SOGICE Has No Place in Ethical Social Work Practice
- NASW-IL Staff
- May 5
- 3 min read
Candace Gingrich (they/them)
NASW-IL Community Engagement Manager
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is, “Turn Awareness into Action,” which echoes our Social Work Month theme of “Social Work: Compassion + Action.” This month gives us the opportunity to not only educate others, but also ourselves. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Illinois passing a ban on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts (SOGICE). The NASW-Illinois Chapter (NASW-IL) led the effort to pass the Youth Mental Health Protection Act in 2015, and we encourage Illinois social workers to revisit NASW’s stance on this harmful practice. NASW unequivocally opposes SOGICE in all forms. These practices—also known as "conversion therapy,” "reparative therapy,” or "transformational ministries”—are discredited, harmful interventions aimed at altering a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. For decades, NASW has joined all major mental health and medical organizations in rejecting these interventions as ineffective, unethical, and dangerous. Regardless of the terminology used or who promotes it, SOGICE fundamentally violates the social work profession’s commitment to affirming human dignity, advancing social justice, and protecting client self-determination.
First documented in an official NASW position in 1992 and reaffirmed in successive decades (including a comprehensive update in 2015), SOGICE has consistently been found to contribute to serious mental health consequences. Youth subjected to these practices face increased risk of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and suicidal behavior. Contrary to claims by proponents, there is no scientifically credible evidence that SOGICE can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Even Robert Spitzer, whose flawed 2001 study was often cited in support of these efforts, retracted his findings in 2012, citing ethical and methodological concerns.
Social workers are ethically bound to reject practices that perpetuate stigma, trauma, or discrimination. The NASW Code of Ethics requires professionals to affirm the dignity and worth of all people, to oppose discrimination in all forms, and to prioritize the right of clients to define and express their identities. SOGICE not only undermines these core values—it directly contradicts them by attempting to "correct" or "repair" aspects of identity that are not disordered. Social workers must never provide, support, or refer clients to any form of SOGICE and should actively advocate against its use in all settings.
The social work profession plays a critical role in ensuring that LGBTQIA2S+ individuals receive competent, affirming care that supports healthy identity development and psychological well-being. As national conversations shift and some seek to reinstate or rebrand SOGICE under misleading terms or frameworks, it is essential for practitioners to stay rooted in evidence-based practice and ethical integrity. NASW will continue to support legislation banning SOGICE, oppose efforts to revive or disguise it, and equip social workers to challenge these harmful practices in every space they occupy.
For social workers, every month is Mental Health Awareness Month. Considering the escalated attacks on LGBTQIA2S+ Americans, it is imperative that social workers provide affirmative care in every way. Ethical social work is affirmative social work. NASW-IL urges all practitioners to educate themselves, speak out against SOGICE, and work alongside LGBTQIA2S+ individuals to build a society where every identity is respected, affirmed, and celebrated.
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