This morning, the Supreme Court voted 8-1 against a Colorado law banning licensed therapists from offering LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. This paves the way to override regional bans and potentially legalize conversion therapy — at least talk therapy, offered by licensed mental health providers — across the country.
The court’s grounds for doing so: Talk therapy is freedom of speech, and therefore covered by the First Amendment.
At the steps of San Francisco City Hall, a few hours later, a group gathered for a press conference organized by Sen. Scott Wiener to express disapproval at the ruling.
“We need to be very very clear that conversion therapy is psychological torture,” said Wiener, to the crowd of about 20 — mostly legislative aides and other City Hall regulars. “It is not possible to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. We are who we are.”
Conversion therapy is a practice used to change a person’s gender identity or sexuality to align with heterosexuality. In the 20th century, practitioners would often perform electroshock therapy on patients. Now, conversion therapy is most commonly done through talk therapy. It was banned in California and 22 other states.
Wiener introduced SB 934 earlier this month, a state bill that would better enable Californians treated by conversion therapy to sue for malpractice.
Martin Rawlings-Fein, co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, said the topic is personal to him.
“When I was young, my mother’s friends pushed her to send me to conversion therapy. She said no. Even in the 1990s, she knew, she understood the danger that it posed to my mental health and my life,” Rawlings-Fein said. “Not every young person has someone to say ‘no.’ That’s why these protections matter.”
People coming into City Hall or walking around the perimeter stopped in their tracks to observe the proceedings. One man, possibly a tourist, took a selfie with the scene, but seemed to not understand what was going on.
About 10 minutes into the conference, a woman decked out in several crosses appeared and began to shout. She carried a canvas painted with phrases like “Pedophile Land,” “Welcome to San Francisco,” “Repent Now,” and “End of the World.” She shouted “danger,” “rape,” “slaughter,” and “You are the most evil people on the Earth.” When the presenters spoke, the woman blew into a whistle, trying to drown them out.
When asked if this happens often, Erik Mebust, Wiener’s director of communications, replied, “All the time.” Mebust walked over and spoke with the woman for a few minutes.
“She opposes conversion therapy,” Mebust reported back. “She thinks it’s torture.” The woman walked off once she found out what the press conference was about.