Washington, D.C. — New analysis from the Center for American Progress reveals how far-right attempts to mainstream conversion practices are part of a decades-long campaign to reject best-practice medicine and weaponize the court system against young LGBTQI+ people. The Trump administration—buoyed by far-right actors—is using that same playbook to argue that transgender health care is deceptive and harmful.
Today, 23 states and Washington, D.C., ban conversion practices and fewer than 10 states restrict or prohibit restrictions on conversion practices. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard Chiles v. Salazar, a challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion practices based on religious freedom and free speech grounds. If the Supreme Court rules that Colorado’s ban is unconstitutional, it could put all state and local bans on conversion practices at risk of being challenged and overturned.
“There is risk that such a decision could embolden challenges to similar laws that regulate health care, which could endanger access to transgender health care, reproductive health care, and more,” said Haley Norris, policy analyst for the LGBTQI+ Policy team at CAP and author of the column. “This battle over conversion practices shows that the far right’s attacks on transgender people are just the tip of the iceberg in a broader effort to force gender and sex conformity on everyone.”
Read the column: “The Trump Administration’s Campaign To Rebrand Conversion Practices Puts LGBTQI+ Communities at Risk” by Haley Norris.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].