I was perusing the “Why I’m Running” section of Sen. Alessandra Biaggi’s congressional campaign website and was truly disgusted when I came across the paragraph where she twice claimed to support banning conversion therapy for minors.
The reason for my disgust was that Biaggi, at best, selectively opposes conversion therapy. In fact, at least twice in the past year, Biaggi voted to advance the interests of the conversion therapy industry and even voted to open a loophole potentially allowing for the return of trans conversion therapy.
To give your readers some background, conversion therapy was pioneered decades ago by late psychologist O. Ivar Lovaas. Lovaas viewed members of both the autistic and LGBTQIA+ communities as subhuman and believed, through a system of brutal rewards and punishments (including electric shocks and beatings), that he could build them into people and make them “indistinguishable” from their neurotypical and non-LGBTQIA+ peers, respectively.
Despite the fact that Lovaas was an irredeemable monster, there is still a dedicated cult of conversion therapists who worship him as an infallible humanitarian and refer to themselves as “applied behavior analysts.”
While the use of conversion therapy in an attempt to alter or suppress one’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression was outlawed in New York in 2019 (to Biaggi’s credit, she voted in favor of that legislation), the use of conversion therapy on autistic and other disabled groups is fully legal. In fact, health insurance is required to cover it, and this industry of abuse is thriving in New York and across the nation.
These conversion therapists claim to have expert knowledge of autism and autistic people, despite the fact that they are not required to take even an introductory course in neurology before being put in a room with an autistic “client.” They also claim that autism is a behavioral condition (it is not) and that they can “extinguish” whatever autistic traits they arbitrarily deem to be undesirable.
Autistic individuals as young as 18 months old are subjected to this conversion therapy for up to 40 hours a week for several years in a deliberate attempt to exhaust them into compliance. During this process, they are taught that their emotional and physical needs are irrelevant and that they have no right to say no when someone in authority gives them an order or demands physical contact.
Eventually, these victims learn to internalize their suffering. This makes them substantially more likely to develop PTSD, experience burnout, engage in self-harm and become victims of domestic and sexual abuse/assault. They are also far more likely to develop eating disorders, obesity and diabetes, as force-feeding M&Ms, cookies and other high-sugar foods to their victims is one of the conversion therapists’ go-to means of coercion.
When a victim speaks out against the abuse they experienced (usually once they reach adulthood), they’re gaslit by the conversion therapists, who have a laundry list of excuses. “Maybe it wasn’t right for you.” “Maybe the person who worked with you wasn’t trained right.” “You can’t prove this is what gave you PTSD.” “How can you even remember what happened when you were that young?” “Our methods have changed since you were in therapy.” “We’re ‘trauma-informed’ now.”
(I suggest your readers visit the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s website at https://therapistndc.org/applied-behavior-analysis-aba/ for more details regarding the harm caused by autistic conversion therapy.)
Last year, Biaggi co-sponsored and voted for a bill that was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (S1662B). This bill gave these conversion therapists the green light to treat all conditions outlined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, including gender dysphoria. The stated purpose of the bill was to attract more conversion therapists to New York, which in Biaggi’s warped view, would benefit the autistic community.
Earlier this year, Biaggi signed onto a Senate resolution (J2058) declaring March 20 “World Behavior Analysis Day,” a phony holiday made up by conversion-therapy lobbyist/trade groups, including some who still actively support the use of electric shocks and other aversive punishments. The resolution was filled with pro-conversion-therapy propaganda.
Given that Biaggi is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I would think she would empathize with these victims. However, it is clear that, for no other reason than they are disabled, she dehumanizes them just as Lovaas did and doesn’t think they are worthy of being believed or even listened to.
Not only does Biaggi not belong in Congress, she doesn’t belong in any seat of power. No one who supports conversion therapy of any kind does.
Matthew Zeidman
New Hyde Park
