International Day to End Conversion Therapy Date in the current year: January 7, 2025

Conversion therapy is the practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual or romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heteronormativity and cisgender norm. According to modern evidence-based medicine, non-heterosexual orientations and gender nonconformity are variants of the norm; therefore, conversion therapy is a pseudoscientific practice. For this reason, medical professionals and LGBTQ+ and human rights activists consider the term “conversion therapy” to be a misnomer since it is not a legitimate form of therapy.

The history of modern conversion therapy can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when early sexologists such as Richard von Krafft-Ebing and, later, Sigmund Freud, viewed homosexuality as a pathology, at least in some cases. During this period, interventions included hypnosis, talk therapy, and institutionalization.

By the 1920s, the generally accepted view was that homosexuality was pathological. From the 1930s through the 1960s, more aggressive methods emerged, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. These methods included aversion therapy involving electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, or negative imagery paired with same-sex stimuli. Some individuals were subjected to forced hospitalization, chemical or surgical castration, or lobotomy.

A major turning point occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, coinciding with broader civil rights movements and new research. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Similar decisions followed in other countries. As a result, mainstream medicine and psychology largely abandoned conversion therapy for sexual orientation, recognizing a lack of evidence of its effectiveness and growing evidence of its harmfulness.

Despite this shift, however, conversion therapy persisted, particularly in religious contexts. From the late 20th century onward, many programs reframed their goals in moral or spiritual terms rather than medical ones. Testimonies from former participants and clinical studies increasingly documented psychological harm, including depression, anxiety, and an increased risk of suicide among individuals subjected to conversion therapy.

International Day to End Conversion Therapy (IDECT) was launched by C.T. Survivors Connect, a Canadian support group for survivors of conversion therapy, in partnership with the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network. IDECT is observed on January 7, the day Canada officially banned conversion practices at the federal level in 2022.

As of December 2023, 21 countries have banned conversion therapy by anyone or by medical professionals, and a few more countries have regional or indirect bans. However, there is still a long way to go, which is why IDECT is so important. Its main objectives are to highlight the immense harm of conversion therapy and to campaign for national bans, with the ultimate goal of ending conversion therapy worldwide.

You can participate by attending an IDECT event, organizing your own event, or spreading awareness on social media with the hashtag #IDECT. If you are a survivor of conversion therapy, you can share your story to raise awareness and connect with others who have experienced similar trauma, but only if you are comfortable doing so.