NEW HAMPSHIRE: Ex-Gay Torture Ban Dies For Current Session Despite Approval From Both Chambers

Two weeks ago the New Hampshire Senate followed the state House in approving a ban on ex-gay torture. The Senate vote even came with the support of GOP Majority Leader Jeb Bradley. But that’s where the good news ends, for now. New Hampshire Public Radio reports:

The House and Senate passed differing versions of a ban on conversion therapy earlier this session, but lawmakers in both chambers still needed to agree on a final compromise version. That didn’t happen during Tuesday’s committee of conference. Actually, there wasn’t even a discussion on the issue.

Sen. David Pierce [above right in photo], a strong proponent of the bill, said despite similarities between the two versions of the bill, House lawmakers came into the meeting unwilling to budge. “When we pressed Representative Schmidt on even having a discussion on the issues, he said he wasn’t going to do that,” Pierce said.

Gov. Maggie Hassan said she’s disappointed the bill will not reach her desk this session. “We know that conversion therapy is a bad practice that harms our young people and the last thing we want to do is convey to our young people that we feel that there is something wrong with who they are,” Hassan said.

More from the Union-Leader:

Negotiators appeared to have few differences over the Senate version until Rep. Frank Kotowski, R-Hooksett, said he was not prepared to approve anything but the House version of the bill. He is concerned with the changes the Senate made, he said, and believes lawmakers will have to make corrections next year if they pass the Senate version.

After the meeting ended, Sen. David Pierce, D-Lebanon, who shepherded the bill through the Senate, said “The first child that dies because of this, I’m going to refer his family to Rep. Kotowski personally.”

Another bill supporter, Rep. Ed Butler, D-Harts Location, said he was disappointed with the House’s action, but noted, “I’m more disappointed for the children who may undergo conversion therapy, which is shown to be abuse and threatening to their mental well-being.”

Ex-gay torture bans are already in place in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, and in the cities of Cincinnati and Washington DC. In February, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order banning the practice. The Liberty Counsel has failed to overturn these bans many times, including at the US Supreme Court. (Tipped by JMG reader Andrea)