'I Felt Like a Criminal': Conversion Therapy Quietly Persists Among Religious Lesbians in Israel

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'I Felt Like a Criminal': Conversion Therapy Quietly Persists Among Religious Lesbians in Israel
Haaretz (Israel)

Even the religious public understands today that conversion therapy for gay men causes serious harm. But what about lesbians? A first study of its kind reveals how widespread the practice is among them – and the scars it leaves on their psyches

It happened during lights-out. Racheli's homeroom teacher entered her dormitory room and saw the teenager and her good friend sitting close to each other on the bed. Too close, the teacher thought, and summoned Racheli (a pseudonym) for a talk.

But for Racheli, then in 11th grade at a prestigious ulpana – a high school for religious girls – it had all begun long before.

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Conversion therapy, which professionals refer to as Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, has been part of the therapeutic domain for men and women both here and abroad for decades. Psychological and other treatment, including electric-shock therapy, sterilization, chemical castration, various types of behavioral therapy, nausea-inducing drugs, psychoactive substances and even sending people to sex workers – all these interventions have been based on a cultural assumption to the effect that homosexuality is not normative behavior, that it is a sin or a mental disorder that can be cured or somehow transformed.

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The Israeli government is fairly gay-friendly in a general way,
but for political reasons it's hands off the religious crazies.