Israeli Health Ministry Bans Ex-Gay Torture

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The Health Ministry issued a circular on Monday morning banning medical professionals in Israel from providing conversion therapy. The circular stresses the risks to mental health posed by conversion therapy and prohibits all professionals from the offering, publicizing, or providing such “therapies.”

Licensed professionals who do so will face sanctions, including severe disciplinary proceedings and the revocation of their licenses. While the Health Ministry has advised against conversion therapy for years, no formal prohibition had been issued against the practice until now.

Ynet News reports:

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz [photo] — himself part of the LGBTQ community — lauded the move to prohibit the practice, which aims to “correct” a person’s sexuality via what some professionals have deemed as “mental and physical torture.”

“No one needs conversion. Not lesbians, not gays, not trans people, not straights. Sexual orientation and gender identity is not a problem that needs to be solved and if someone needs conversion, it’s the people full of hate for others,” Horowitz said.

Israel’s Health Ministry issued a notice formalizing a ban on conversion therapy, and included a number of sanctions medical professionals could face if they engage in the practice.#Israel | #LGBTQ+ https://t.co/vs6lICC2UT

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