conversion therapy

noun

plural conversion therapies

: the use of any of various methods (such as aversive stimulation or religious counseling) in an attempt to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change a person's gender identity to correspond to the sex the person was identified as having at birth

Note: Conversion therapy is generally regarded as having no scientific basis and as being both ineffective and harmful.

Conversion therapy is both pointless and painful. At its best, it can inflict considerable psychological damage on a child without changing their sexual orientation or gender identity whatsoever. At its worst, it can lead to suicide …

—Samantha Allen

Momentum has been building in legislative sessions this spring for the bans, which prohibit state-licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy for anyone under 18.

—Susan Miller

called also reparative therapy

Examples of conversion therapy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Another bill aimed to remove my daughter and all trans youth from the nondiscrimination law that had passed just a few years earlier; and the final bill sought to repeal the state’s ban on conversion therapy. —Abi Maxwell, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024

That’s how many conversion therapy practices are in 48 states and D.C., according to 2023 research from the Trevor Project. —Arianna Johnson, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024

Advocates against conversion therapy praise Beshear Advocates against conversion therapy said Beshear signing the executive order is going to protect Kentucky’s LGBTQ youth. —Hannah Pinski, The Courier-Journal, 18 Sep. 2024

The story examines Radha’s struggle with gender identity amid familial beliefs and societal expectations, shedding light on cultural practices that function as conversion therapy. —Patrick Frater, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above