The Indian Medical Association’s Keralam State branch issued a statement on Monday, September 14, 2026, condemning conversion therapy. It said there is no scientific or medical basis for practices that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The association declared that sexual orientation and gender diversity are not diseases that require treatment, and warned that attempts to alter them violate evidence‑based medicine, medical ethics, human dignity and the principle of “do no harm.”
The statement follows a long‑running controversy over alleged conversion‑therapy practices in Kerala and complaints from LGBTQIA+ people that have reached the Kerala High Court. In 2023, a study of 130 LGBTQIA+ respondents found that 45.4% had been forced to undergo sexual‑orientation change efforts, causing significant psychological distress. Queerala, an LGBTQIA+ organisation, petitioned the court in 2021, naming at least 20 medical practitioners allegedly providing conversion therapy. The High Court directed the state government in December 2021 to take action against forced conversion therapy and to formulate guidelines with an expert committee and input from the queer community. In 2024, a 19‑year‑old transwoman was allowed by the court to live freely after her family had kept her in illegal detention and subjected her to conversion therapy.
The IMA statement noted that international medical and psychiatric bodies—including the World Medical Association, World Health Organization and American Psychiatric Association—have rejected conversion therapies as unscientific and lacking medical justification. It added that such practices can adversely affect both mental and physical health.
The association urged health‑care professionals to treat LGBTQIA+ patients with respect for dignity and autonomy, and to refrain from facilitating or referring individuals for attempts to change their identity. It called for enhanced training on sexual and gender diversity and urged families and society to respond with understanding and acceptance rather than pressure to change. The IMA also emphasized that mental‑health support should be offered without conditioning it on changing one’s identity or sexuality.
