Quick Takeaways

• The greatest threats to Christian families often come disguised as help, including practices like conversion therapy that promise protection but fracture family bonds.

• Conversion therapy has been ruled consumer fraud in court because practitioners make promises they cannot keep.

• Parents who sent children to conversion therapy report two devastating outcomes: damage to their child's mental health and destruction of family relationships.

• Christian parents can honor their beliefs while protecting their family's unity.

When we hear that marriage and family are under attack, our minds turn to familiar targets: secular culture, changing social norms, and political forces. But some of the most serious threats to Christian families come from places we'd never expect, wrapped in the language of faith and protection.

Parents across America, wanting nothing more than to help their struggling children, have spent thousands of dollars on practices that every major medical organization says don't work. These same parents later discovered they'd paid for heartbreak and damaged relationships.

The Threat Hiding in Plain Sight

When your child comes to you with difficult questions about who they are, the desire to protect them is overwhelming. In that vulnerable moment, some families encounter practitioners who promise to "help" through conversion therapy or similar approaches rebranded as "exploratory therapy."

Here's what those practitioners don't tell you: In 2015, a New Jersey jury unanimously ruled that conversion therapy constitutes consumer fraud. The organization was permanently shut down. The judge found there was no factual basis for the success claims these providers make.

Families of faith deserve integrity, not exploitation dressed up as counseling.

What Parents Are Actually Buying

When families purchase conversion therapy, the risks reveal what they're really getting. Young people who experience high levels of family rejection, which is how children perceive conversion therapy, are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide. They're 5.9 times more likely to report severe depression.

Zero percent. That's the amount of credible scientific evidence showing conversion therapy can change who someone is attracted to or how they see themselves. When something has no evidence of success but dramatically increases suicide risk, that's not therapy. That's harm marketed with medical language.

When Family Bonds Break

Parents who've walked this road share heartbreaking testimonies. Linda Robertson lost her son Ryan in 2009 after years of conversion therapy drove him to drugs to cope with his internal agony. She now tells Christian parents: "Conversion therapy did nothing to change Ryan's sexuality. Instead, it taught Ryan that he couldn't be accepted or loved by God as he was, and it destroyed his bond with me."

Many conversion therapy approaches blame parents for their child's identity, claiming faulty parenting caused the "problem." Imagine paying someone to tell you that your love wasn't enough.

The result? Families fracture. Trust shatters. A solution that divides families is not a solution at all.

What Christian Parents Have Learned

Brandon Boulware, a Christian father and son of a Methodist minister, spent years trying to change his child. "My child was miserable," he testified before Missouri lawmakers. "No confidence, no friends, no laughter. I had a child who did not smile."

When he stopped trying to change his daughter and started accepting who God made her to be, the transformation was immediate. "I now have a confident, smiling, happy daughter," Brandon said. "The God I believe in does not make mistakes."

Christian parents of gay or transgender children have found they don't have to choose between their faith and their child. Brandon's faith didn't require him to force his daughter to be someone she wasn't. It required him to love her as God made her.

Protecting What Matters Most

The real threat to marriage and family isn't loving your child as they are. It's trusting strangers who promise, for a price, to make your child into someone else.

Your family's decisions should be built on truth and evidence, not false promises made by people who profit from your fear. Faith teaches that love endures all things. Families who face struggles with honesty and grace come through stronger and closer.

FAQs

What is conversion therapy, and why do Christian families need to know about it? Conversion therapy refers to practices that attempt to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. These practices have been ruled consumer fraud in court, with no credible evidence they work. Every major medical organization opposes them because they cause severe psychological harm to minors.

How does conversion therapy threaten marriage and family values? Conversion therapy threatens family values by fracturing parent-child relationships, often permanently. These practices also often blame parents for their child's identity, creating guilt and destroying trust between family members.

Can Christian parents support a child who is gay or transgender while staying faithful? Yes. Many devout Christian parents have found ways to honor their faith while loving their children. Faith-based family support resources help parents strengthen family bonds without resorting to harmful practices.

What should Christian families look for when seeking help? Avoid any practitioner who promises to change your child's sexual orientation or gender identity. Look for therapists who focus on strengthening family relationships and helping young people develop coping skills without attempting to change who they fundamentally are.

What's at stake in legal cases like Chiles v. Salazar? This case challenges Colorado's law protecting minors from conversion therapy. If successful, it could give licensed professionals expanded power to practice unproven interventions on children, potentially undermining parental authority.