I am one of the lucky ones.

As a teenager, I knew something life-changing: that I was attracted to boys and that my gender did not match the sex I was assigned at birth.

This was unlike most teenage identity crises. I was bullied daily in hallways and classrooms. I was the target of slurs and violence. Occasionally, the threat of harm felt so imminent that I needed police protection.

As a queer person of color, the world often seemed hostile to my very existence. People refused to use my preferred gender pronoun—she. I defied them by running for homecoming queen. They argued that I shouldn’t be able to play softball on my high school’s team. I won a spot on the varsity roster anyway.

The author, Pat Cordova-Goff, who is a queer transgender person and a first-year community college student in Azusa, California. Image: Pat Cordova-Goff

I am proud of my identity as a queer transgender person who does not fit into society’s gender roles. And now I have an important ally in my fight for equality: the president of the United States.

When the president issued a statement of support for my community’s safety this week by supporting a ban on gay conversion therapy, it was a powerful gesture of respect and tolerance.

BREAKING: President Obama supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors → http://t.co/TAZqqDxwd9 #LeelahsLaw — The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 9, 2015

I know first-hand the fear of coming out to one’s parents, worrying about how they might respond and knowing that some parents force their children to attend conversion therapy to cure them of “gayness” or “gender confusion.”

Writer and transgender woman Janet Mock tells her story of transitioning as a high school student in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This practice often invokes pseudoscientific claims about sexuality and can involve religious study and prayer. It is founded on the notion that someone can change their sexual orientation or gender identity. While licensed providers are not permitted to offer conversion therapy to minors in California, where I live, it remains a symbol of oppression for transgender youth.

The day I came out to my parents – four years ago at age 14 – was the scariest of my life. I had only heard the stories of my friends being kicked out in the middle of the night when their parents found out they were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or another identity. I had only read the online posts of calls for help when my friends, their secrets now revealed, were mentally and physically abused by their parents.

I had no idea what my story would be, but I knew I could no longer live a lie.

I am lucky because my family showered me with support. The news of my identities, although apparently not “news” to their ears, did not change their love for me.

While it’s not clear how many queer youths in the U.S. are sent to a conversation therapist, the American Psychological Association warns against using the therapy because there is no scientific proof that it works and even evidence that it can harm. Some people who endured the therapy in studies said it made their depression worse. The Human Rights Campaign says that conversion therapy for minors can lead to anxiety, homelessness and suicidal thoughts.

Ultimately, conversion therapy can ruin the important progress a queer person has made toward accepting their identity. This experience devastated Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender teen from Ohio, who died by suicide last December. Before being fatally struck by a semi-truck, she posted a note to Tumblr explaining the harm and alienation of religious therapy.

We now know Alcorn’s story, but what about the anonymous transgender teens who are driven to suicidal thoughts or behavior after being subjected to conversion therapy?

This is the tragic reality – so many youth bravely come out as their authentic selves and then watch their family crumble before their eyes. So many youth live in fear because they can’t share their deepest truths.

Our society fails to support these young people, and abandoning them is not only cruel but can also have tragic consequences.

“Tonight, somewhere in America, a young person, let's say a young man, will struggle to fall to sleep, wrestling alone with a secret he's held as long as he can remember,” the president said in his statement. “Soon, perhaps, he will decide it's time to let that secret out. What happens next depends on him, his family, as well as his friends and his teachers and his community. But it also depends on us — on the kind of society we engender, the kind of future we build.”

This statement alone could save a life. It could give hope to the lonely, hopeless young person who believes that no one will love or appreciate their true identity.

We must do as the president says and ban conversion therapy, state by state. California, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia have passed laws to end the use of conversion therapy. This means youth across the country are still at risk.

Conversion therapy should be seen as an act of violence against LGBT people. #BornPerfect — ELIEL CRUZ (@elielcruz) April 9, 2015

While it is the responsibility of medical professionals to end the practice, and the responsibility of parents to stop sending their children to dangerous therapists, it is also our responsibility to stand against this injustice.

This is not a matter of politics, nor is it a matter of religious beliefs. This is a conversation about ending a practice that had the potential to put my life at risk four years ago, a practice that endangers the lives of young queer people as you read this essay.

Conversion therapy needs to end, and the youth of today and of tomorrow need to be told that their sexual orientation and gender identity are just a few of the details that create the beautiful, unique individuals they are and always will be.

I am lucky because I am still here, fighting for equality.

Pat Cordova-Goff is a first-year community college student in Azusa, California. She is a member of the Youth Advocacy Council for the Trevor Project and will take office as Student Trustee on the Citrus College District Board of Trustees this May.