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On Friday, Facebook and Instagram announced a ban on all videos, pictures and written content promoting so-called “ex-gay” conversion therapy or reparation therapy, a widely disapproved and exposed form of psychological torture that purports to be a person’s sexual orientation to change or gender identity.

The social media giant, which owns both platforms, said the ban was merely an extension of its hate speech ban policy and an evolution of its pre-existing ban on conversion therapy ads.

“We’re not allowing attacks on people based on sexual orientation or gender identity and are updating our policy to ban the promotion of conversion therapy services,” said Tara Hopkins, Instagram public policy director for Africa, Europe and the Middle East The Ban also applies to the USA, South America and Australia.

While Twitter and Vimeo have similar bans on similar content, it’s unclear whether YouTube does the same. Google’s own video-sharing platform came under fire in June 2018 for placing conversion therapy ads in front of videos from LGBTQ content creators. At the time, the platform said it would not allow ads promoting hate or illegal services, but this could allow such ads to continue running in the 30 states where the practice is still legal.

Religious conservatives have previously fought bans on the practice as a violation of their constitutionally protected rights to “freedom of expression” and “freedom of religion”. Proponents say that people should have the right to free themselves from “same-sex attraction” and “gender confusion”.

However, the actual methods of ex-homosexual therapy have never been proven to actually change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Such programs often ask clients to avoid masturbation, exercise to the point of exhaustion, view the weirdness as physically disgusting or harmful, or “reformulate” their desire for partners of different sexes. Other practitioners have used electroshock therapy, harassment, sexual assault, forced medication, or strict gender dressing and care codes to try to change people.

A 2013 survey found that 84 percent of former ex-gay therapy clients still experience permanent shame and emotional harm from undergoing such “therapies”. Numerous conversion therapy advocates come out later as still gay, admitting it doesn’t work and apologizing for ruining lives while lying to people about its effectiveness.

Most Americans oppose conversion therapy, and so do almost all of the major American psychological, health, and pediatric associations. In the past, the US Supreme Court has refused to hear cases of the constitutionality of conversion therapy bans as violations of religious freedom. However, it remains unclear whether the court will continue to reject such cases as it has a more conservative majority.

While the bans are helpful, some states still allow the harmful practice to be marketed to adults or to all under the guise of “religious counseling”. Even states that prohibit the practice still allow abusive “youth discipline” labor camps, where parents “straighten out” their strange and “disturbed” youth.

Selected image by Daniel Tobias. (CC BY-SA 2.0)