Gubu.ie

Memento Mori wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 11:30 am A number of countries throughout the world have already, or are seeking to, ban conversion therapy. I understand how forcing someone to be something they are not can be damaging and have terrible results mentally. While 'therapy' does not automatically involve coercion or force, it does seem that some, although not all, of the people who undergo this 'therapy' are essentially forced.

Much of the opposition to conversion therapy seems to necessitate the underlying claim that gender and sexual orientation are naturally determined phenomena inherent to a person's physical being- and that seeking to overturn these is a damaging fool's errand, a violation of some natural law - an abuse contrary to nature. If this is your starting point I can understand the opposition to conversion therapy.

However, many of the fiercest opponents of conversion therapy, who tend to be activists on a range of LGBTQI+ issues, make the claim that gender, and sexual orientation, are not naturally determined phenomena inherent to our physical being but are rather social constructs (or don't exist). If this is the case, if one decides they want to be a different gender or orientation, why should they not have therapy - of their own free will - in order to 'deconstruct' these constructions?

Mountain wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:14 pm Isn't one of the main objections the point that, whether it's futile because you cannot change sexual orientation, or because orientation is all a social construct, either way it has no basis in science. It's just...nonsense, a mix of pseudoscience and religion.