Hello. I'm an LGBTQ+ individual who, during my college years, made the choice to try conversion therapy. This lead to years of self-hatred, suicidal thoughts, and the worsening of an anxiety disorder. As a social anxiety sufferer, conversion therapy made me even more paranoid, and it got to the point where I couldn't even go in public for a period of time. I accepted how I was created in 2014, and am now happily married and much healthier.

Conversion therapy almost took my life. It told me that I was worthless and, frankly, it has no psychological or medical basis. It's all about destroying your ties with the people who raised you in order to make you more dependent on evangelical/fundamentalist "Christian" organizations. "You're LGBTQ+ because of your trauma" is the message you hear again and again. I almost lost my relationship with my mother and stepdad as a result of those hateful lies. 

The fact is, the Christianity that denies the natural and healthy expression of sexuality (whether LGBTQ+ or heterosexual) is a Christianity that spreads lies. LGBTQ+ people are born as they are, in the same way that heterosexual people are, and it's healthy to express that in the way you wish to do so. 

Thousands of teens die yearly because their families are trying to "pray the gay away." And that's simply unacceptable. Conversion therapy must be banned, or we will lose generations.