Tag Archives: conversion therapy

Courthouse News reports: More than 1 million Europeans have called on the EU to ban “conversion”‘ practices targeting LGBTQ people, the results of a petition showed Friday. The landmark result, reached in the afternoon, means the initiative has secured enough backing to force the European Commission to provide a detailed response. The United Nations has called for a global ban, …

The Kentucky Lantern reports: Calling it a “dangerous practice,” Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Wednesday that bans conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky. Speaking in Frankfort, Beshear said such attempts to alter a young person’s gender expression or sexual attractions have “no basis in medicine” — a view supported by experts in medicine and mental health. Beshear’s move …

Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen reports: Critics have long deduced that Christopher Doyle is divorced from reality, but the ugly reality of his bitter divorce is what will likely cause the demise of America’s most notorious “ex-gay” conversion therapist. Doyle is a licensed therapist and the Executive Director of the Institute for Healthy Families, which is promoted as “a …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Andrew was feeling crushed by the cultural expectation to get married. Twenty-two years old, he had just returned from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was attending a singles’ ward in Provo — a local congregation of unmarried college students. But Andrew is gay. And marriage between a man …

Michigan Live reports: Bills banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors in Michigan passed the state legislature, Tuesday, June 27 and are headed for the desk of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Once signed by Whitmer, Michigan will join the 21 states, plus the District of Columbia, which have already enacted bans on administering conversion therapy to minors. “Michigan’s LGBTQ+ youth should be …

Bloomberg News reports: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should apologize for the UK’s treatment of gay and trans veterans, according to a government-commissioned review that details a “culture of homophobia” that pervaded the British military for decades. The study — slated for publication in the first half of June and seen by Bloomberg — details accounts of electric-shock conversion therapy, intrusive …

The Telegraph reports: A law to ban all conversion therapy will be announced as soon as Monday, as Rishi Sunak reverses Boris Johnson’s decision to scale back the intervention. Mr Johnson vowed to ban homosexual conversion therapy when prime minister, but decided not to do the same for transgender conversion therapy. This week, government ministers are set to make clear …

The Associated Press reports: Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations — a discredited practice known as conversion therapy. A ban on conversion therapy was passed in 2020 by a state board within the Democratic governor’s administration overseeing licensing for mental health professionals. But …

The Irish Mirror reports: Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has committed to bringing forward plans this year to ban the use of conversion therapy for gay people. Mr O’Gorman, who is gay, previously branded conversion therapy “a cruel process rooted in the promotion of shame”. He said Ireland should join other European countries in banning the practice. “Obviously, legislation takes time …

The Brussels Times reports: Belgium is banning conversion practices – a pseudoscientific practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms – for members of the LGBTQ community, announced State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunity and Diversity Sarah Schlitz. “Belgium is a pioneer in the field of LGBTQ rights. Numerous …

Bloomberg News reports: Mexico’s Senate voted to prohibit and criminally punish so-called conversion therapy, which is used to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The legislative reforms ban any therapy or treatment used to “impede, restrict, diminish, annul or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, identity or gender expression,” the Citizens Movement political party said in a …

Charleston’s ABC affiliate reports: On Monday night, Huntington City Council voted to ban conversion therapy in city limits for children under 18. Huntington joins Charleston, Morgantown and Wheeling as the other cities in West Virginia to outlaw the practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender. These are practices that have been considered abusive by medical and mental …

The Greek Reporter reports: Greece banned conversion therapy, or a widely criticized method of attempting to change one’s sexual or gender identity, for minors on Wednesday. The bill, which passed in parliament, will impose hefty fines and even prison terms on psychologists and other mental health professionals who conduct conversion therapy on LGBT minors without their explicit consent. Additionally, advertising …

The New Zealand Herald reports: Parliament has passed a bill in its third reading that will ban conversion practices, such as those attempting to change people’s sexuality and/or gender. The bill passed with 112 MPs in favour, including all those from Labour, Act, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori. Eight National MPs opposed the bill. It was an emotional …

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 …

The CBC reports: A majority of Conservative MPs today voted to remove Erin O’Toole as party leader, paving the way for another leadership race only 18 months after the party finished the last one. The result wasn’t particularly close: 73 of the 118 MPs on hand — the party’s caucus chair, Scott Reid, did not cast a ballot — voted …

The Associated Press reports: France has a new law that bans so-called conversion therapies and authorizes jail time and fines for practitioners who use the scientifically discredited practice to attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people. The National Assembly approved the new law unanimously, voting 142-0 on Tuesday evening. The legislation includes criminal penalties for …

Reuters reports: France’s parliament voted on Tuesday to ban so-called conversion therapy, joining a handful of countries that have taken steps to outlaw practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the French legislation, people offering LGBT+ conversion therapy could be jailed for up to two years and fined 30,000 euros ($33,810), with even tougher …

CTV News reports: Conversion therapy will soon be banned across Canada, after the Senate agreed to the expedited passage of Bill C-4 on Tuesday. After multiple attempts to pass legislation banning the harmful practice failed in recent years, the bill has now cleared both the House of Commons and Senate without changes, in just over a week. Once it receives …

The CBC reports: The federal government’s updated bill to ban the practice of conversion therapy has been adopted unanimously by the House of Commons. MPs voted to fast track Bill C-4 on Wednesday afternoon. The Commons erupted in applause after the vote and several Liberal MPs walked across the floor to shake hands with and — in some cases — …