The European Commission will urge its European Union member states to ban “conversion therapy,” which refers to attempts to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The announcement comes ahead of Brussels Pride and followed a petition signed by more than one million EU citizens calling for a legally binding ban across the EU.
Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, EU officials have maintained that conversion therapy is scientifically discredited and harmful. According to EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2024, one in four LGBTQ+ people surveyed had experienced some form of conversion attempt.
Although often conflated institutionally, there is conversion therapy oriented to changing one’s sexual orientation and conversion therapy oriented to changing one’s gender. Although the European Commission addresses both forms together, it’s worth noting that there is much less support for banning gender conversion therapy around the globe than there is for banning gay conversion therapy, particularly for minors. Currently, in the U.S., conversion therapy for adults is generally legal.
What the world really needs is conversion therapy for bigots and fascists!
