Because of ethical considerations, there are no clinical trials comparing the effects of hormone therapy to conversion therapy on trans youths. But a set of recent studies tease out cause and effect.
Pride flags in London.
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The proposed law reinforces unscientific conversion practices – or so-called reparative therapies – that don’t work.
A pride flag flies in front of the temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City during a 2015 protest against church policy toward same-sex couples.
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A university course teaches students why people believe false and evidence-starved claims, to show them how to determine what’s accurate and real and what’s neither.
Eddie Clark, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Fears that concerned parents might fall foul of a new law banning gay conversion practices are not borne out by the strict definitions in the bill before parliament.
Gov. Andy Beshear is in favor of making Kentucky the 21st state to ban conversion therapy.
AP Photo/Bryan Woolston
Kentucky lawmakers are trying to make the state the 21st to enact a ban on conversion therapy. In states that are ‘silent’ on the issue, nonprofessionals are allowed to continue the harmful practice.
A recent lawsuit has charged the U.S. Department of Education as being complicit in the abuse of LGBTQ students.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
A recent Title IX lawsuit alleges discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation at religious schools. Two scholars argue that this might be a pivotal moment.
Protesters in Michigan, USA, come out in support of LGBT+ rights.
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The suicide of a young woman who had been put through conversion therapy has sparked a backlash from India’s LGBTQ+ community.
The social pressures to be ‘straight’ and ‘cis’ can be overwhelming for LGBTQ+ people, especially youth. Adding conversion therapy to the criminal code of Canada is a good first step to supporting them.
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Conversion therapy has been pushed on some in the LGBQ community by those who think same-sex sexual behavior is ‘unnatural.’ But such behavior seems to have evolved millions of years before humans.
Biological factors shape sexual preference.
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Bill Sullivan, Indiana University School of Medicine
A new study of nearly 500,000 individuals finds that many genes affect same-sex behavior, including newly identified candidates that may regulate smell and sex hormones.