biology

Conversion therapy

Conversion therapy is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Conversion therapy rather than just read about it. In short: Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Conversion therapy is ineffective at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and frequently causes significant long-term psychological harm.

Key takeaways

Conversion therapy belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Conversion therapy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Conversion therapy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Conversion therapy is ineffective at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and frequently causes significant long-term psychological harm. The position of evidence-based medicine and clinical guidance is that sexualities like homosexuality and bisexuality as well as gender variance are natural and healthy aspects of human sexuality and gender identity. When performed, conversion therapy may constitute fraud; when performed on minors it is considered to be a form of child abuse. It has been described by experts as torture; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and contrary to human rights. Laws on conversion therapy vary, ranging from constitutional protection to a criminal offense. Conversion therapy often consists of methods that involve, but are not limited to: talk therapy, aversion therapy, brain surgery, chemical castration, surgical castration, hypnosis, psychoanalysis, corrective rape, and various religious practices, including prayer and exorcism.

Terminology

Medical professionals and activists consider "conversion therapy" a misnomer, as it does not constitute a legitimate form of therapy. Alternative terms include "sexual orientation change efforts" (SOCE) and "gender identity change efforts" (GICE). Together they are referred to as "sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts" (SOGICE), or "sexual orientation and gender identity or expression change efforts" (SOGIECE). According to researcher Douglas C. Haldeman, SOCE and GICE should be considered together because both rest on the assumption "that gender-related behavior consistent with the individual's birth sex is normative and anything else is unacceptable and should be changed". The American Psychological Association stated in a 2021 resolution that some parts of SOCE also met their definition of GICE, and "intense focus" on gender-normative "conformity is a frequent characteristic of SOCE". "Reparative therapy" may refer to conversion therapy in general, or to a subset thereof. Some sources prefer the term "conversion practices" to "conversion therapy", on the grounds that the practices in question are not actually therapeutic. Advocates of conversion therapy do not necessarily use the term either, instead using phrases such as "healing from sexual brokenness" and "struggling with same-sex attraction".

Evolving phraseology

A common term found throughout conversion therapy practices is "same-sex attraction" with various phrases or words connected to it. The term "same-sex attraction disorder" (SSAD), or sometimes "same-sex attachment disorder" was coined by Richard Fitzgibbon in the 1990s as a replacement for the term gay and the "ex-gay movement" and subsequently popularized in the 2000s by Richard A. Cohen who, in his book Coming Out Straight, detailed the phrase and invented "diagnosis" that tried to pathologize homosexuality as a condition, concluding that "Homosexuality is a Same-Sex Attachment Disorder." The term was picked up by the ex-gay movement in scripts such as "I used to be gay, but I don't think of myself as gay anymore. Now I just experience same-sex attraction." A 2020 report by ILGA tracking bans on conversion therapy worldwide explained that in many countries where "conversion therapy" has been banned, "proponents had to reshape and adapt the way in which they present and offer their 'treatment'." The report further explains that many proponents of "conversion therapy" try to expressly distance themselves from the term "conversion therapy" or saying they support homosexuality or gender variance and referring to their alternative terminology as being something different. The report describes this effort to "make these pseudo-scientific practices 'a constant moving target'." The report listed a series of common terms used by proponents of "conversion therapy" for their "services" to provide assistance with "unwanted same-sex attraction"; promoting a "healthy sexuality", addressing "sexual brokenness"; helping clients explore their "gender confusion". In 2022, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) began tracking terms related to conversion therapy online in a report titled Conversion Therapy Online: The Ecosystem. The report documents practices, techniques and phraseology used by groups providing "conversion therapy" under various names to refer to the practice itself, as well as common phrases such as "same-sex attracted" in relation to conversion therapy targeted at LGBTQ people, in particular gay men and transgender people. In January 2024, GPAHE published an updated report for 2023, highlighting that many social media platforms and search engines are still serving a lot of content related to conversion therapy. Listing examples, using the search term "overcoming same-sex attraction" on YouTube led to results from religious and non-religious groups serving videos targeting gay and transgender people, such as videos titled "Former LGBTQers Testify: If You No Longer Want to be Gay or Transgender, You Don't Have to Be." In 2022, GPAHE also started creating an ongoing tracking project on organizations connected to the promotion of "conversion therapy" practices online titled Conversion Therapy Online: The Players to document the actors involved in these activities and show the interconnectedness. The report highlights some larger groups at the center of these efforts such as London-based International Federation for Therapeutic and Counseling Choice (IFTCC), chaired by Mike Davidson, founder of related Core Issues Trust (CIT) and several other organizations involved. IFTCC has been hosting annual conferences since its inception in 2015 with the purpose to connect individuals "seeking help with 'same-sex attraction' and 'gender confusion'" with therapists.

History

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Conversion therapy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Conversion therapy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Conversion therapy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Conversion therapy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Conversion therapy

In research: Conversion therapy appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Conversion therapy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Conversion therapy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abuse, Alternative medicine, Anti-LGBTQ sentiment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Conversion therapy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Conversion therapy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Conversion therapy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Conversion therapy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Conversion therapy in simple terms?

Why does Conversion therapy matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Conversion therapy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Conversion therapy.