As a gay man, it frightens me. As a health care professional, it enrages me. I am a board-certified family nurse practitioner who serves the health care needs of LGBTQ+ patients. My work is dedicated to evidenced-based practice and advocacy for my patients. Fortunately, I never experienced conversion therapy firsthand. However, one of my best friends did take his own life as a result of his experience with conversion therapy when we were 13.
Conversion therapy threatens my community and needs to end. I am calling for a legislative end to the practice in Kentucky.
The practice asserts that same-sex attraction or any form of the trans experience is “curable.” The notion is that the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth are some sort of disorder or disease. Homosexuality was removed in 1973 from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).