A majority of the United States population live in jurisdictions that have banned conversion therapy—a family of widely debunked and abusive medical, spiritual and psychological practices that falsely claim to be able to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression—on minors.

27 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and more than 100 municipalities have instituted bans on conversion therapy and its governmental funding, with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment. The District of Columbia is the only U.S. jurisdiction whose ban also applies to adults. Three states ban the use of state and federal funds for conversion therapy on minors.

Surveys held in 2014 and 2020 found that a majority of Americans supported bans on conversion therapy for minors, and do not believe the practice was effective. A 2023 report by The Trevor Project found that there are over 1,300 active conversion therapists still operating in 48 U.S. states, with over 600 of these practitioners holding active professional licenses.

Conversion therapy bans involving talk therapy began to face legal challenges in the 2020s, under allegations that it constitutes protected speech under the First Amendment. In 2020, the Eleventh Circuit overturned conversion therapy bans in Florida, under the argument that upholding the bill could theoretically allow gender-affirming therapy to also be prohibited by jurisdictions in a similar fashion. In 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that a ruling on Colorado's conversion therapy ban as applied to a plaintiff needed to be reviewed under strict scrutiny, as it considered regulation of talk therapy to be viewpoint discrimination.

Conversion Therapy Methods Methods utilized in conversion therapy vary depending on who is performing it; however, they all include forms of talk therapy through counseling and behavioral techniques. These methods are used to attempt to suppress non-heteronormative thoughts or attractions in order to make someone adhere with conservative views on attraction, gender norms and/or their biologically assigned sex at birth. Aversion therapy implicates exposing individuals to physically painful sensations while they are exposed to same sex attraction conversations or physical materials like pictures or videos. This is done to create negative and painful associations with same sex attraction and therefore attempt to deter the patients from partaking in it. Similarly, faith-based approaches have been utilized in the past, where prayers and peer pressure are used to forced individuals into conversion therapy.

Implications Sexual orientation is not something that has to be cured, and as many medical experts have pointed out, it cannot even be cured. Sexuality and gender identity are completely normal and healthy parts of life. Partaking in any manner of conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, and an increased risk of homelessness which can all in turn lead to a rise in suicide attempts. Likewise, it can also lead to a loss in community and have detrimental effects on people's relationships with their family and friends. Additionally, conversion therapy practices have been linked to poor long-term psychosocial health which can interrupt healthy aging making conversion therapy a classified sexual minority stressor which can and has contributed to psychosocial health inequality between those who have been subjected to it and those who have not. __TOC__

Historical laws

+ States with bans on conversion therapy for minor clients on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression State Date of enactment Date effective Ban method Details 1. Legislative statute On June 24, 2013, the New Jersey Assembly voted 56–14 in favor of AB 3371. On June 27, 2013, the New Jersey State Senate voted 28–9 to pass the bill. On August 19, 2013, Governor Chris Christie (R) signed the legislation into law, and it took effect the same day. 2. Legislative statute On May 30, 2012, the California State Senate voted 23–13 in favor of SB-1172. The California State Assembly voted 52–22 in favor of the bill on August 28, 2012. On September 30, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed it into law, and it was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013. On December 21, 2012, in the case of Welch v. Brown, Judge William B. Shubb granted a preliminary injunction to SB-1172 from going into effect. On August 29, 2013, in the case of Pickup v. Brown and Welch v. Brown, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld SB-1172 and reversed the lower court order granting a preliminary injunction. On May 1, 2017, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal of the case. 3. Legislative statute On March 17, 2015, the Oregon House of Representatives voted 41–18 in favor of HB 2307, and the Oregon State Senate voted 21–8 in favor of the bill on May 7, 2015. On May 18, 2015, Governor Kate Brown (D) signed the bill into law and it went into effect the same day. 4. Legislative statute On May 19, 2015, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 68–43 in favor of HB 217. The bill passed the Illinois State Senate on May 29, 2015, by 34 votes to 19. On August 20, 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner (R) signed the legislation, and it went into effect on January 1, 2016. 5. Legislative statute On March 17, 2016, the Vermont Senate unanimously approved S.132. On April 26, the Vermont House of Representatives approved it with amendments. The Senate concurred with the amendments on April 29. Governor Peter Shumlin (D) signed the bill on May 25. It went into effect on July 1. 6. Legislative statute The state Senate approved SB 121 on February 16, 2017, by a 32–6 vote, and the state House of Representatives concurred on March 15, 2017, by a 44–23 vote. The bill was signed by Governor Susana Martinez (R) on April 7, 2017. The law went into effect immediately. 7. Legislative statute The state House of Representatives approved HB 6695 on May 2, 2017, by a 141–8 vote, and the Senate concurred on May 10, 2017, by a 36–0 vote. The bill was signed by Governor Dannel Malloy (D) the same day and took effect immediately. 8. Legislative statute H 5277 was passed by the state House 69–0 on May 30, 2017. The Senate approved the bill 29–0 on June 30. It was signed by Governor Gina Raimondo (D) on July 19, 2017, and took effect immediately. 9. Legislative statute SB 201 was passed by the state Senate 15–5 on April 4, 2017, and by the Assembly 31–8 on May 9. The Senate concurred with the House's amendments on the same day. The bill was signed by Governor Brian Sandoval (R) on May 17, 2017, and went into effect on January 1, 2018. 10. Legislative statute SB 5722 passed the state Senate 32–16 on January 19, 2018, and the state House 66–32 on February 28. After the Senate concurred with the amended House version on March 3, it was signed by Governor Jay Inslee (D) on March 28, 2018. It took effect on June 7, 2018. 11. Legislative statute SB 270 passed the state Senate on March 6, 2018, by a vote of 24–1, and passed the state House of Representatives on April 10, 2018, by a vote of 49–2. A conference committee of both chambers concluded on April 27, 2018, with an amended bill. It was approved by both chambers on May 1, and was signed by Governor David Ige (D) on May 25, 2018. The law took effect on July 1, 2018. 12. Legislative statute SB 65 passed the state Senate by a vote of 12–3 on May 17, 2017, and the state House on June 7, 2018, by a vote of 24–14. The bill was signed by Governor John Carney (D) on July 23, 2018, and took effect immediately. 13. Legislative statute SB 1028 passed the state Senate on March 27, 2018, by a vote of 34–12, and the state House on April 4, 2018, by a vote of 95–27. The bill was signed by Governor Larry Hogan (R) on May 15, 2018, and went into effect on October 1, 2018. 14. Legislative statute HB 587 passed the state House on February 8, 2018, by a vote of 179–171, and the state Senate on April 19, 2018, by a vote of 14–10, with an amendment. The House accepted the Senate's amendment on May 10, 2018. It was signed by Governor Chris Sununu (R) on June 8, 2018, and took effect on January 1, 2019. 15. Legislative statute A576 passed the state Assembly on January 15, 2019, by a vote of 134–3, and passed the state Senate that same day by a vote of 57–4. The bill was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) on January 25, 2019, and took effect immediately upon receiving his signature. Since 2016, conversion therapy has been banned in New York from coverage by insurers and Medicaid, or from being practiced by any state-licensed or operated mental health facility per executive order. 16. Legislative statute H140 was passed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by a vote of 147–8 on March 13, 2019, and in the state Senate by a vote of 34–0 on March 28, 2019. Governor Charlie Baker (R) signed the legislation into law on April 8, 2019. The law prohibits licensed health care providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors within the state. 17. Legislative statute On February 19, 2019, the Colorado House of Representatives passed HB19-1129, which would ban conversion therapy on minors, with a vote of 42–20. It was approved by the state Senate with amendments by a vote of 21–13 on March 25, 2019. The House concurred with the amendments on April 5, 2019. The bill was signed by Governor Jared Polis (D) on May 31, and took effect 90 days after adjournment of the legislative session. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled against this law with an 8-1 ratio on March 31, 2026, saying lower courts had "erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous scrutiny" to restrictions on free speech.18. Legislative statute On May 8, 2019, the Maine House of Representatives passed LD 1025, which would ban conversion therapy on minors, with a vote of 91–46. It later passed in the Maine Senate on May 21, 2019, by a vote of 25–9. Governor Janet Mills (D) signed the legislation into law on May 29, 2019. The law prohibits licensed health care providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors within the state, and took effect 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session. A bill that previously passed the Maine Legislature in June 2018 was vetoed by former Governor Paul LePage the following month and failed to survive a veto override attempt. 19. Executive order On August 2, 2019, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) signed an executive order banning any state funding of conversion therapy on minors. 20. Executive order and legislative statute After a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors failed to pass the Utah Senate, Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed an executive order prohibiting conversion therapy on minors by regulation on January 21, 2020. In February 2023, a bill formally passed both houses of the Utah Legislature to "codify" the ban on conversion therapy on LGBT minors into legislation. The Governor of Utah signed the bill into law - effective immediately, a month later in March 2023. 21. Legislative statute On February 3, 2020, the House of Delegates passed HB 386, which would ban conversion therapy on minors, with a vote of 66–27. It was approved by the state Senate on February 17, in a vote of 22–18. Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed the legislation into law on March 2, 2020, and it took effect on July 1, 2020.