OutRight Action International has published the first-ever comprehensive and global study of conversion therapy, providing a “global snapshot” about the practice, “including who is most vulnerable, what factors lead LGBTIQ people to choose or to be subjected to these harmful practices, what are the main forms of ‘conversion therapy,’ and who are the main perpetrators.”
The study particularly focuses on Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, finding that “the demand for ‘conversion therapy’ will only diminish when social, family, and religious condemnation of LGBTIQ lives ceases, and LGBTIQ people are free to access and enjoy their full human rights. Indeed, ‘conversion therapy’ is a manifestation of the scourge of both societal and internalized homophobia and transphobia and is fueled by the messages that being LGBTIQ is pathological, disordered, and unacceptable. Such myths converge in a perfect storm of rejection and condemnation, leading to an ongoing demand for ‘conversion therapy,’ both by LGBTIQ people themselves as well as by their families, faith communities, and broader society.