Political archery and moving targets: How Canada made it a crime to perpetrate “conversion therapy” and what it will take to fully eradicate the practices
Approximately 9% of sexual and gender minorities globally are exposed to “conversion therapy,” or organized attempts to suppress or deny the identities of queer and trans people. Effective prevention of conversion practices—so-called because they are not, in fact, therapeutic for most of those exposed—is stymied by unethical mislabeling of practices as well as disinformation regarding the safety and effectiveness of conversion modalities. This talk will review an intersectoral action-oriented research program that sought to clarify the scope and nature of contemporary conversion practices during the proposal, debate, passage, and enforcement of anti-conversion practice legislation in Canada, 2019-24. Attendees will learn about the characteristics of contemporary conversion practices (perpetrators/settings, modalities, defining features), as well as how community-engaged research led to shifts in federal policy.
Travis Salway (he/him), Associate Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, is a social epidemiologist who works to understand and improve the health of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2S/LGBTQ) populations. In 2019-2020, he testified for two standing committees of the Canadian House of Commons, to inform federal policy to promote 2S/LGBTQ health equity. This resulted in the passage of Bill C-4, making it a crime to perpetrate anti-2S/LGBTQ practices, otherwise known as “conversion therapy.” Travis directs the REAFFIRM Collaborative, an interdisciplinary team studying effects of 2S/LGBTQ identity (in)validation. He founded MindMapBC.ca, a 2S/LGBTQ-affirming mental health service finder.