Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Via press release:
Today, Governor Tom Wolf signed Executive Order 2022-2 to protect Pennsylvanians from conversion therapy. “Conversion therapy is a traumatic practice based on junk science that actively harms the people it supposedly seeks to treat,” said Gov. Wolf.
“This discriminatory practice is widely rejected by medical and scientific professionals and has been proven to lead to worse mental health outcomes for LGBTQIA+ youth subjected to it. This is about keeping our children safe from bullying and extreme practices that harm them.”
The Executive Order directs commonwealth agencies to discourage conversion therapy in the commonwealth. It directs commonwealth agencies to take steps to actively promote evidence-based best practices for LGBTQIA+ individuals that is actually supported by the scientific and medical communities.
It directs agencies to make updates to policies and procedures to better support LGBTQIA+ employees and the Pennsylvanians we serve.
It also directs the Department of Human Services, the Insurance Department and Department of State and other appropriate agencies to explore and implement all options to ensure state funds, programs, contracts, and other resources are not used for the purposes of providing, authorizing, endorsing, reimbursing for, or referring for conversion therapy, to the extent permitted by law.
Rightwing extremists across the nation have been using their power to bully LGBTQIA+ youth.
I want all our kids to know that they matter and they belong. And in PA, we have their back.
Today I signed an executive order to protect LGBTQIA+ Pennsylvanians from conversion therapy. pic.twitter.com/X2xt4G1Dl6
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) August 16, 2022
My executive order directs state agencies to:
1) Do everything in their power to discourage conversion therapy
2) Actively promote evidence-based medical treatment for LGBTQIA+ individuals
3) Update policies and procedures to better support LGBTQIA+ Pennsylvanians
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) August 16, 2022
Conversion therapy is a traumatic practice that actively harms the people it supposedly seeks to treat.
I’m calling for a full ban of conversion therapy in Pennsylvania.
For that, we need the General Assembly to take action and pass a bill.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) August 16, 2022
NEW: Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Tuesday to ban conversion therapy, making Pennsylvania the 26th state to at least partially ban the discredited form of therapy for minors. https://t.co/mfwindXlB3
— NBC Out (@NBCOUT) August 16, 2022