Our existence isn’t up for debate.

Sweet family, 

Conversion therapy is a practice that uses a variety of shaming, emotionally traumatic or physically painful stimuli to make victims associate those stimuli with their LGBTQ2S identities. This practice is harmful, ineffective, cruel and often associated with long term effects including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior. Every major medical and psychological association agrees that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be changed. 

Despite factual evidence of the dangerous effects of conversion therapy, House Leadership has approved Representative Olsen’s interim study on the “right” to engage in this debunked and unsafe practice. To say we’re angry is an understatement. 

No controversy exists on the subject of conversion therapy. There is nothing to study but the outsized impact this sort of psychological torture has on our communities. 

At Freedom Oklahoma we stand ready to meet our opposition on any and every battleground on which we face attack. What we will not do, however, is legitimize a conversation on whether or not LGBTQ2S people have a right to exist. We absolutely do. The real question in front of us today is not whether or not there are valid arguments in support of conversion therapy (there aren’t) but why members of the Oklahoma Legislature and lawmakers across the country are still fighting to win votes by actively harming communities they’ve sworn an oath to represent. 

Our communities are no strangers to standing up for our dignity, our humanity, and our lives. We are, each and every one of us, a critical part of a powerful movement--a movement that is winning. Join us in our work to move toward an Oklahoma without conversion therapy. We will face setbacks, we will experience harm, we will face seemingly insurmountable odds, but we will absolutely win. 

Let us keep our eyes trained to the horizon and continue building toward an Oklahoma where every single member of our family is safe, respected, and thriving--an Oklahoma where not one single vote can be won at the expense of the people who call this state home. We know we’ll get there together.

With love, 
Freedom Oklahoma