I haven't even read many synopses of the arguments, but here's my more-or-less initial position:
First, adults should be able to do whatever they want in this respect--but that doesn't seem to be the issue.
Second, so long as a kid consents to the therapy, I don't see any problem; the worry is that parents may force kids to do it.
Third, the left's contention that conversion therapy doesn't work is probably bullshit and at odds with its own previous position. The left spent decades telling us that 10-50% of the population is homosexual...or 100% is naturally bisexual...or whatever...they said a lot of things. But society brainwashed all those people into thinking that they were straight--or at least acting that way. It's the left itself that thinks that humans are far more malleable than they actually are. Nevertheless, I suspect that the truth on this one lies somewhere in the middle--there's fair malleability...but certainly not total malleability.
Third prime: Political lesbianism told (or tells? is it still around?) feminists that they ought to be lesbians for political reasons. Presumably they think that this isn't a matter of pure political duty--surely they think that sexual desire is to some degree malleable.
Fourth, everything about conversion therapy is more reasonable and less awful than "gender" pseudoscience.
Fifth, you'd have to be a fool to believe the alleged studies that say this therapy increases suicidality. As soon as the left takes a position--especially a position like this one--their army of lapdog pseudoscientists starts producing Lysenkoist studies backing them up.
But, sixth, there's nothing wrong with it, and some kids are non-heterosexual, and that's the way it is. So, y'know, parents ought to be cool about that. (Maybe easy for me to say, since I don't have kids...)
Now, all that having been said, I still don't see much reason to be too keen on this stuff. Seems like religious wackos will be prone to forcing their kids into it. Though I guess I could see reasonable parents thinking: well, my kid's life will be a lot easier if he's at least straight-ish...might as well just see whether this works... Or thinking: this is likely to be a result of brainwashing at school--or just general cultural brainwashing--so let's see whether it's changeable...
And there is no doubt whatsoever that kids with "gender confusion" should get therapy to try to reverse that shit. Little Timmy's teacher told him he might be a girl...that needs to be fixed right away. Before they convince him to take estrogen and cut his junk off...
All that having been said: prima facie, it seems weird to defend a quasi-medical treatment on First Amendment grounds. Everybody's making fun of KBJ...and I just saw like one short paragraph from her dissent...but...it didn't sound crazy to me...
