Trevor Project Video Spotlights Conversion Therapy Survivors
A new episode of the Trevor Project’s Sharing Space series centers LGBTQ people who endured conversion therapy.
The Trevor Project has released a new episode of Sharing Space, its documentary-style roundtable series spotlighting the lived experiences of LGBTQ young people through conversations moderated by supportive adults and allies.
Titled “Conversion Therapy,” the episode features a roundtable discussion moderated by a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist and includes six LGBTQ individuals who have been subjected to various forms of the practice. The 38-minute video is available on the organization’s YouTube channel.
“Our goal with this episode is to show the real people, and share the real stories, behind the headlines and government actions — and illustrate the devastating toll that conversion therapy takes on young people and their families,” said Nolan Scott, senior director of marketing and content at The Trevor Project, in a statement.
Conversion therapy is a discredited practice in which practitioners — including licensed clinicians and religious leaders — claim to be able to “change” a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice can range from so-called “talk” therapy and religious rituals to aversion-based methods that may involve physical pain, induced nausea, or even electroshock therapy. It is rooted in the belief that homosexuality or gender dysphoria is immoral, unnatural, or trauma-based.
Most major medical and mental health organizations oppose conversion therapy, citing its ineffectiveness at altering a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and warning that the practice can harm an individual’s self-esteem and mental health.
Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia prohibit licensed therapists from subjecting minors to conversion therapy, but the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a challenge to Colorado’s ban, with opponents arguing that such prohibitions infringe on therapists’ religious beliefs and freedom of speech. Based on oral arguments, the Court appears poised to strike down state-level bans on the practice.
In the episode, the six participants discuss how conversion therapy has been rebranded by anti-LGBTQ advocates, promoted on social media by certain influencers, and framed as comparable to other forms of therapy.
The participants also recount their personal experiences with conversion therapy. One participant, Andrew, recalls attempting suicide after experiencing parental rejection and undergoing the practice under duress, following threats that he could be expelled from a conservative religious university.
Another participant, Junior, says he intentionally enrolled himself in a conversion therapy camp run by two self-described “ex-gays” who were not licensed therapists — unbeknownst to his parents, who believed it was a regular summer camp — and was subjected to mental exhaustion, physical assault, and group shaming tied to his feelings of homosexuality.
Watch the Trevor Project’s Sharing Space episode on conversion therapy below:
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