Inside Conversion Therapy—and Why Its Return to the Courts Has Experts Alarmed
It never starts with the word torture.
It starts with something softer.
A concerned parent. A pastor’s recommendation. A therapist who says, “We can help you live the life you were meant to live.”
It starts with the promise that something inside you can be fixed.
And now—after decades of medical consensus rejecting the practice outright—conversion therapy is back in the national spotlight, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could reshape how far states can go in banning it.
For survivors, the timing is chilling.
Because for them, this isn’t an abstract legal debate.
It’s something they lived through.
What Conversion Therapy Actually Is
Conversion therapy—sometimes rebranded as “reparative therapy” or “sexual orientation change efforts”—is any practice that attempts to:
- Change a person’s sexual orientation
- Suppress same-sex attraction
- Force alignment with a cisgender identity
Despite decades of evidence, the premise behind it remains the same:
That LGBTQ+ people are broken—and need to be fixed.
Every major medical organization in the United States has rejected that premise. Not cautiously. Not partially.
Completely.
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And yet the practice persists—often in places where regulation is weakest: religious counseling, unlicensed coaching, and underground programs that operate just outside legal definitions.
The Theories That Refuse to Die
Conversion therapy survives on a foundation of ideas that science has long since abandoned—but that still circulate in culture, politics, and certain religious spaces.
The “Disorder” Model
For much of the 20th century, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. That classification was removed in 1973.
Conversion therapy never moved on.
It still operates as if queerness is a pathology—something caused by damage, dysfunction, or deviation.
The “Broken Childhood” Theory
Many programs teach that LGBTQ+ identity comes from:
- Absent fathers
- Overbearing mothers
- Childhood trauma
There is no credible evidence supporting this.
But for participants, the impact is real: it reframes identity as damage that must be repaired—often by reliving or reinterpreting childhood experiences through a lens of blame.
Behavioral Conditioning
Some programs use reward-and-punishment frameworks:
- Same-sex attraction → shame, correction, or discipline
- Heterosexual expression → praise, validation
Historically, this included electric shocks and nausea-inducing drugs.
Today, it’s often more psychological—but the logic is the same:
Condition the behavior until the identity disappears.
It doesn’t.
Religious Framing
In many modern settings, conversion therapy is presented as spiritual guidance:
- LGBTQ+ identity is framed as sin
- Participants are told they must “repent” or be “delivered”
For those raised in these systems, refusal isn’t just personal.
It’s existential.
Because rejecting the therapy can mean:
- Losing family
- Losing community
- Losing faith
“I Learned to Hate Myself Before I Learned Who I Was”
Survivor accounts follow a pattern that’s disturbingly consistent—even across different programs, states, and decades.
“They told me every time I had a thought about another girl, I needed to confess it. Eventually I started confessing things I didn’t even feel—just to prove I was trying hard enough.”
“It wasn’t electric shocks. It was worse. It was them convincing me that if I didn’t change, I would lose everyone I loved.”
“I didn’t come out of it straight. I came out of it broken.”
Many survivors describe something deeper than depression or anxiety.
They describe identity collapse.
Why Experts Say It’s Harm—Not Therapy
There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy changes sexual orientation or gender identity.
There is overwhelming evidence that it causes harm.
Studies consistently link it to:
- Major depressive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress
- Increased suicide risk
- Long-term psychological distress
But statistics only tell part of the story.
Because what makes conversion therapy uniquely damaging is what it targets:
Not behavior.
Not coping mechanisms.
But identity itself.
Why Survivors Call It Torture
The word comes up again and again—not just in activism, but in clinical and human rights discussions.
And it’s not used lightly.
Conversion therapy often includes:
Coercion
Many participants are minors. Others are pressured by family or religious authority.
Consent, in any meaningful sense, is often absent.
Psychological Control
Participants may be:
- Isolated from affirming voices
- Encouraged to monitor their thoughts
- Punished—socially or emotionally—for “failure”
Identity Erasure
The goal isn’t to help someone cope.
It’s to eliminate a core part of who they are.
Moral Weaponization
Participants are told:
- Their identity is sinful
- Their future depends on changing
- Their failure puts their soul—or family—at risk
That combination—coercion, control, identity targeting, and moral pressure—is why multiple human rights bodies have described these practices as:
Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment—sometimes rising to the level of torture.
The Supreme Court Moment
For years, states have attempted to ban conversion therapy—particularly for minors.
Now, that legal framework is under threat.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has opened the door to arguments that such bans may violate free speech protections—particularly when therapy is framed as “talk” rather than treatment.
Supporters of the ruling argue:
- It protects therapist speech
- It prevents government overreach
Opponents warn:
- It could weaken or overturn existing bans
- It reframes a discredited practice as protected expression
And in doing so, it risks pulling conversion therapy out of the shadows—and back into legitimacy.
Why This Fight Isn’t Over
Even before this ruling:
- Hundreds of thousands of Americans had already been subjected to conversion efforts
- Many programs operated in legal gray areas
- Enforcement of bans was inconsistent
Now, advocates fear a resurgence—not necessarily of the most extreme practices, but of rebranded, harder-to-regulate versions:
- “Faith-based counseling”
- “Identity alignment coaching”
- “Exploratory therapy”
Different language.
Same goal.
The Reality Conversion Therapy Can’t Change
After decades of attempts, one fact remains unchanged:
Conversion therapy has never succeeded in doing what it claims to do.
It does not make people straight.
It does not make people cisgender.
What it does—consistently—is something else:
- It teaches people to suppress themselves
- It fractures identity
- It replaces self-understanding with shame
What Comes Next
The legal battle over conversion therapy is far from settled.
States will continue to test the boundaries.
Courts will continue to weigh “speech” against harm.
But for survivors, the question is simpler—and far more urgent:
How many more people have to be broken before we stop calling this therapy?
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Kirstyn Piper Plummer is a Mom, Wife, Photographer, Reporter, IT Administrator and many other things.
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