The New Fight to Legitimize Conversion Therapy

When I finally dropped out of conversion therapy, I walked away carrying anxiety, depression, religious trauma, and a substance abuse problem I had to fight my way out of.

Today, the promise that drew me into those rooms—that I could pray the gay away—is being made in different words. One group driving this shift calls itself the CHANGED Movement. Its website offers “A New Way Forward For LGBTQ+” and promises freedom for people who want to leave an LGBTQ+ identity behind. It says accepting an LGBTQ+ identity locks a person into “a life of unhealed trauma.”

I know that idea well. In conversion therapy, I was taught that my sexual orientation was evidence of something wounded inside me, and that if I did enough work, I could heal it. 

CHANGED is taking that message beyond churches. Last month, its co-founder Elizabeth Woning spoke before a federal advisory committee meeting about the American Psychological Association (APA)’s Commission on Accreditation, which sets standards for programs that train psychologists. Woning argued that counselors are being trained to affirm LGBTQ+ identities without adequately respecting clients who want to live according to different convictions.