Dan Reynolds, the frontman for the rock group Imagine Dragons, used his band’s acceptance speech at the Billboard Music Awards to advocate for the LGBTQ community and speak out against conversion therapy.
From left, Daniel Platzman, Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, and Wayne Sermon of Imagine Dragons accept the top rock artist award at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday.Dan Reynolds, the frontman for the rock group Imagine Dragons, used his band’s acceptance speech for the top rock artist award Wednesday at the Billboard Music Awards to advocate for the LGBTQ community and speak out against conversion therapy.
"I just want to take this moment to say that there are still 34 states that don't have laws banning conversion therapy,” Reynolds said. “On top of that, 58 percent of our LGBTQ population live in those states. This can change, but it’s going to take all of us talking to our state legislature, pushing forward laws to protect our LGBTQ youth.”
“And lastly,” he added, “we have seen with conversion therapy that our LGBTQ youth have double the rate of depression, triple the rate of suicide after conversion therapy. It’s not working and needs to change.” Conversion therapy is a medically discredited practice that aims to change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Currently, talk therapy is the most commonly used therapy technique, according to a, but some practitioners have also combined this with"aversion treatments," such as induced vomiting or electric shocks, the report said.
At least 16 states currently have measures in place that prohibit the practice of conversion therapy on minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.
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