Tag Archives: ex-gay torture

The Associated Press reports: The state’s Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board barred conversion therapy in December. A month later, the Legislature’s Republican-controlled rules committee voted to temporarily suspend the ban. Republicans brought a bill to the Assembly floor Tuesday that would prohibit the board from enacting any future conversion therapy bans. The GOP opted …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A Tampa ordinance that barred counselors from providing voluntarily therapy to minors who sought to rid their same-sex attractions was ruled unconstitutional by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Thursday’s ruling drew heavily from Otto v. City of Boca Raton, in which the circuit court ruled that similar bans in Palm Beach County and the City …

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court on Monday refused, over the dissents of a group of Republican-appointed judges, to reconsider an earlier order upholding Washington state’s ban on so-called conversion therapy seeking to change minor patients’ sexual orientation or gender identity. A Christian family therapist had urged the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear his challenge to …

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 …

Jezebel reports: The Dr. Oz Show’s website appears to have scrubbed all of its 2012 segments about gay conversion therapy, including a three-part interview with an anti-LGBTQ “reparative therapy” advocate, subsequent interviews with advocates at GLAAD and GLSEN rebutting the pro-conversion therapy segments, and a blog post from Oz about the “debate” around conversion therapy. It’s unclear to whom, exactly, …

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 …

Law & Crime reports: A federal appellate court has upheld the constitutionality of a Washington state law that prohibits therapists from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, ruling that the treatment is conduct, not protected speech. The three-judge panel rejected arguments from the Alliance Defending Freedom that Washington’s 2018 ban on conversion therapy for minors violated …

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 …

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 …

USA Today reports: In an effort to address some of the anti-LGBT bills, the president’s order will call on the Department of Health and Human Services to release new sample policies for states on how to expand access to comprehensive health care for LGBT+ patients. He is also calling on the Department of Education to release a sample school policy …

Reuters reports: A family counselor on Tuesday urged a federal appeals court to strike down a Washington state law banning so-called conversion therapy for minors, a practice that seeks to change a patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity, arguing it violated his right to free speech. Roger Brooks of the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, representing counselor Brian Tingley …

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 BBC reports: The government insists it will ban so-called conversion therapy for gay or bisexual people in England and Wales – but not for transgender people. It comes hours after it had said it would drop plans for the ban entirely. The announcement on Thursday evening that ministers would explore non-legislative routes to stop the practice was criticised by …

Posted today to Franklin Graham’s Facebook page: Criminals for Jesus? Recently, 2,500+ ministers and pastoral workers in the UK presented a letter to the government stating that they were willing to be “criminalized” if a ban on so-called gay and transgender “conversion therapy” was passed into law. These pastors want to share the truth of God’s love and power, and …

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 Associated Press reports: A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers that includes the Republican House speaker announced Monday they were introducing legislation that would for the first time protect gay and transgender people from discrimination by businesses, landlords and employers. The proposal is backed by many business and faith leaders, but opposed by a powerful social conservative group. Even with …