If you're a young person living in 2016, you probably think that LGBT Americans are worthy of the same rights as all Americans. You probably also are horrified at the aspect at the idea of LGBT Americans facing legal discrimination, even though there's still an unforgivably uneven patchwork of laws granting rights to LGBT Americans; many states in the country still have no statewide anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT Americans. In other words, if you're LGBT and you live in a state like Texas, Idaho, Nebraska or Indiana, you can be jobless, homeless and faced with other discrimination that will make your life hell, but it's perfectly legal in those states (exceptions are city- and county-specific protections like these).

In Iowa, you would reason that we wouldn't have too many problems. After all, our state was one of the first to make same-sex marriage legal. We're also a state that generally does well when it comes to LGBT rights. However, there's one form of discrimination that's still surprisingly legal in Iowa: gay conversion therapy.

If you don't know what gay conversion therapy is, you can catch up here; otherwise, think of it as those much-parodied "straight camps" you might've heard about. If you haven't heard those jokes in a while, let "Family Guy" take care of that for you. Gay conversion therapy is still around. And in Iowa, a KWWL story released earlier this month showed us that unfortunate reality. What's most eye-catching is the decision of the Iowa Board of Psychology to not carry out the decision to ban gay conversion therapy themselves. Two paragraphs in particular help summarize the situation:

Advocates for the ban spoke to board members at the meeting Friday morning, citing studies that indicate one-in-three LGBTQ Iowans are placed into gay conversion therapy; they also cited statistics showing an increased risk in suicide for conversion therapy patients. While board members called the practice unscientific, they maintained that it was not their place to ban it outright in the state; rather, they explained to advocates that the board’s ethical code called for disciplinary action on the matter “on a case-by-case basis,” also citing a lack of evidence that the method is used in the state at all currently.

Advocates say they understand the board’s decision and are shifting their focus to state lawmakers in the coming 2017 legislative session. (WHO, KWWL)

There are some major problems with this. The most obvious one is that there's too much faith put into the state legislature. The House is controlled by Republicans, and Governor Terry Branstad hasn't been the most LGBT-friendly governor, so good luck with getting a ban passed. Moreover, this isn't a matter of deciding whether one method of banning if more preferable than the other. People's lives are at risk because of this. Gay conversion therapy has demonstrably harmful effects. In fact, one gay conversion therapy outlet had a lawsuit filed against them and were found guilty of, of all things, consumer fraud and was ordered to shut down. Illinois is among the states that have already banned gay conversion therapy. What's Iowa's excuse?

Fortunately, there is something we can all do about the situation in Iowa. (Just so we're clear, these efforts will focus solely on Iowa). There's contact information on the internet, such as that for Governor Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, which you can use to send them emails, letters and phone calls. Additionally, there are pages of legislators for specific parts of Iowa, including Dubuque, that have contact info for representatives and senators in your area.

If you're not feeling that brave, there are other ways to get the word out. Talk about it on Facebook. Share this story until your friends and family are sick of seeing it. Talk about the issue with friends and family. It doesn't matter what you do. Please do something to help get gay conversion therapy in Iowa! This is an issue that can't wait.

The year 2016 gave us a sobering reminder that despite the recent progress made for LGBT rights, our lives and rights are still at risk. If we can help the LGBT community in Iowa achieve one victory by getting gay conversion therapy banned in the state, it'll be worth it.