Written by Kay Guyer, LPCC, ATR-BC
In 2012, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens changed the world,1 and this time, it was Gaylesta members and those they organized who did it. 2012 was the year California’s landmark Senate Bill 1172 became law, banning licensed mental health providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors. SB 1172 was then used as a foundational model for 22 other U.S. states and many countries who passed their own laws banning conversion therapy.
Our story begins in 2008 when marriage equality was on the ballot as a proposition in California. Gaylesta joined with therapists around the state asking major psychological organizations to make public statements supporting marriage equality. While some organizations were willing, there was a lot of resistance from other organizations like the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). Former Gaylesta Board President Rebecca Silverstein recalled, “This is when we discovered that CAMFT had a significant amount of therapists (primarily in Southern California) who were conversion therapists and actively opposed marriage equality as well.”
Following a CAMFT state meeting, Dino DiDonato reflected on the surprising level of controversy surrounding conversion therapy, “You’d think therapists would be easily opposed to conversion therapy, but it became a public political issue, and people tended to back away.” Dino goes on, “CAMFT was reflecting what was taught in graduate programs at the time, which was not to be politically involved. For me, that was an impossible expectation…It was personal, and it was political for us.”
Former Gaylesta Co-President Deborah Cooper, along with several board members, met with the CAMFT board president, asking CAMFT to take a stand against conversion therapy. Given there were conversion therapists who were a part of CAMFT actively causing harm in our community, Deborah recalls, “We had to speak out.” Following this, there was a CAMFT board meeting where Galyesta members and conversion therapists each spoke to the CAMFT board. Advocacy committee member James Guay was instrumental in challenging CAMFT’s homophobic bias by developing a clear timeline of CAMFT’s discriminatory actions and serving as a strong voice for affirming mental health care.
Gaylesta also asked the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to prohibit conversion therapy as a licensing board. Rebecca recalled the BBS’s response, “They said they can't keep their practitioners from practicing conversion therapy because they follow the law, and it’s not the law.” During a Gaylesta advocacy meeting, Rebecca recalls Dino’s reply was, “Well, let’s change the law!”
Gaylesta organized with major organizations on the conversion therapy ban, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who played a key role in drafting SB 1172.2 Gaylesta contacted two senators before finding California State Senator Ted Lieu, who was willing to put SB 1172 before the state legislature. As a survivor of conversion therapy himself, advocacy committee member James Guay testified before the legislature in support of SB 1172. Gaylesta members then went to work gathering over 30,000 online signatures. The signatures were delivered by advocacy committee members Jim Walker and Guy Albert, along with other colleagues, to California Governor Jerry Brown in support of him signing the bill. Governor Brown signed SB 1172 making it the first law banning conversion therapy on September 30, 2012.
Guy Albert acknowledged, “It was really the first bill to be passed to ban conversation therapy in the world, a big moment in the world and in Gaylesta activism.”
“It spread like wildfire,” Deborah Cooper went on, “When one person stands up, others stand up, and other states passed it.”
Following the passing of conversion therapy bans on state levels, Gaylesta members explored how to make it a national effort. Jim Walker looked to the U.K. where the 2015 Consensus Coalition organized healthcare and therapy practices to create a Memorandum of Understanding against conversion therapy. This sparked the idea to create the United States Joint Statement Against Conversion Efforts (USJS). Jim Walker and Guy Albert did an incredible amount of lobbying with groups in Washington D.C. and built relationships with dozens of organizations while being financially supported by Gaylesta. Jim and Guy’s efforts from 2015-2023 resulted in 28 national professional mental health and medical organizations signing on to the USJS, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association. The USJS currently has 29 signatory professional associations and is still managed by Guy Albert and with Gaylesta’s ongoing financial support to assure the website remains available to the public.
Believing that lasting change often requires working from within institutions, James joined the CAMFT State Board, where he advocated for stronger social justice engagement and helped advance more affirming policies and public statements in support of LGBTQ communities. Gaylesta’s grassroots organizing within CAMFT, as well as collaborations with other organizations like the Board of Psychology, resulted in CAMFT issuing an official statement against conversion therapy in 2016.3 Jim explains, “In our efforts to get the state CAMFT leaders to issue a statement against conversion efforts, we acted as CAMFT members and CAMFT chapter leaders to unify allies in various CAMFT chapters across the state. CAMFT chapter after chapter began issuing statements against conversion efforts before the state organization. Finally, from chapter after chapter speaking officially against conversion efforts, the pressure was on the state organization to issue a statement against SOCE [Sexual Orientation Change Efforts]. Grassroots change such as that can create more foundational change than top-down change. By joining with allies–especially at a grassroots level–you can accomplish so much more.”
Significant progress has come with significant challenges. A 2022 challenge to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban came before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2025. In preparation for this case, Guy coordinated with lawyers from Washington D.C. to write an amicus brief for the USJS to present to the U.S. Supreme Court. In March 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Colorado's conversion therapy ban likely violated First Amendment free speech protections and sent the case back to lower federal courts to reconsider the law.4 In May 2026, the Colorado legislature passed a rewritten version of the law that prohibits therapists from imposing any predetermined outcome related to a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, whether affirming or non-affirming.5 The Supreme Court’s ruling opens the door for additional challenges to states’ conversion therapy bans for minors and raises questions about where we go from here to protect queer and trans youth.
Guy Albert shares his hopes for the future, “One of the dreams I have for Gaylesta is that it becomes an organization that is not just limited to the greater bay area. There’s a lot of advocacy that needs to happen on a national level. I am hoping that having a national organization, it would be able to reach other professional associations, promote more lgbtq+ oriented training, and have a single body that would lobby nationally.”
Reflecting on organizing knowledge gained, Jim Walker states, “Don’t let anything stop you from being advocates.” He acknowledged there were things he didn’t initially know how to do, but there’s a way in which advocacy efforts can come together quickly because of emotional support for a cause. “If you have an idea to advocate for something, run it up a flag pole and see if it flies.”
Many thanks are extended to interviewees Guy Albert, Deborah Cooper, Dino DiDonato, Rebecca Silverstein, and Jim Walker, as well as the many others who have put their efforts to the task of advancing rights in our community.
1 The popular quote in social change circles, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” is attributed to American anthropologist Margaret Mead.
2 National Center for LGBTQ Rights. (2026). National Center for LGBTQ Rights. California Senate Bill 1172 - National Center for LGBTQ Rights
3 California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. (2016, March 19). CAMFT Statement on Conversion Therapy (SOCE). Press Releases | CAMFT Statement on Conversion Therapy (SOCE)
4 Jouvenal, J. (2026, March 31). Supreme Court revives challenge to Colorado conversion therapy ban. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/31/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-colorado-ban/
5 Thompson, S. (2026, May 11). Colorado lawmakers pass rewritten conversion therapy ban after Supreme Court ruling. Pink News. https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/05/11/colorado-conversion-therapy-ban-supreme-court-jared-polis/
About the author:
Kay Guyer, LPCC, ATR-BC, is an art therapist supporting queer and trans youth and adults in Berkeley. They hold a bachelor's degree in Peace Studies and master's degree in Art Therapy Counseling, bringing together their commitment to social justice and belief in art as a vehicle for personal and collective liberation. Beyond their clinical work, Kay is passionate about creating spaces for community care and collaboration.
www.kayguyer.com
