Local LGBTQ leaders hoping to ban conversion therapy practice in York County
Individuals from over 30 organizations attended a town hall event at Marketview Arts in downtown York on Wednesday to raise awareness about conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy is a practice involving counseling and psychotherapy to attempt to eliminate individuals’ sexual desires for members of their own sex, according to the American Psychological Association.
In the last few years, the conversation of social issues facing LGBTQ+ individuals have increased, including the right to use restrooms and participation in activities such as sports aligned with their gender identity.
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Over 75 individuals, including parents, teens and York County LGBTQ leaders, attended the meeting, which began with an introduction to what conversion therapy is and the effects it may have on children, teens and even some adults.
Patrick Cochran of PFLAG National, an organization that provides support for parents and families of LGBTQ youth, presented statistics that conversion therapy has been labeled dangerous by organizations such as the "American Psychological Association and Pan American Health."
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"Lots of people think of it (conversion therapy) as something they no longer do – unfortunately, that's not the case. We know about nearly 700,000 survivors of conversion therapy; 16,000 of LGBTQ youth are at risk of being put through conversion therapy by a licensed medical health professional," Cochran said.
Cochran said that conversion therapy efforts cost the U.S. an estimated $9.23 billion each year, according to a peer-reviewed study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
The town hall also included a panel discussion joined by Preston Heldibridle, executive director of PA Youth Congress, and Alex Redcay, a professor of social work at Millersville University.
York County panel representatives included Maria Gable, vice president of the board for the Rainbow Rose Center, who said she was a survivor of conversion therapy, and Kathy Vosburg, treasurer of PFLAG York and a mother to a transgender teen.
Gable said her conversion therapy did not work and led her to believe "something was wrong" with her.
Cochran said that in the state of Pennsylvania, there are a handful of cities and counties that have banned conversion therapy.
"York City and York County have not, so we would like to change that," Cochran said.
Panelists encouraged audience members who support the rights of the LGBTQ community and who are against conversion therapy to take action and ask local legislators to support the Pennsylvania Fairness Act.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Local LGBTQ leaders hope to ban conversion therapy in York County, Pa.
