In 2021 the Canadian federal government passed legislation (Bill C-4) banning the widely discredited and harmful practice of conversion “therapy”. The law, which came into effect on January 7, 2022, followed efforts at the provincial and municipal levels to ban these practices.
Conversion “therapy” is not a recognized therapeutic practice and has been discredited and denounced by many medical and professional bodies. However, the term is often used as it is commonly known and referenced within the Criminal Code. “Conversion practices” is a more appropriate term.
Conversion practices are organized and sustained efforts to suppress the adoption or expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer sexual orientations, gender identities not assigned at birth, and/or non-conforming gender expressions. The actual practice could take the form of psychological, behavioural, physical, and/or faith-based practices, treatments, or services.
At its core, conversion practices are intended to enforce the assumption that heterosexuality is the only normal way to express sexuality, and that a person’s gender identity or expression should match their assigned sex at birth.
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