Who Is Actually Engaging in Conversion Therapy?

TL;DR

Conversion therapy is usually described as an attempt to force lesbian, gay, or bisexual people to become heterosexual. That definition captures an important historical abuse, but it does not capture the deeper psychological process involved. Conversion occurs whenever a vulnerable person is encouraged to reject an observable reality about the self in favor of a preferred story that cannot be meaningfully questioned or disproved.

Under that broader definition, conversion also occurs when teachers, therapists, friends, relatives, YouTubers, or TikTok creators tell a confused young person that discomfort with sex, personality, body, or social expectations likely means that the person is somehow not actually male or female. The people delivering this message may believe they are offering affirmation, yet good intentions cannot protect an intervention from being psy…