State bans against conversion therapy do nothing to stop the religious groups who offer it most, says longtime activist Wayne Besen.
By Daniel Villareall, LGBTQ Nation
Even though the Supreme Court is currently considering Chiles v. Salazar, a case that could overturn the bans on conversion therapy for minors currently in place in 27 states, longtime LGBTQ+ activist Wayne Besen says these bans don’t stop a majority of those who actually offer services to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity: namely, unlicensed religious counselors and life coaches working with so-called ex-LGBTQ+ organizations.
“The term ban is inaccurate,” Besen told LGBTQ Nation. “Show me: Show me one conversion therapist who has been put out of business because of these laws.”Besen is executive director of Truth Wins Out, an organization that combats anti-LGBTQ+ religious extremism and misinformation. He’s also the author of two books covering the history of conversion therapy and ministries that offer it, and he argues that he personally has helped shut down more major conversion therapy organizations — by helping expose their pseudoscientific methods and the hypocritical actions of their closeted leaders — than any state laws have.
These state laws are mostly “symbolic,” Besen said, and only address 5% to 10% of the people actually offering conversion therapy.
“They have large loopholes for religious practitioners that you could drive a Mack truck through,” he said, noting the exceptions these laws provide for religious expression and free speech.
“Symbolism matters, and when people see there’s a ban, it does lower the stature of the practice,” he conceded, but he also believes these laws are mostly ineffective.
“The most powerful and active ex-gay conversion organization in the country, if not the world, The Changed Movement, is based in Redding, California, which is a state that supposedly bans it,” he explained, noting that the group can operate because it presents itself as a religious group.
“They just cannot win under any circumstances,” Besen said. “People need to understand that and fight for their lives, because that’s what’s on the line, that’s what our opponents want for us.”
