Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly is discussing a bill to ban conversion therapies. Costa Rica is listed among 68 countries that allow and apply conversion therapies, according to an independent report prepared for the United Nations (UN). According to specialists on the matter, allowing conversion therapies implies that there is a problem with sexual orientation and gender identity, while also wrongly categorizing them as diseases.
Many people have suffered and continue to suffer from these so-called therapies, said Marco Castillo Rojas of the Organización Interseccional Pro Derechos Humanos Costa Rica, calling for this type of torture to be banned once and for all. Castillo explained that discrediting, shame, humiliation, the use of electric shocks, vomit-inducing drugs during exposure to homoerotic material, and “corrective” rape are some of the methods used “to try to cure homosexuality.”
Ricardo Sossa, former Commissioner of Social Inclusion, called on President Rodrigo Chaves to ensure this bill is approved. “The President of the Republic has publicly declared his opposition to such torture, but he must move from words to actions to prevent these human rights violations against the LGBTIQA+ population,” Sossa emphasized.
The initiative, presented by the Frente Amplio, is being blocked by Fabricio Alvarado and deputies of the Nueva República party. The bill proposes prohibiting treatments that aim to prevent, impair, nullify, or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
It would allow counseling and health services that affirm gender and sexual diversity, provided they are based on the individual’s own decision and conducted by qualified health professionals. Additionally, individuals would still have access to counseling from their religious leaders if desired.
International human rights organizations consider conversion therapies as torture. For the United Nations, these practices amount to discrimination akin to torture and humiliation. Moreover, these so-called therapies use techniques that lack any scientific basis.
The Pan American Health Organization noted that conversion therapies lack medical justification and pose a serious threat to the health and human rights of those affected. Meanwhile, the World Psychiatric Association has determined there is no strong scientific evidence to suggest that innate sexual orientation can be changed.
