There is no evidence that conversion therapy, the attempt to change a person's sexual orientation and or identity, is successful. Below is a short, 2 minute article that summarizes conversion therapy and its legality in the United States.
Rather, "sexual minorities exposed to SOCE had nearly twice the odds of lifetime suicidal ideation, 75% increased odds of planning to attempt suicide, and 88% increased odds of a suicide attempt with minor injury compared with sexual minorities who did not experience SOCE." (Blosnich et. al, 2020).
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305637
It's hard for me to understand why a practice which has been shown to have an overwhelmingly negative effect on patients is still allowed to be used. Any insights/opinions?
Actually, conversion therapy has been banned in 20 states and more than 100 municipalities within the United States. Many of these bans happened in the last 2-3 years. However, the majority of US territories still doesn't impose this ban, which is horrible. Let's hope that this continues to change over the upcoming years.
It is not banned because it maintains the dominant political narrative, individuals needs are secondary to the political ideology