Documents responsive to a request by Tom Nash shed light on a proposed conversion therapy ban in Virginia that failed last January. The documents include emails between experts and Doctor David Brown, Director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions, regarding a conversion therapy “workgroup” convened by Brown in October 2018, and a pair of bills, SB 245 and HB 363, seeking to ban the practice.

Last month, Governor of Hawaii David Ige signed a bill into law preventing state-licensed medical professionals from performing sexual orientation or gender identity conversion therapy on anyone under 18, making the state the 12th so far to implement a ban.

In response to a FOIA request back in February, the Federal Trade Commission released 101 pages of documents regarding conversion therapy, a majority of which concern the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017.

Last month, we launched our Protecting LGBTQ+ Youth from Conversion Therapy project, an attempt to use public records to learn more about the poorly-understood practice. But there are definite challenges to understanding the impact of conversion therapy in America, and we’re going to need help to get further into our investigation.

A MuckRock project launching today, “Protecting LGBTQ+ Youth from Conversion Therapy” seeks to use public records to gain a better understanding of the conversion therapy industry, governmental involvement in the practice, and the scope of its harm on LGBTQ+ youth.