Today we celebrate International Human Rights Day, which reminds us that ‘the right to be you’, in our society, is a human right.

Garrad Conley, the author of the novel behind the movie “Boy Erased”, tells the story of the hardships of a young man forced into conversion therapy. He explains how harmful the practice is in the interview above: “when you try to change someone through psychological or physical torture, it only results in pain or lasting terror.”

The UN formally protects the right to equality and non-discrimination. The opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are unequivocal: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” The equality and non-discrimination guarantee provided by international human rights law applies to all people, regardless of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or “other status.”

The core legal obligations of States with respect to protecting the human rights of LGBT people include to: “Protect individuals from homophobic and transphobic violence and prevent torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

A country like Canada, championing for human rights nationally and abroad, must commit to ending the harmful practice of conversion therapy within its borders.  

Please keep on sharing this petition to send a loud and clear message to our government, that LGTBQ+ youth deserve to feel safe to be who they are. They need their identity to be valued and respected, not forcefully changed with a discredited practice.