing it from the patient’s side. I have learned that there are people who enter this treatment willingly and if we say people have a choice than we cannot take that away from them but I have also learned that it is crucial to expose what the role of the medical professionals is in regards to their relationships with patients as well as this form of therapy. I connected this with the big section of class devoted to understanding how the medical field interacts with the LGBTQIA community. This influenced me to keep in mind how we discussed the understanding of what queer experiences are in these settings and how those can relate to experiences such as conversion therapy.

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Post 7: Description of how the problem is an intersectional issue              

           The topic of conversion therapy is intersectional in that it touches on multiple facets of a person as well as multiple ways in which we interact with society. Yes, an analysis of this topic deals with a person’s gender and sexual identity but it expands farther than that. Understanding conversion therapy means understanding other topics like mental health, physical health, and self-care. These treatments can result in negative or harmful effects lasting the person’s entire life. Conversion therapy is seen as forms of mental and emotional abuse as well as physical abuse which lead to a deterioration in self-care. To really understand what why conversion therapy is negative one must also understand these other concepts such as the importance of mental health especially within the LGBTQIA community.

           Conversion therapy is also intersectional in that it deals with societal issues such as how the government regulates treatments like this but also how societal influences either destroy or allow things like these treatments to continue. There is also the topic of social  justice meaning a part of this analysis of conversion therapy is the movement towards getting justice for people that either have experienced treatments as well as protecting people form experiencing this in the future.

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Post 6: Discussion of Power Structures

        Like most things, conversion therapy is something that was socially constructed. The idea of why there is the feeling that it needs to exist was not something we all had in us from birth but rather something that society and the structures of power have influenced. Some of the key power structures that somehow influence or play a role in conversion therapy are religious communities, medical field, education systems, and the media.

           Conversion therapy and treatments alike are known to have a large religious backing due to beliefs about homosexuality or any sexual variance that is different from heterosexuality. Due to changes in laws and policies that restrict certain people such as doctors and psychologists form partaking in certain types of treatments, people with religious affiliations have taken on some of these roles as administers of these treatments. Religion is known to be one of the hardest systems to regulate due to everybody having the freedom to practice religion in their own way according to their own or shared beliefs. This is why we often see these treatments happening form within a religious setting. People often use religion to justify conversion therapy because of how they interpret what the beliefs are regarding sexuality. It is somewhat taboo to for others to question people on how they practice their beliefs which can lead to why religion remains a power structure.

           The medical field is one of the biggest power structures involved for reasons mentioned in previous posts such as the imbalance of power between medical professionals such as people within the psychology field as well as doctors and the people they see as patients. Before the movements to get rid of conversion therapy started medical professionals had the power to carry out this therapy. Unfortunately I have found that certain medical institutions such as ones that are religiously founded and funded can still somehow find loopholes to giving these treatments to people. Although there are laws being passed to regulate and hopefully eventually rid society of conversion therapy as whole we cannot be in every doctor’s office to know who still provides these treatments.

           The education system and the media have power in similar ways. In simplest form people are shown what other people allow just like people are taught what people choose to teach. Conversion therapy is not something that is taught nor is there easy access to the knowledge through the education system unless you go searching for it. It is not a topic that is taught in schools. It is not even as accessible in college because it depends on the institution you attend and the topics of courses/ departments. The media is another power structure that can censor what they put out there. They choose to emphasize certain things while minimizing others. It leaves one to wonder how the movement around banning conversion therapy would be different if it was show as much as other powerful movements such as ones around race issues and equal rights for people. Education and media both have this power that does not have to be negative but if and only if these structures use this power to educate and show the reality of things versus hiding them.

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Post 5: Discussion of Real Example: Sam Brinton

           A way of bringing this research on conversion therapy into everyday life is through the example of Sam Brinton. He is a public speaker and representative for the movement titled #BornPerfect. He travels all over doing workshops which are like a mini course on conversion therapy in which he discusses the history, medicalization, religious affiliation, and his own personal experience receiving these treatments.Sam starts by discussing the history of conversion therapy in regards to it being a medical treatment through examples such as the procedure of transferring testicles of heterosexual men into homosexual men in hopes of changing their sexuality. He also speaks about how after homosexuality was taken out of the DSM we saw a rise in conversion therapy practices being carried out by religious communities. Reasons for this could be the changes in how the APA (American Psychological Association) has questions the ethics of this therapy due to it not being something that follows their guidelines resulting in less participation in these treatments. People that used religion as a reasoning for the necessity of this treatment were no longer protected by medical professionals and therefore carried out this therapy on their own.

           Sam also shares his personal narrative with being forced to participate with conversion therapy when he was a minor. He discussed the mental and physical ways they harmed him. Some being ways of trying to condition his mental state to “cure” his sexual variance. Other ways were more physical like attaching hot wires to his hands or even submerging him in ice cold water until he gave in. These treatments did not work as Sam still identifies within the LGBTQIA community today and is not an advocate for ending these types of therapies. He works to provide resources and support for people who have or are going through these treatments while also fighting to end conversion therapy.

           Attending one of his workshops last year at MBGLTACC (Conference) proved to be one of the most influential and educational workshops I have attended in my college career. To know about these horrific practices is one thing but to see how they translate into real life when somebody right in front of you is telling you their story along with how it impacts your entire life was a powerful narrative to hear. Hearing Sam speak about specific stories and see that it still triggers his physical and emotional reactions even to this day while hearing explanations of how he just interacts with people differently was emotionally exhausting but in a good way. It should have had that impact on the people in that room because he was taking us on a journey with him through traumatic experiences.

Sources- MBGLTACC February 2015

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Post 4: Analysis of Second Scholarly Source

       In this journal entry by Lewin and Meyer, they discuss the “ill-treatment and torture” of folks in general based on their sexual variance and identities. There is discussion in the journal about the need for protection of people from these horrible treatments and other forms of discrimination but also how it is up to people in the medical field such as doctors, therapists, and the very institutions themselves to protect people from these forms of danger. This is important in exposing the power dynamics between medical professionals and the patients. These people in the medical field may have a lot of influence on patients that are in a vulnerable state.

           Included in this source is a narrative of a man who joined the military and was admitted to a hospital under suspicion of being homosexual. This man was then forced into conversion treatments. He was outed to the military as well as family which he stated was traumatic for him and his loved ones. This was sued in the article to show that it is part of the duty of systems like the medical ones to protect folks rather than exposing them. The authors also formed a list of ways the government could hold institutions accountable for proper care and support of all patients. On this list was the protection of minors from harmful treatments due to lack of consent.

           This source was useful in that it doesn’t necessarily place all the blame on the medical field but it does expose what they and the government could do to help protect people from treatments that could be physically and mentally harmful. I agree with the idea that there is this power difference that gives one side a lot of influence which can be helpful and dangerous depending on what people do with that power. I was however, a little disappointed with the lack of discussion of consent being an issue. Yes, there was mention of protection of minors, but if I were studying this topic for the first time I feel that I would want some expansion on why minors specifically need protection.

reference: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4065319.pdf?acceptTC=true

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Post Three: Analysis of a Scholarly Source

           In this article, written by Douglas Haldeman, it discusses how conversion therapy or treatments alike are still continuously used even though homosexuality was taken out of the DSM as a disorder. Interestingly this journal article touches on the side of the medical professional which provides an interesting view considering we usually focus on the participants. Haldeman focuses on two main facets of conversion therapy. The first concern is the discourse surrounding the ethics of the person giving the therapy. Essentially this is questioning how far a medical professional could carry out this treatment before going against the APA guidelines for what is deemed as unethical treatment. The second concern is regarding how credible the research on conversion therapy is that makes a claim that conversion therapy in fact does have the intended results.

           While this article is useful in that it questions if society is the one to blame for these treatments happening at the rates that they do due to lack of acceptance , Which I can agree with, there are some other questions to expand this research. I would expect people to question how this work can be translated into bigger population meaning other identities than just the assumption that men and women in these treatments only identify as homosexual. If this research was being done by Haldeman today I would encourage the expansion to finding results regarding all different identities including gender and sexual ones.

reference: http://drdoughaldeman.com/doc/ScientificExamination.pdf

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Post Two-Analysis of a Web Source: 

The NCLR on “Facts About Conversion Therapy

         This online source is a page for the NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights). They have partnered with groups that are trying to end conversion therapy to push the campaign “#BornPerfect” forward. This specific page on their website discusses the basics of conversion therapy in regards to what it is, the different types, examples, how it is seen in the medical field, and the discussion of legislation/policies. The source describes different terms one might hear that are types of conversion therapy such as reparative therapy, ex-gay therapy, and Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE).

           The source aims to answer common questions by tackling ones such as “does conversion therapy actually change one’s sexual identity?” as well as “How/ in what ways is conversion therapy harmful?”. In doing this, the NCLR provides info about studies that were done by the APA (American Psychological Association) to show data results regarding these types of therapies. Importantly, the source also provides material on what types of laws are being pushed for to prevent these forms of therapy in general but specifically to start by protecting minors from these treatments when they do not have a choice in the matter. These laws banning conversion therapy are recent meaning within the past three years starting in 2012.

           I believe this source proved to be an effective way of generally providing the basics of what conversion therapy is and why there is this need for a movement around it providing social change and justice. I appreciate that the NCLR page did offer other resources throughout for either help or just to read up more on specifics regarding things like legislation. I agree with what is said about the change in how medical professional’s approach this therapy but I disagree with the lack of discussion regarding how there has been shift to seeing this therapy occur in religious communities. If I were somebody that was new to this topic or LGBTQ studies I would find it beneficial to have more examples provided regarding the types of treatments.

References: 

http://www.nclrights.org/our-work/bornperfect/

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Introduction to Blog Post

~Conversion Therapy~

By: Jenna Morin

These series of blog posts will revolve around the topic of conversion therapy which is also commonly referred to as reparative therapy. This form of therapy aims to “correct” people who are sexually variant meaning they identify as something other than heterosexual. Obviously this related to the LGBTQ community in that it is a therapy constructed specifically for people that identify on the wide spectrum of sexual orientations. This therapy operates under the assumption that everybody is born heterosexual and that any other sexual orientation is a choice.  These efforts to “convert “ people back to heterosexuality can often be traumatic, physically harmful, emotionally harmful, and even seen as torture in some situations. This topic is relevant today because although conversion therapy has been banned in some states it is not illegal in all. Fortunately there is now protection for minors in regards to banning the allowance of these practices on them until the age of consent. There is also now an amazing campaign called Born Perfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy that has been promoting the idea that everybody is born perfect the way they are and has been fighting to protect minors and young people from these practices. This is also an organization that supports people who have experienced conversion therapy and provides resources for them.

I am specifically interested in conversion therapy because last year I attended MBGLTACC ( The Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference) where Sam Brinton, who works with Born Perfect, spoke about his personal experience with conversion therapy. It was an incredibly powerful narrative to share because you sit in that story with him and really feel how much this can hurt a person as well as stay with them for the rest of their lives.

For facts and info on conversion therapy visit:

http://www.nclrights.org/bornperfect-the-facts-about-conversion-therapy/#q6