LGBT

California Senate approves ban on “gay therapies” for minors

Thursday, May 31, 2012
By: Kaos GL
On Wednesday May 30th, the California Senate approved a bill that would limit the capacity of mental healthcare providers to use corrective treatments, usually referred to as “gay therapies”, on minors.
 
The above-mentioned treatments are generally offered as a way of changing a person’s sexual orientation -from gay to straight- by means of psychotherapy, but have proven to be more detrimental for the person’s mental health in the long run.
 
Senator Ted Lieu, the author of this bill, stated that “being lesbian or gay or bisexual is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not… the medical community is unanimous in stating that homosexuality is not a medical condition”.
 
The bill has been further supported by statement from the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, among others, who recognize that there is no evidence that any type of psychotherapy can change a person’s sexual orientation and these efforts may cause serious and lasting harms.
 
The bill “SB1172” still needs to be ratified by the Californian Assembly and signed by the governor, but Senator Lieu is confident about the outcome. If approved, this kind of treatments on minors would be prohibited independent from the parents or legal guardians wishes.   
 
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