Over 600,000 US LGBT adults received gay conversion therapy as youth, new study finds
It's estimated that over 75,000 LGBT youth will face the abusive practice before adulthood.
Over 75,000 teenagers in the US will face gay conversion therapy before adulthood, a new study has found.
The study, conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, found that around 20,000 LGBT+ youth receieve the controversial treatment from health care professionals before adulthood.
Meanwhile, another 57,000 LGBT youth receieve treatment from religious or “spiritual leaders” before they reach the age of 18 in the 41 states that do not ban the practice.
The study, entitled ‘Conversion Therapy LGBT Youth’, also found that around 698,000 LGBT adults, aged 18-59, had already received conversion therapy and 350,000 of them recieved it during their youth.
The Williams Institute’s policy director Christy Mallory, who lead the study, said banning the controversial practice could “protect tens of thousands of teens”.
Kerith Conron, an author of the study, said: “With such a large number of teens at risk of conversion therapy, we must ensure that families, faith communities and service providers have accurate information about sexual orientation and gender identity and work to reduce stigma and promote acceptance of LGBT youth and their families.”
According to the study, an estimated number of 6,000 LGBT youth who live in states which ban conversion therapy would have receieved the treatment before the age of 18 if the practice had not been banned.
Professional health associations have condemned the practice and called on Congress and politicians to pass laws against it. Today, only nine states have banned health professionals from practicing it.