A Different Word, A Different Attack.

Can a word make a difference?

Or when is conversion therapy not conversion therapy, does calling it “non-affirming therapy” make a difference?

Gender Critical Support Board Promotes Therapists Who Reject Transgender Identities

Amid a wave of new anti-trans state laws, Transcendence is a series centering the lived experience and resilience of trans youth. 

TeenVogue

By Heron Greenesmith

June 17, 2020

Over the past three years, hundreds of parents whose children have come out to them as transgender or gender nonconforming have turned to the Gender Critical Support Board. Founded in 2017 “for parents and families by parents and families who share the experience of coping with a child, teenager, or young adult who believes she or he is transgender,” the online comment board has thousands of posts from parents who are desperate for help — but many of these parents aren’t looking for trans-affirming care.

Just look at a sample of some posts: “I need a therapist for my male-identified daughter who won’t just affirm without any questions. We are desperate. Thank you.” 

“Glad you found a great therapist. I have yet to find one non-affirming therapist.” 

“Seeking non-affirming therapist in Syracuse area.” 

“It might be a good idea to start researching therapists so you have a go-to plan if it ever comes to that. You’ll find that a lot of people in the medical and therapy fields are affirming and that is the LAST thing you want. So cultivate a list if you can of non-affirming therapists and doctors.”

So are non-affirming therapists and doctors doing conversion therapy?

The Connecticut law banning conversion therapy (Public Act No. 17-5) defines it as,

(1) "Conversion therapy" means any practice or treatment administered to a person under eighteen years of age that seeks to change the person's sexual orientation or gender identity, including, but not limited to, any effort to change gender expression or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward persons of the same gender. "Conversion therapy" does not include counseling intended to (A) assist a person undergoing gender transition, (B) provide acceptance, support and understanding to the person, or (C) facilitate the person's coping, social support or identity exploration and development, including, but not limited to, any therapeutic intervention that is neutral with regard to sexual orientation and seeks to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, provided such counseling does not seek to change the person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

So is non-affirming therapy a violation of Connecticut law?

Some parents on the Gender Critical Support Board may be seeking what many would view as conversion therapists for their children — licensed mental-health-care workers who, in the parents’ words “won’t just affirm [their gender identity] without any questions.” These parents don’t view “non-affirming therapists” as conversion therapists, but the connections are clear: “gender-critical therapy” is the newest cover of a song that’s been playing for the past 50 years. And while the methods aren’t perfectly aligned, the harm that can be caused by these kinds of practices can be as severe. The desired outcome — rejection of transgender identity — is a message that’s been broadcast by a network of quasi-medical organizations, the evangelical anti-LGBTQ right, and the old guard of conversion therapists who’ve been defending their harmful actions for decades. (Teen Vogue has reached out to the Board for comment.)

If you look at "’Conversion therapy’ does not include… (C) facilitate the person's coping, social support or identity exploration and development, including, but not limited to, any therapeutic intervention that is neutral” so it boils down to if the non-affirming therapists and doctors therapy is neutral in their treatment.

However, I doubt very much if the non-affirming therapists and doctors will be neutral.

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The article raises another question, accreditation.

You probably have heard of the healthcare professional association… AMA, APA, the Endocrine Society, and others but have you heard of these associations?

Sam Ames is the executive director of Our Family Coalition, an organization that advances equity for LGBTQ families. They are also the founder of NCLR’s #BornPerfect campaign to end conversion therapy. Ames told me that “credentialing” — or using a license, medical degree, or other credential to give weight to an opinion that goes against the overwhelming preponderance of evidence — is an effective tactic. “The science is clear,” Ames said, “but their advocacy is impactful. Shouting works.”

The parents on the Gender Critical Support Board often share ACPeds resources and pediatrician names with one another.

But ACPeds is only one of the the largest and most vocal of a network of organizations who rely on credentialing to oppose trans-affirming care. Among them are the Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network, ReThink Identity Medicine and Ethics, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, Gender Health Query, and the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group. Looking at these names, one could easily assume there was a strong medical argument against trans-affirming care for youth, or even potentially a discussion worth having. But let me repeat:

There is no valid medical argument against trans-affirming care for youth.

Many of these “associations” refuse to give membership information or the circulation of their “professional journals” so we don’t know if they are just a storefront with a printer.

And I have to wonder about Telemedicine.

Suppose a therapist in a state without a Conversion Therapy ban treats a patient in a state with a ban, how can they be prosecuted for violating the law? Can they have their license revoked and fined in another state? Can they be sued by the person who they treated for malpractice in another state?