Our faith values call us to speak against conversion therapy | Opinion

As the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to rule against the ability for states to ban LGBTQ+ conversion therapy, we felt called as leaders and members of our local faith communities to speak out against this harmful practice.

Conversion “therapy” is a misnomer. It is not therapy. It is widely discredited and has no basis in medical or psychological best practice — and, furthermore, is fundamentally misaligned with our faith values of unconditional love and our belief that all people are beloved Children of God.

Though our faith traditions may vary, we all hold paramount our belief in love, empathy and compassion as our guiding values: values that reflect the love of God within us, and values that lead us to embrace and support LGBTQ+ people as exactly who they are.

We hold great sorrow that so many LGBTQ+ young people are forced to undergo attempts at changing the fundamental nature with which God has blessed them. We lament the harm conversion practices inflict, especially knowing that many conversion programs espouse to do so in the name of faith.

Conversion practices do not reflect the truth that we are called to be bastions of love amidst a cruel world. Conversion practices inflict immense harm on a deeply vulnerable population. And this harm ultimately drives LGBTQ+ people away from faith communities and faith-based spaces — a scattering of the very flock whom we are called on to protect as shepherds.

We believe that God’s creation is full of a richness of variety and that gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, and nonbinary people are all in The Divine Image.

We believe that to try to “convert” these beloved Children of God is an act of hubris in the face of divine creation.

And we believe that LGBTQ+ people deserve welcoming faith communities and loving spiritual homes where they can heal from the harm caused by conversion practices and other anti-LGBT+ practices too often undertaken in the name of faith.

Conversion practices are not an expression of the faith values we hold most dear, and we urge all members of our community to model divine compassion and love toward LGBTQ+ people.

Rev. Ben Wideman, University Mennonite Church; Rabbi David E. Ostrich, Congregation Brit Shalom; Rev. Scott Schul and Rev. Carolyn Hetrick, Grace Lutheran Church; Rev. Rebecca Horn, St. Luke Lutheran Church; Rev. Julie Holm, Brush Valley Fusion of Faith; Rev. William Osman, St. John Lutheran church; Kerry Wiessmann, State College Friends Meeting; Cynthia Fritz, Director of Faith Formation, Grace Lutheran Church; Rev. Evelyn Wald, St. Stephen Lutheran Church; Rev. W. Ted Williams, Ferguson Township Lutheran Ministry; Rev. Jeremy Richards, University Baptist and Brethren Church; Rev. Jes Kast, Faith United Church of Christ; Rev. Greg Milinovich, St. Paul’s UMC and Wesley Foundation; Rev. Sarah Coker Voigt, St. Paul’s UMC and Wesley Foundation; Deacon Alicia Anderson, Lutheran Campus Ministry at Penn State; Rev. Scott Hoffman, State College Presbyterian Church; Cricket Hunter, Mission Associate, State College Presbyterian Church; and Katie Nurmi, Deacon, State College Presbyterian Church.