Legality of conversion therapy

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. As of August 2023, twenty-six countries have bans on conversion therapy, eleven of them ban the practice by any person: Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Malta, New Zealand and Spain; eight ban its practice by medical professionals only; Albania, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, Portugal, Vietnam and Taiwan; another seven: Argentina, Fiji, Nauru, Paraguay, Samoa, Switzerland, and Uruguay have indirect bans in that diagnoses based solely on sexual orientation or gender identity are banned without specifically banning conversion therapy, this effectively amounts to a ban on health professionals since they would not generally engage in therapy without a diagnosis. In addition, some jurisdictions within Australia, Mexico and the United States also ban conversion therapy. In China and South Africa case law has found conversion therapy to be unlawful. Bills banning conversion therapy are being considered in Ireland, Mexico, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.