Conversion Therapy Bans - not so quick!
What does the scholarly research say about whether conversion therapy can alter sexual orientation ? Here is a study that has been quoted constantly in Australia - Columbia Law School - here What is interesting is -of the 47 studies - 12 claim to be harmful, 1 claims no harm and 34 do not draw any harmful or harm conclusion. Yet, Columbia Law School holds the position that it is harmful but that is difficult to draw when you read all the studies. Ideology appears to play a part in these studies which are predominantly self-reporting. For example, this is the abstract from one of the 34 undecided studies which show clearly an unbiased approach: "The purpose of this article is to identify the ethical issues in efforts to ban reorientation therapies. The 3 primary arguments cited in the literature in favor of such a ban are discussed: (a) homosexuality is no longer considered a mental illness , (b) those who request change do so because of internalized homophobia , a...