To: The Nebraska State Senate
Pass LB 167 to Ban Anti-LGBTQIA+ Conversion Therapy
Pass Senator Hunt's LB 167 to ban harmful conversion therapy in Nebraska and join the 15 other states that already ban this dangerous practice.
Why is this important?
We must ban conversion therapy in Nebraska! This harmful 'therapy' is a set of practices that intend to change a person's sexuality or gender identity to fit heterosexual or cisgender standards and expectations, and it is usually religiously motivated.
According to TC, a 19-year-old gay man who spoke to the Huffington Post anonymously to protect his safety gave the following depiction of his experience of conversion therapy in 2012 (he was 15 years old at the time):
"they deconstruct us as a person. Aversion therapy, shock therapy, harassment, and occasional physical abuse. Their goal was to get us to hate ourselves for being LGBTQ, and they knew what they were doing . . . The second step, they rebuilt us in their image. They removed us of everything that made us a unique person, and instead made us a walking talking, robot for Jesus."
Currently, 15 states and Washington D.C. have banned conversion therapy. Those include Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Delaware.
The following medical and mental health professional organizations oppose conversion therapy:
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
- American College of Physicians
- American Counseling Association
- American Medical Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Psychoanalytic Association
- American Psychological Association
- American School Counselor Association
- National Association of Social Workers
- Pan American Health Organization
According to TC, a 19-year-old gay man who spoke to the Huffington Post anonymously to protect his safety gave the following depiction of his experience of conversion therapy in 2012 (he was 15 years old at the time):
"they deconstruct us as a person. Aversion therapy, shock therapy, harassment, and occasional physical abuse. Their goal was to get us to hate ourselves for being LGBTQ, and they knew what they were doing . . . The second step, they rebuilt us in their image. They removed us of everything that made us a unique person, and instead made us a walking talking, robot for Jesus."
Currently, 15 states and Washington D.C. have banned conversion therapy. Those include Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Delaware.
The following medical and mental health professional organizations oppose conversion therapy:
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
- American College of Physicians
- American Counseling Association
- American Medical Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Psychoanalytic Association
- American Psychological Association
- American School Counselor Association
- National Association of Social Workers
- Pan American Health Organization