Brain Zapping

There is another court case currently before the Supreme Court concerning bans on conversion therapy. This discredited and harmful practice may be poised for a comeback—even in states like Connecticut, where it has long been banned.

Majority of court appears skeptical of Colorado’s “conversion therapy” ban

SCOTUS Blog

By Amy Howe

Oct 7, 2025

The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning appeared largely sympathetic to a Colorado licensed counselor who is challenging the state’s ban on conversion therapy – that is, treatment intended to change a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity – for young people. In Chiles v. Salazar, a majority of the justices seemed to agree with the counselor, Kaley Chiles, that the ban discriminates against her based on the views that she expresses in her therapy. But several justices suggested that, rather than striking the law down outright, the court should send the case back to the lower courts for them to take a closer look at whether the law passes constitutional muster.

Colorado passed the law at the center of the dispute, known as the Minor Conversion Therapy Law, in 2019 in response to what it describes as “a growing mental health crisis among Colorado teenagers and mounting evidence that conversion therapy is associated with increased depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts.” The law bars mental health professionals from providing clients under the age of 18 with conversion therapy, although it carves out an exception for anyone “engaged in the practice of religious ministry.”

Connecticut’s law similarly includes a religious exemption. However, if a member of the clergy is also a licensed therapist, the ban still applies when they are acting in a professional capacity, even if the client is a member of their congregation.

Conversion therapy kills — put a stop to it, once and for all

The Hill

by Mark Henson and Hannah Wesolowski,

01/07/26

Who we are is not something that needs to be fixed. Yet for thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people across the U.S., conversion therapy continues to send the dangerous message that their identity is a problem to be solved.  

Many people think of conversion therapy as a relic of the past, confined to “pray the gay away” camps or outdated programs portrayed in films like “Boy Erased”. In reality, these discredited and harmful practices are still happening in communities across the country, despite clear evidence of the damage they cause and opposition from every major medical association.

A new study from the Trevor Project followed nearly 1,700 LGBT young people across the U.S. between September 2023 and March 2025. During that period, reports of their being threatened with conversion therapy doubled, from 11 percent to 22 percent. Actual exposure to these practices climbed from 9 percent to 15 percent.

A lot of times religious zealots use Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in other words brain zapping! I don't know about you but I would agree to anything to avoid it. Oh, one other thing... the laws ban Conversion Therapy on minors only... adults can get zapped until their heart's content.

Opponents of these bans frequently frame the issue as one of First Amendment free speech. But the core issue is not speech—it is harm.

Conversion practice recall and mental health symptoms in sexual and gender minority adults in the USA: a cross-sectional study

The Lancet Psychiatry

Volume 11, Issue 11, November 2024, Pages 879-889

By Nguyen K Tran PhD, et al

Summary

Background

Conversion practices are associated with psychological morbidity, yet few studies have evaluated differences between efforts to change gender identity, sexual orientation, or both. We aimed to examine the individual and joint association of conversion practice recall targeted at gender identity or sexual orientation, or both, with current mental health symptoms among sexual and gender minority people.

[...]

Introduction

...Conversion practice remains prevalent in the USA despite no evidence of therapeutic benefits,3 opposition from many medical and health organisations,4 and evidence of harm.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Approximately 4–34% of sexual and gender minority people in the USA have experienced conversion practices during their lifetime with an 8% higher prevalence among transgender and gender diverse people compared with cisgender people.

Will the judiciary allow people—especially children—to be subjected to psychological harm and coercive treatment under the guise of “free speech”?