MONTH.
>> A BAN ON SO-CALLED CONVERSION
THERAPY HAS BEEN LIFTED IN
WISCONSIN.
REPUBLICAN MAJORITY MEMBERS ON A
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE BLOCKED
LICENSING RULES BANNING THERAPY
DESIGNED TO CHANGE THE SEXUAL
ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY
OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL OR
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE.
MARISA WOJCIK HAS MORE.
>> LAWMAKERS LIFTED THE BAN
DESPITE CONVERSION THERAPY BEING
DEEMED HARMFUL, INEFFECTIVE, AND
NON-EVIDENCE-BASED.
BY THE STATE'S EXAMINING BOARD
OF THERAPISTS AND COUNSELORS.
>> WHAT MAKES IT SO HARMFUL IS
THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO CHANGE
SOMETHING THAT IS NOT
CHANGEABLE.
>> MATTHEW SHURKA, CO-FOUNDER OF
BORN PERFECT, TELLS HIS STORY OF
CONVERSION THERAPY AS A
CAUTIONARY TALE.
>> A LOT OF PARENTS REALLY ARE
BEING DUPED IN A WAY.
>> INCLUDING HIS OWN.
>> THEY WANTED TO SPEAK TO A
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL WHO COULD
GUIDE THEM AS PARENTS AND MYSELF
AS A YOUNG MAN.
>> IT'S ABOUT PROTECTING
CONSUMERS FROM HARM SO THAT
THEY'RE NOT PAYING MONEY AND
THINKING THAT THEY'RE GETTING A
LEGITIMATE THERAPY OR TREATMENT,
AND ACTUALLY WHAT THEY'RE
GETTING IS SOMETHING THAT HAS NO
THERAPEUTIC VALUE AND IS
ACTUALLY HARMFUL.
>> STARTING WHEN HE WAS 16,
SHURKA AND HIS FAMILY SPENT FIVE
YEARS AND $35,000 TO BE TOLD A
LITANY OF REASONS WHY HE WASN'T
NORMAL.
>> THE FIRST STEPS IN MY
DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT I WAS NOT
ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO MY MOTHER
AND TWO SISTERS, WHICH LASTED
THREE YEARS.
SOMEONE WHO'S IN A PROFESSIONAL
SETTING IS JUST LIKE PULLING
IRRESPONSIBLY THESE DIAGNOSES
THAT I HAVE TO EXPLAIN OR TRY TO
RATIONALIZE THAT WHAT I'M
EXPERIENCING IS NOT REAL.
>> SURVEY DATA FROM THE TREVOR
PROJECT FOUND THAT 44% OF LGBTQ
YOUTH IN WISCONSIN SERIOUSLY
CONSIDERED SUICIDE IN THE PAST
YEAR.
AND THOSE WHO UNDERWENT
CONVERSION THERAPY, OR WARNED OF
THE POSSIBILITY, WERE MORE THAN
TWICE AS LIKELY TO ATTEMPT
SUICIDE.
>> I THINK THIS IS WHERE THE
SUICIDALITY COMES IN, THIS IS
WHERE THE RUNNING AWAY FROM
HOME, BECAUSE EVERY LGBT PERSON