Conversion Therapy Persuasive Paper
Kaylee Godfrey
Mrs. Simonelli
English 111
31 March 2015
Persuasive Research Paper
Conversion therapy is a practice that 's been going for centuries, but it came into the eye of the public at the turn of the twentieth century. Its practice is brutal to subtle, but has the same goals to change your sexual orientation and gender identity to the “normal” heterosexual and cisgender being. Conversion therapy is most known for its homophobia and transphobia prejudices. Patients are never really “cured”; instead, they become suicidal. Conversion therapy has become another form of torture and is still legal in 48 states in the U.S.
About 40 years ago the APA (American Psychological Association) stated that homosexuality is not a mental disorder; …show more content…
however, in 2006 the APA declared that there is no scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed (Sanchez). Most conversion therapist are not even psychologist, they are religious practitioners and priests. These religious practitioners truly believe that they can change a person’s sexual orientation: These religious practitioners convince gays and lesbians that something is wrong with them, rather than helping them accept who they are, all for the Name of God. It 's even been proven that there is a "gay gene", due to a study performed in the 1970s. When homosexuality was in the media over the sexually transmitted disease we now know as AIDS. Even though there is scientific evidence behind homosexuality, many people against gays and lesbians still believe they can “revert” back into heterosexuals.
One conversion method is to "repair" the masculinity or femininity of the patient. A handbook on this method reads quote: "He should (1) participate in sports activities (2) avoid activities considered of interest to homosexuals, such as operas. Art museum”(NARTH) and so on. To the point where they are married to the opposite gender and raising their own children. People seem to be getting confused with sexual orientation and gender expression. A man can like the color pink and still like girls. Another method is spiritual condemnation. The tragic transgender, Leelah Alcorn, was subjected to this “treatment”. Her therapist told her she was selfish, wrong and needed to turn to God. Some ministries even advise parents to disown their children if they were to come out as gay or Trans. The most popular method conversion therapist use is this method called aversion therapy. Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. Many patients were given electroshock or nausea-inducing drugs while being forced to look at same-sex erotic images (Never Scared Straight). In an interview, a patient describe his "treatment"; "my hands would be tied down, and blocks of ice with salt placed on my hands, then pictures of men holding hands would be shown to me, so that I 'd associate the concept of the pain of ice with a man touching me". He went on to say "it worked really, really well, my dad couldn 't even hug me anymore or I would scream out in pain"(I’m From Driftwood). This “therapy” is still legal in many states, even though it has been rejected by every single major body of mental health experts in the country, that you cannot “pray the gay away”.
On the topic of Leelah Alcorn, she was 17 when she committed suicide.
She stated in her suicide note, which was posted on her Tumblr account right before her death, how much she hated her parents for forcing her into “reparative” therapy: making her another victim to conversion therapy and its prejudice. Conversion therapy causes gay and transgender people to be more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and have a higher chance of committing suicide. What 's even worse is the fact that most minors don 't have voice in the matter. They’re busy being strapped in a chair and painfully electrocuted, because it their so called “loving” parents put them there. Teenagers cut, slash, hurt, and harm themselves, because the people they needed in their life the most couldn’t accept them. That feeling alone can destroy a person, and it did for many of adolescents. How many Leelah Alcorn’s need to die for us to realize that conversion therapy is wrong and unethical? I would like to think God would prefer living, breathing teenagers over dead ones: only for their life to be stolen by conservatives who couldn 't accept the liberal change of the 21st century.
The claim that you can’t be born gay has been debunked by scientific evidence a gazillion times. Also the “gay gene can’t be passed on because they don’t have children” is stupid too. That’s like saying people with Down syndrome can’t have children because they’re infertile. Your right neither can have children of their own, but babies …show more content…
with Down syndrome are still born every day. The same as babies, who will grow up, and soon realize they might be gay. That’s an inevitable process that can’t be stop, unless women stop giving birth all together.
Many LGBT communities have gone to Amnesty International and gave case studies and examples of why conversion therapy should be illegal, and the process of being so is well on its way. The only two states in the United States where conversion therapy is illegal are in California and New Jersey. Luckily, states like Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Virginia, and five more states are considering the banning of conversion therapy against minors. This is a step towards a better future, where minors are no longer told something is wrong with them due to their sexual orientation. Conversion therapy is nothing but pseudoscience made up by conservative Christians, and it needs to end, for the sake of saving lives.
Work Cited
Sanchez, Casey.
"Homosexuality Cannot Be 'Cured '." Homosexuality. Ed. Cynthia A. Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Straight Like Me." Intelligence Report(Winter 2007): 48-55. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
"Never Scared Straight; Doctors, therapists and legislators have come to bury gay conversion therapy."Newsweek 9 May 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Dobson, James. "Homosexuality Is a Psychological Disorder." Bringing Up Boys. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 2001. Rpt. in Homosexuality. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
"Facts About Changing Sexual Orientation." Facts About Changing Sexual Orientation. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
"Narth." Narth. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
"I’m From Perry, IA – Video Story." Im From Driftwood. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr.
2015.
Mrs. Simonelli
English 111
31 March 2015
Persuasive Research Paper
Conversion therapy is a practice that 's been going for centuries, but it came into the eye of the public at the turn of the twentieth century. Its practice is brutal to subtle, but has the same goals to change your sexual orientation and gender identity to the “normal” heterosexual and cisgender being. Conversion therapy is most known for its homophobia and transphobia prejudices. Patients are never really “cured”; instead, they become suicidal. Conversion therapy has become another form of torture and is still legal in 48 states in the U.S.
About 40 years ago the APA (American Psychological Association) stated that homosexuality is not a mental disorder; …show more content…
however, in 2006 the APA declared that there is no scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed (Sanchez). Most conversion therapist are not even psychologist, they are religious practitioners and priests. These religious practitioners truly believe that they can change a person’s sexual orientation: These religious practitioners convince gays and lesbians that something is wrong with them, rather than helping them accept who they are, all for the Name of God. It 's even been proven that there is a "gay gene", due to a study performed in the 1970s. When homosexuality was in the media over the sexually transmitted disease we now know as AIDS. Even though there is scientific evidence behind homosexuality, many people against gays and lesbians still believe they can “revert” back into heterosexuals.
One conversion method is to "repair" the masculinity or femininity of the patient. A handbook on this method reads quote: "He should (1) participate in sports activities (2) avoid activities considered of interest to homosexuals, such as operas. Art museum”(NARTH) and so on. To the point where they are married to the opposite gender and raising their own children. People seem to be getting confused with sexual orientation and gender expression. A man can like the color pink and still like girls. Another method is spiritual condemnation. The tragic transgender, Leelah Alcorn, was subjected to this “treatment”. Her therapist told her she was selfish, wrong and needed to turn to God. Some ministries even advise parents to disown their children if they were to come out as gay or Trans. The most popular method conversion therapist use is this method called aversion therapy. Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. Many patients were given electroshock or nausea-inducing drugs while being forced to look at same-sex erotic images (Never Scared Straight). In an interview, a patient describe his "treatment"; "my hands would be tied down, and blocks of ice with salt placed on my hands, then pictures of men holding hands would be shown to me, so that I 'd associate the concept of the pain of ice with a man touching me". He went on to say "it worked really, really well, my dad couldn 't even hug me anymore or I would scream out in pain"(I’m From Driftwood). This “therapy” is still legal in many states, even though it has been rejected by every single major body of mental health experts in the country, that you cannot “pray the gay away”.
On the topic of Leelah Alcorn, she was 17 when she committed suicide.
She stated in her suicide note, which was posted on her Tumblr account right before her death, how much she hated her parents for forcing her into “reparative” therapy: making her another victim to conversion therapy and its prejudice. Conversion therapy causes gay and transgender people to be more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and have a higher chance of committing suicide. What 's even worse is the fact that most minors don 't have voice in the matter. They’re busy being strapped in a chair and painfully electrocuted, because it their so called “loving” parents put them there. Teenagers cut, slash, hurt, and harm themselves, because the people they needed in their life the most couldn’t accept them. That feeling alone can destroy a person, and it did for many of adolescents. How many Leelah Alcorn’s need to die for us to realize that conversion therapy is wrong and unethical? I would like to think God would prefer living, breathing teenagers over dead ones: only for their life to be stolen by conservatives who couldn 't accept the liberal change of the 21st century.
The claim that you can’t be born gay has been debunked by scientific evidence a gazillion times. Also the “gay gene can’t be passed on because they don’t have children” is stupid too. That’s like saying people with Down syndrome can’t have children because they’re infertile. Your right neither can have children of their own, but babies …show more content…
with Down syndrome are still born every day. The same as babies, who will grow up, and soon realize they might be gay. That’s an inevitable process that can’t be stop, unless women stop giving birth all together.
Many LGBT communities have gone to Amnesty International and gave case studies and examples of why conversion therapy should be illegal, and the process of being so is well on its way. The only two states in the United States where conversion therapy is illegal are in California and New Jersey. Luckily, states like Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Virginia, and five more states are considering the banning of conversion therapy against minors. This is a step towards a better future, where minors are no longer told something is wrong with them due to their sexual orientation. Conversion therapy is nothing but pseudoscience made up by conservative Christians, and it needs to end, for the sake of saving lives.
Work Cited
Sanchez, Casey.
"Homosexuality Cannot Be 'Cured '." Homosexuality. Ed. Cynthia A. Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Straight Like Me." Intelligence Report(Winter 2007): 48-55. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
"Never Scared Straight; Doctors, therapists and legislators have come to bury gay conversion therapy."Newsweek 9 May 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Dobson, James. "Homosexuality Is a Psychological Disorder." Bringing Up Boys. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 2001. Rpt. in Homosexuality. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
"Facts About Changing Sexual Orientation." Facts About Changing Sexual Orientation. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
"Narth." Narth. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
"I’m From Perry, IA – Video Story." Im From Driftwood. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr.
2015.