My parents put me through conversion therapy when I was very small. Want to hear what it was like? /1
During conversion therapy, you’re forced to conform to the arbitrary gender norms your doctor has decided should be applied to you. And your parents are told it’s ok to torture you because they’re saving you from a lifetime of being transgender. /2
All my toys were taken away & replaced with “girl” toys. I was miserable. I stopped playing for months. My Papi now proudly says it’s fine because I became a reader. Of course I started reading early, it was my only escape & I could pretend I wasn’t a girl in books. /3
All my clothes we re taken away & replaced with “girl” clothes. I’d scratch my legs until they bled. I hated the fabrics. I was itchy & crying. But they were “saving” me, so it was ok. /4
No friends, either. I wasn’t allowed to hang out with boys. But all the girls hated me. So I just…didn’t have friends for the entirety of elementary school. That’s definitely healthy for a child. /5
The only reason I remember parts of this is my father admitting it all to me when I came back out as an adult. I knew I was in therapy, but not why I was there. Conversion therapy fucked me ip so badly entire parts of my childhood memories simply don’t exist. /6
My first suicide attempt was when I was very young. I kept trying until I escaped. I have lifelong mental health issues, including C-PTSD, & will never recover. All of this was considered preferable to letting me be a happy trans kid. /7
Conversion therapy is torture. It’s about taking the child you were given & manipulating them until, at least surface level, they appear to be the child you actually wanted. It’s entirely for the benefit of their families. It doesn’t do a single child any good. /8
And they know it’s torture! Everyone engaging in conversion therapy knows it. My parents were explicitly told I would cry & scream & likely hate them but it was “for the best.” Best for who? For fucking WHO? /9
So. Yeah. Conversion therapy is torture. It’s fucked. It destroys all that’s unique & beautiful about a child & replaces it with a compliant drone. It kills a child long before they’ve died. Of course it should be banned. 10/10
Hate to do this but if you’re cisgender & have found this thread to be educational, I’m an unemployed disabled mother to a year old miracle & could always use some help!!! PayPal.me/remembrancermx