It’s time for Pa. lawmakers to ban LGBTQ conversion ‘therapy’ | Opinion

As a suburban high school student in Oklahoma in the mid-’90s, I slowly began to come to terms with who I am. I am gay. And when I had met my first boyfriend not long after, I was faced with the cruel reality of what being gay meant in a society that rejected our truth.

Like most high school couples, my boyfriend and I would sit together outside after school had ended, hold hands, and talk about the future. Unlike most teenagers, however, we dealt with being called derogatory names, chased, and physically assaulted by our peers — merely for loving one another.

As much as I tried to assure him that we would be OK and that we would make it through together, little did I know my boyfriend was secretly coping with an even bigger monster. He told me about a camp that his parents sent him to — a camp where he was told it was unacceptable to be gay and where he was forced to change his sexual orientation. He told me it was a place that made him feel less than human, and the thought of having to return deeply terrified him.

“I can’t go back,” he said to me over the phone.

The following morning, I found out those would be his last words to me. He had died by suicide that same night not long after our final call. I would never hear his voice again.

Conversion “therapy” is a name given to any number of practices aimed at actively changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This dangerous and discredited practice is disavowed by every prominent professional medical association, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

» READ MORE: Conversion therapy should be banned, medical experts agree | Opinion

And for good reason. Research consistently demonstrates that this so-called “therapy” is alarmingly linked to increased suicide risk.

According to The Trevor Project’s “2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health,” 13% of LGBTQ youth reported being subjected to conversion therapy, with 83% reporting it occurred when they were under 18. A study published in 2020 in the American Journal of Public Health found that LGBTQ youth who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide and more than 2.5 times as likely to report multiple suicide attempts in the past year.

While we don’t know exactly how many LGBTQ youth are subjected to conversion therapy in Pennsylvania, we are aware of dozens of active conversion therapists operating across the state — and I’ve heard enough heart-wrenching stories of survivors of the practice to understand that the hidden number is far too high.

Knowing how harmful conversion therapy is, and witnessing the harms firsthand, I’ve dedicated nearly my entire life and career to the broader movement that’s working to end this abusive practice across every state in the nation. Because of the work of advocates, survivors, and supportive lawmakers over the past decade, 25 states and more than 100 municipalities have passed legislation protecting LGBTQ youth from the dangers of conversion therapy.

“Research consistently demonstrates that this so-called ‘therapy’ is alarmingly linked to increased suicide risk.”

Currently, there is pending legislation in Harrisburg that would protect young people from this abusive practice. It has been held up in the state legislature for months, but I believe now is the time to get this bill passed. And we need your help to do so. Lawmakers need to hear your voice. They need to know that the people they represent stand for protecting LGBTQ young people. This should not be a partisan issue — this is about accepting young people for who they are, following all of the available evidence, and coming together to end a fraud that has torn apart too many families.

I’ve lived in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia over the span of a decade, and have worked in and traveled to all four corners of the commonwealth. I know that Pennsylvanians have the heart in them to prevent young LGBTQ people in their communities from feeling inadequate, hopeless, and rejected.

It’s been nearly three decades since I lost my first boyfriend to suicide after being subjected to conversion therapy. His last words remain seared in my memory: “I can’t go back.” A long journey lies ahead, but every step of progress along the way is what keeps moving me forward in the hopes of saving young LGBTQ lives. As does the memory of him. I can’t go back.

Troy Stevenson is a senior advocacy campaign manager at The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.