Does the EU still need to ban conversion therapy? Yes, it absolutely does
22 May 2025
Coming out as queer is hard enough. And yet, it's too often accompanied by people's environment calling them to do so-called conversion therapy – where they are told that their sexual orientation or gender identity is a disorder, and are pressured to reject or suppress it. The UN even defined it as torture.
Techniques can include talk therapy linking same-sex attraction to trauma, forced prayer or exorcisms to "cast out" homosexuality, and in extreme cases, aversive methods like electroshock, fasting, or hormone treatments.
Now, over one million Europeans demand that such practices be prohibited. A European Citizens' Initiative calling for the ban of LGBTQ+ conversion practices in the EU has more than surpassed the threshold of one million signatures this weekend. The European Commission is legally obliged to examine the proposal and provide a formal response.
The petition is rather timely: Based on EU-wide survey data, approximately 2% of LGBTQ+ individuals have undergone conversion therapy, an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 people. Despite some member states banning such practices, it remains prevalent throughout the EU. It's still legal as a form of 'psychiatric therapy' in Italy, Poland, Austria, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and several Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
As expected, religious settings are a big part of the problem: reports by human rights organisations in Cyprus and Poland show that some people have undergone exorcisms or spiritual counselling aimed at suppressing LGBTQ+ identities.
Another, less evident problem comes from digital platforms. There are now online programs that offer "healing" or "reorientation" and continue to reach individuals across borders, especially in countries without comprehensive bans.
These services are often promoted through religious or self-help websites and can be accessed from anywhere, making enforcement particularly difficult. In some cases, families even send children abroad to undergo treatments in countries where the practice remains legal.
 | Leticia Batista Cabanas Hailing from Spain, a country with deep religious roots and a strong conservative social sector, I have been a direct witness to conversion therapy efforts and realised how sneaky they can be. As a child, a close friend's family suspected he was gay before he even knew what sexuality was. This family belongs to a strict, upper-class religious community in Spain; they signed him up for therapy under false pretences. But the therapist turned out to be a priest trained in psychology – he treated my friend to suppress his homosexuality. It didn't work. He came out to his family years later, and they suggested the same kind of 'therapy' once again. But my friend, who has now existed for two decades in a tight-knit religious community, rejected the idea, fearing the 'conversion' would be effective this time around. After all, he is now aware of both the strength of the treatment, and the fragility of his social status and family relations when something as taboo as homosexuality comes into the mix. |
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