Legality of conversion therapy

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.^[1] As of December 2023, twenty-eight countries have bans on conversion therapy, fourteen of them ban the practice by any person: Belgium,^[2] Canada, Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Spain; seven ban its practice by medical professionals only: Albania, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, Taiwan and Vietnam; another seven, named Argentina, Fiji, Nauru, Paraguay, Samoa, Switzerland and Uruguay, have indirect bans in that diagnoses based solely on sexual orientation or gender identity are banned without specifically banning conversion therapy, this effectively amounts to a ban on health professionals since they would not generally engage in therapy without a diagnosis. In addition, some jurisdictions within Australia, the Philippines and the United States also ban conversion therapy.^{[citation needed]} In South Africa, the case law has found conversion therapy to be unlawful.^[3][4] Bills banning conversion therapy are being considered in Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland,^[3] while bills restricting conversion therapy are being considered in Denmark, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Thailand.^{[citation needed]} At a supranational level, the European Union is considering banning conversion therapy across its Member States, while an ongoing citizens' initiative started collecting signatures in May 2024 also calling on the European Commission to outlaw such practices. ^[5][6]