I am a 63 year old gay man. I came out at age 24, at a time when being honest about my sexual orientation was not easy. I was fearful, there was little information available, and few role models. It was hard to be honest.

Conversion therapy is dangerous and damaging. It uses shame, rejection and psychological abuse to force young people to try and change who they are. It is like trying to force a straight person to be attracted to someone of the same sex. It doesn't work, and too often leads to depression, lower self-esteem and even suicide.

Read the book Prayers For Bobby, and you will understand the damage that can done by a mother, or a therapist, who does not accept a child for who s/he is.  Bobby killed himself, and his mother forever carries that guilt.

One's sexual orientation is not a choice, it is a discovery. Conversion therapy is wrong. No young person should ever be shamed into believing that who they are is wrong.

I urge you to protect our youth. Ban conversion therapy in Virginia, as has been done elsewhere.

Thank you,

Jay Fisette

First openly gay elected official in Virginia, served 20 years on the Arlington County Board )(1998-2017)