"And the reason why is because the harms from conversion therapy come from when you tell a young person you can change this innate thing about yourself, and they try and they try and they fail, and then they have shame and they’re miserable, and then it ruins their relationships with their family or —"
So did she mean a young person is innately the wrong sex and that cannot be changed? Or that born male cannot be changed and the attempt will fail and disappoint?
The problem is that neurological gender identity is pretty much hard-wired. In those rare cases where it contradicts bodily gender, it can still be intractable. In such a case, conversion therapy fails, with roughly the described consequences.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I believe there are _also_ many cases where gender identity is only confused, and therapy can cure the dysphoria. This is far better than the surgical and hormonal mutilation of "transition" - if it works. When it doesn't, back off and proceed with "transition".
What I don't know is whether practitioners of "conversion therapy" accept this limitation, or just keep applying psychological pressure. Any therapist who guarantees a "cure" is a fraud. Also, is there any established method for "conversion therapy" beyond superficial imposition of "normal" gender identity?
I doubt anyone guarantees a cure. Many years ago, I attended a training on identifying child sexual abuse. At lunch, another attendee told my wife and me that her husband was seeking sex reassignment. He grew with a Marine father and a mother who desperately wanted a little girl. She dressed him as a little girl for some and encouraged dolls and similar girly toys. Dad was utterly befuddled and angry at his sissy son. Any reasons to wonder about his confusion?
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