The Australian Capital Territory’s Legislative Assembly voted Aug. 27 to ban conversion therapy.
The legislation was based on a 2018 report by LaTrobe University which interviewed 15 survivors of conversion therapy. At least 10 organizations in Australia and New Zealand were advertising their practice of conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy survivor Chris Csabs recalled his church-based therapy in Canberra. “We are cautiously optimistic about the legislation, it’s got a lot of positive points to it. It affirms that LGBTQIA+ people are not disordered.”
The territory’s attorney general, Gordon Ramsay, is also a Christian minister.
“I have led congregations and communities of faith where people have sought refuge after being subjected to conversion therapies that have been done in the name of the church and even at times in the name of God,” Ramsay told the Assembly. “There is an insidious and clandestine manner in which these practices are carried out, mostly against children,” he said.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
Ottawa, Ontario, Mayor Jim Watson has asked the city council to denounce conversion therapy and demand federal reintroduction of a bill banning the practice nationwide.
The mayor’s motion is expected to be debated in early September, according to CBC News.
If the mayor’s motion is passed, Watson will write to the prime minister and attorney general, asking that Bill C-8, which would amend the federal Criminal Code to outlaw conversion therapy, be reintroduced to Parliament.
No Conversion Canada is leading efforts to ban conversion therapy across Canada.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
Socially distanced survivors and advocates listen to testimony during Kentucky informational hearing to ban conversion therapy (Credit: Mathew Shurka)
Legislation to ban conversion therapy for minors in Kentucky got its first hearing Aug. 25, as the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations heard strong support for a ban from Republicans as well as Democrats.
Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, a Republican, shared that she was inspired to protect youth from conversion therapy after watching the movie Boy Erased. She said well-intentioned people were misguided to support the practice and urged other legislators to learn more about the real harms caused by conversion therapy. “People who are subjected to this kind of torture are seven times more likely to commit suicide,” she said.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
Marriage equality rally in Brisbane (Credit: Shutterstock)
The northeast Australian state of Queensland outlawed conversion therapy this week when State Parliament voted 47-41 to approve health legislation, according to the Star Observer.
Queensland is home to more than five million Australians. Its capital city is Brisbane.
While the ban protects both minors and adults, survivor-led groups SOGICE Survivors and Brave Network say the law does not go far enough, as it omits care that occurs in unlicensed settings.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
In a demonstration of bipartisan unity, Rep. Kim Banta has become one of four Republicans currently cosponsoring efforts in Kentucky to ban conversion therapy.
This week, Banta penned an op-ed in The River City News in support of protecting Kentucky LGBTQ youth from abuse by mental health providers. Banta wrote:
As a Republican, the Mental Health Protection Act has my full support because it deliberately protects the rights laid out in our constitution: including freedom of religion. The bill proposed specifically prevents only state-licensed providers from engaging in conversion therapy with minors. This bill does not restrict religious leaders from counseling youth and families on this subject. It does not criminalize, or even prevent, Christian pastors and other religious leaders from discussing the morality and church teachings surrounding same-sex attraction or gender identity. Nor would it prevent parents or guardians from having similar conversations with their kids or grandkids. What this bill does is protect families from predatory therapists who would seek financial gain with false hope. It protects the safety and well-being of Kentucky’s children.
As a former principal, I know that adolescents struggle with so much in their lives. Shaming, blaming, or telling them they can change something that comes so naturally to them is proven to be emotionally and mentally harmful – especially when it comes in the guise of state-sanctioned medical advice. I have also read the personal accounts of kids who went through this legal form of child torture, these kids indicating they were physically and emotionally abused by people who take advantage of parents in a time of need. Just as it is our responsibility to help fellow Kentuckians get through the COVID-19 crisis, we have a responsibility to help struggling Kentucky kids through a much more personal and internal crisis of their own.
Banta’s op-ed reflects values of family and liberty, of which we invite much more, throughout the Republican Party.
Banta joins Republican state Sens. Alice Forgy Kerr, Julie Raque Adams, and state Rep. Jason Nemes, alongside more than 30 Democrats, in opting to put the health and safety of LGBTQ youths and their parents before partisan politics.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
In a first for Kentucky, a legislative committee will consider a ban on conversion therapy at an informational hearing Aug. 25, when survivors, LGBTQ-affirming clergy, and a bipartisan array of allies make their case to the state legislature’s Interim Joint Licensing and Occupations Committee. Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky is leading the educational campaign, with help from state and national organizations and Born Perfect.
The remarkable success of the Kentucky campaign is a testament to the growing bipartisan support for protecting youth from these harmful practices. In this polarized political era, the national campaign to stop this public health crisis is not only the single most successful legislative effort in the LGBTQ movement, but one of the few bright spots showing that politicians on different sides of the aisle can still come together to address important social problems.
The two pending bills in Kentucky would protect minors from nearly 70 known licensed therapists who practice conversion therapy in the state. The bills are sponsored by Democratic Rep. Lisa Willner and conservative Christian Republican Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, and supported by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The legislation would ban conversion therapy by licensed health care providers against children and also against certain adults who are mentally or physically impaired. The ban also would prohibit public funding for conversion therapy.
Born Perfect is the leading campaign to end conversion therapy. We are survivors, lawyers, and policy experts working together to protect LGBTQ+ people nationally and around the globe. Born Perfect is a program of National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
