I cannot believe that people in here are are arguing FOR conversion therapy. At best this is incredibly naive, and at worst it is incredibly homophobic.
@EveHarrington, I choose to believe you are naive.
@Mach123, I think you have no idea what conversion therapy is and are talking out your ass.
Conversion therapy is torture. Traditional conversion therapy uses physical negative reinforcement, such as beatings, electroshocks, and occasionally sodomy to take "the gay" away. (No, I'm not joking about that last example. Conversion therapy specialists have often used the therapy itself to sexually abuse children.) Traditional conversion therapy is not optional - it is something "concerned" parents send their sons (and, once in awhile, daughters) to. Conversion therapy is quackery of the highest order and is now condemned by all psychological associations in the entire world.
(I apologize very much for equating homosexuality to a physical problem, but I can't think of a better metaphor.) Let's say you have the misfortune to be born into a community in which physical beauty is seen as the highest good. And let's say, that, unfortunately, you you were born with scoliosis, and you spine becomes more and more crooked the older you get. It is well known in your community that the only way to treat this is by hiring an expert to break the spines of the people with scoliosis. Some kids with scoliosis are sent to the spine-breakers as kids. Some people with scoliosis manage to avoid that, but harbor such a negative self-image of themselves that they go to the spine-breaker themselves in adulthood out of despair and self-loathing. It's also the only way they know of to treat what they perceive as their problem.
The only issue is, spine-breaking therapy doesn't work. Instead, it just paralyzes the people who go through it. And yet, the community continues to advocate spine-breaking as the only true way to fix scoliosis. That, my friends, is conversion therapy.
