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Canada's Bill C-6 would criminalise "conversion therapy". This is part of an international project pitched as an urgent rescue of "LGBTQ people" from right-wing religious bigots bent on forcibly changing their identity. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/conversion-therapy-bill-ottawa-1.5781662
If people in the mainstream hear about this new wave of bans on "gay conversion therapy", their reaction is revulsion, then puzzlement: "Surely all that horrible electric shock stuff is a thing of the past? Nobody's even arguing about gay marriage any more."
What's new -- the heart of the controversy about these laws -- is "gender identity", not sexual orientation. It ties in to the global debate about the exponential surge in teenagers seeking to transition with hormonal drugs & surgery to an "inner gender" at odds with biology.
Critics say these laws may lock in "gender affirming" medicine for vulnerable under-18s & criminalise ethical alternatives, such as psychotherapy, alert to possible underlying, non-gender issues such as autism, same-sex attraction, mental illness, family problems.
"Detransitioners" are a key voice in this debate. In their late teens or early adulthood, they know what it's like to feel estranged from the body, to transform it medically, only to conclude with time that there is no quick-fix for self-acceptance. https://www.detransadv.com/about
Young lesbians are prominent among this emerging group reclaiming their biological sex. Anecdotal reports suggest this group is bigger than youth gender clinics admit. And while many patients report transition benefits, the evidence is low quality & long-term risks are unclear.
Debate about "conversion therapy bans" in the era of self-identified trans status is misleading without the input of detransitioners. The same goes for the fast-growing #LGBInternational movement worried about self-ID trans. @LGBAlliance_Aus is the latest of multiple new groups.
. @DetransCanada is also new, and its comments on the Canadian conversion therapy ban pull together threads missing in most media coverage. Detrans Canada argues the new law will narrow the treatment options for youth with "gender dysphoria" (or distress in their body).
"This bill will punish therapists who try to help us, ban life-saving (non-medical) therapies that our members need, and force gender dysphoric children on a trajectory towards unnecessary medical risks," says Detrans Canada.
"The priority of this bill should be the long-term mental and physical well-being of gender dysphoric minors, not how quickly they can begin social and medical transition," DC says. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54374165
"The bill as currently drafted prevents therapists from making good-faith inquiries about whether gender dysphoria could actually be rooted in a negative reaction to same-sex attraction," DC says.
Detrans Canada highlights three legitimate treatment approaches to gender dysphoria: "watchful waiting"; therapeutic resolution and self-acceptance; and "affirming" gender identity with social transition and medical intervention.
"Bill C-6 would allow for only the third option, social & medical transition, to be exempt from the risk of criminal prosecution for conversion therapy, even though it is in fact the most radical — & only irreversible — treatment option."
Full brief here https://detranscanada.com/brief-on-bill-c-6/
Full brief here https://detranscanada.com/brief-on-bill-c-6/
