On fifth try in five years, Colorado lawmakers move to ban gay conversion therapy

Isaac Archuleta was 22 years old when he told his parents he was gay. He grew up in a Christian household and felt conflicted between his sexuality and his religion. This anxiety led him to drink heavily, contemplate suicide, and get kicked out of college, he said. When he came out to his parents, he said his mother contacted the Heritage Christian Center, a megachurch in Aurora, and found him a conversion therapist. Typically, such therapists use various techniques, including electroshock therapy, to try to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals.

Archuleta said the therapist wanted him to hang out with more men and spend less time with his mother. He said he left feeling broken. Like he was not hardwired correctly. Like he was damaged.

“So it’s not that I am doing something wrong,” he recalls thinking at the time. “It’s I am wrong.”

Archuleta, now a licensed psychotherapist with a masters degree, came to the Capitol Wednesday to testify in favor of a bill that would ban the controversial therapy for minors. He said the practice causes harm and is based on the outdated theory that homosexuality is socialized.

Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2019/02/13/co-ban-gay-conversion-therapy-minors/