Shurka works to end conversion therapy for gays, lesbians

During this year’s General Assembly, House Bill 427, aiming to ban conversion therapy for minors failed. It was moved off the Senate floor and buried in a new subcommittee.

However, Mathew Shurka, 27, isn’t letting this bill go down without a fight. Shurka endured years of conversion therapy starting when he was 16 years old after he told his father he was gay.

Born and raised in a Jewish suburb of Great Neck, N.Y., Shurka grew up in a traditional, heteronormative community. Twenty-four hours after coming out, Mathew’s father panicked and began to look into therapy for his son.

“[Conversion therapists] believe that if you can heal the trauma through psychotherapy, my innate heterosexual self will come back naturally,” said Shurka.

Double life

Shurka said he was being trained on how to live a double life during his high school years.  He was encouraged to spend as much time with males as possible and was instructed not to spend any time with females, including his mother and two sisters.

The result? Lack of communication with his mother and sisters for three years. Shurka began to perform poorly in school.  He was overwhelmed, experienced panic attacks, extreme anxiety, and contemplated suicide.

“I was cutting classes, and my grades were rapidly dropping. So, my high school principal met with my dad, who had informed the principal of the therapy, and my high school principal pretty much pleaded with my dad, and argued with him to stop.”

Today’s school systems now have the autonomy to call conversion therapy child abuse.

As Shurka grew older, he continued to attempt different modalities to perpetuate progress. His overall experience encompassed five years in four states, one of them being Virginia. Shurka was placed in a conversion therapy camp located in Charlottesville.

Virginia’s number is not known

Virginia has a proliferation of camps — and though the exact number is not known, these camps aren’t quiet.

Those who have participated in conversion therapy are more likely to become depressed, and many have failed to see a change in how they feel about their sexual orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

“Several professionals have said that it violates professional ethics practicing this therapy. It’s highly discredited in the medical community. Anybody that practices it could be potentially subjected to malpractice.” said Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax, Prince William, Stafford).

The therapies encompass a wide array of tactics, anywhere from shock therapy to single talk sessions with a therapist. Shurka met with multiple therapists, including doctors in California.

“Conversion therapy includes a lot of controversial therapies, including pornography therapy to give people a negative stimulus when they have ‘inappropriate feelings’,” said Surovell.

“We hold no animosity whatsoever toward LGBT communities”

Some support conversion therapy, and have made claims that efforts like House Bill 427 are an infringement of First Amendment rights. In fact, in addition to therapy, there are camps offered that go off the lines of support systems.

“People Can Change” is an example of “peer-run support organization that offers workshops and online sources to others who, like us, do not wish to embrace a gay identity or live a gay life” according to Rich Wyler, the Founder and Executive Director of People Can Change.

PCC issued the following statement in response to the HRC and SPLC last week:

“Media reports today said that three large gay-advocacy groups have filed a joint complaint with the Federal Trade Commission asking the FTC to take enforcement action against People Can Change. This is nothing but politically motivated bullying against our community of adult men — gay, bi-sexual, ex-gay and same-sex attracted men — for holding beliefs and choosing life paths that are at odds with the goals of these mega-million-dollar political organizations.

We hold no animosity whatsoever toward LGBT communities and individuals. We simply choose to walk a different path and to respond to our same-sex attractions in ways that are consistent with our faith and personal life goals rather than anyone’s political agenda. Their attack on us is an attack on our First Amendment rights to free speech, free assembly, and free exercise of our faith. We deserve as much respect as anyone who is “out and proud,” and frankly, we deserve to be left alone to live our lives as we see fit.”

When asking Wyler about the validity of the camp, he responded:

“I have always told participants the real goal can never be heterosexuality; heterosexuality alone isn’t going to assure peace or happiness. The real goals are peace, brotherhood and belonging, and the ability to live our lives happily in alignment with our beliefs, morals, values and life goals. And this work absolutely can lead to those results.”

Ending conversion therapy in states 

Currently, conversion therapy remains legal in most states. Recently, New York Governor Andrew Como utilized an executive order to enforce prevention of gay conversion therapy earlier this month. Shurka is hopeful that he and his team will be able to work with more states to continue this progress.

“Last year, we had 18 states introduce the bill. Not all of it passed, but 18 states passed the bill to end conversion therapy. We had a meeting the other day, and one of our goals will be to have all 50 states introduce the bill,” said Shurka.

According to CNN Politics, similar laws in contingency to end conversion therapy exist in Oregon, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

Today, Shurka co-leads a national gay rights campaign called “Born Perfect,” a campaign created by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Shurka’s team created the campaign in 2014 with a declaration to end conversion therapy by 2019.

Shurka is currently working on two bills with his team to end conversion therapy. One bill is at the federal level while the other bill is at the state level.

“The federal bill is being introduced and is currently in Congress. This bill will end conversion therapy in one sweep. The language is very different — the bill basically says that conversion therapy is considered fraud and violates consumer trade act of the united states. So, if anyone is taking money with the promise of making you heterosexual, they’re committing fraud,” said Shurka.

The bill was introduced in Virginia last year, and was reintroduced this year, but the bill has continued to be passed around to the point that it’s stagnated — and it doesn’t seem to be making any progress. However, there might be another hearing for the bill within the spring or summer of this year.

The bill at the state level aims to ban state practitioners from conducting conversion therapy on minors.

“Ten years ago, if you look up conversion therapy, you’d get a recommendation from the therapist,” Shurka said.

Just by educating the public, an impact has been made.

“We’re working on many different angles. We’re educating the public and health organizations. We’re working with The United Nations. We’ve even had international organizations reach out to us,” Shurka said.