title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END CONVERSION THERAPY
WHEREAS, on January 7, 2022, Canada's federal ban on 'conversion therapy' practices was enacted into law, making it illegal to provide or promote the dangerous practices nationwide; and
WHEREAS, 'conversion therapy,' sometimes referred to as 'reparative therapy' or 'sexual orientation change efforts' (SOCE), are a range of dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing one's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression based on the false claim that being gay or transgender is a mental illness that should be cured; and
WHEREAS, historically, 'conversion therapy' has taken many forms, from talk-therapy models to aversive techniques including nausea-inducing medication and electro-shock treatments, hypnosis, transplantation, and coercive religious interventions; and
WHEREAS, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association put forward a resolution determining that homosexuality was not a mental illness, but a normal variant of human nature, stating that "by itself, homosexuality does not meet the criteria for being a psychiatric disorder" and that it "will no longer insist on a label of sickness for individuals who insist that they are well and demonstrate no generalized impairment in social effectiveness."; and
WHEREAS, 'conversion therapy' has not been proven to change a person's sexual orientation by any credible scientific study, with a 2003 study finding that 88% of participants in conversion therapy failed to achieve a sustained change in their sexual behavior with only 3% reporting actually becoming heterosexual.; and
WHEREAS, in fact, Dr. Robert Spitzer, whose research had previously been misused to support 'conversion therapy', has since retracted his original claims, stating that all data regarding conversion therapy has been misinterpreted, and that there is no conclusive evidence that it works; and,
WHEREAS, according to the American Public Health Journal...
Click here for full text