While LGBTQ advocates in the U.S. have fought for years for a nationwide ban on conversion therapy — the controversial idea that medical treatments such as electric shock, starvation and hypnosis can “turn” a gay person straight — our neighbors to the North have beat us to it, approving legislation…
Tag: Conversion Therapy
North Carolina Becomes First Southern State to Ban State Funding for Conversion Therapy
Conversion therapy has never been scientifically proven to be effective. In fact, the opposite has happened. Conversion therapy can be mentally, emotionally and even physically damaging. North Carolina is the first southern state to try and bring that area of the country out of the dark ages by banning the…
Maine Bans Conversion Therapy for Minors, State Republicans Say It Is Constitutional Right
Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a law Wednesday completely banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors in the state. In the strong move to protect vulnerable youth from the ineffective, so-called “therapy,” Mills tweeted: “Today I signed into law a bill banning conversion therapy, a widely-discredited practice that has no…
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Stands Up for LGBTQ Youth, Calls for Conversion Therapy Ban
The mayor of Atlanta, Ga., is another U.S. leader fighting to protect LGBTQ people. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is asking state leaders to ban the practice and advertising of LGBTQ conversion therapy, which has been linked to increased suicide rates. Bottoms passed a resolution on Monday asking the state of…
Massachusetts Fights to Protect LGBTQ Youth Against Conversion Therapy
Massachusetts is working to protect LGBTQ youth. On Monday, Governor Charlie Baker signed a law that bans conversion therapy on minors. The new legislation overwhelmingly passed through the state House and Senate in March and it bans Massachusetts health care providers from doing the so-called “therapy” on people under 18….
Education Department Invites LGBT Hate Groups to Event
The Education Department has once again sent the message that it is not inclusive of the LGBT community. A quiet “Engaging Fathers and Families” event took place on Thursday and included speakers from Focus on the Family (FOTF) and Family Research Council (FRC). Politico was the first to report that…
Trump Praises Anti-LGBT Supporters, Still Does Not Recognize Pride Month
President Donald Trump has apparently still not had time to recognize June as LGBT Pride Month. But last week he found time to say thank you to groups of his anti-LGBT supporters. Trump delivered remarks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference, at which he was labeled…
Bill Seeks to Ban Harmful Conversion Therapy Nationwide
A bill introduced in Congress this week would ban the harmful, widely discredited practice known as “conversion therapy” across the country. The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 calls conversion therapy “an unfair or deceptive practice” that has been largely rejected by “professionals in education, social work, health, mental health…
Hate Group Senior Fellow Named Trump's Domestic Policy Adviser
President-elect Donald Trump last week named Ken Blackwell — a man with a long anti-LGBT history — his domestic policy adviser. Blackwell is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council (FRC), classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group that “often makes false claims about…
You Can Still Be Fired For Being Gay In Most States
The nation erupted in celebrations this weekend after the Supreme Court’s announcement that same gender marriage is now legal in all 50 states, prompting the trending topic #LoveWins to explode all over social media. But despite this monumental victory for the LGBT community and allies alike, a lot of work…