gay conversion therapy

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Kentucky Governor Bans 'Conversion Therapy' for Minors

The widely discredited practice 'hurts our children,' Beshear says

(Newser) - Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear banned the use of "conversion therapy" on minors in Kentucky on Wednesday, calling his executive order an overdue step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. The governor took action...

Supreme Court Lets Ban on Conversion Therapy Stand

Law allows Washington state to pull license of a therapist trying to change someone's sexual orientation

(Newser) - A Washington state law prohibiting conversion therapy—treatment intended to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity—will remain in place after the US Supreme Court declined to consider a challenge to the ban. As is usual, NPR reports, the court did not explain its decision. Two lower...

Conversion Therapy Bill in Canada Gets a Unanimous Vote

Controversial practice that tries to change a person's sexual orientation, identity is now banned

(Newser) - Conversion therapy is officially outlawed in Canada. A bill making it a criminal offense to provide, promote, advertise, or profit from conversion therapy—used in an effort to change a person's sexual orientation or identity—unanimously passed the Senate "with little debate and no committee study" on Tuesday,...

Utah Now One of Most Conservative States With This Ban

It's the 19th state to ban conversion therapy

(Newser) - The discredited practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ children is now banned in Utah, making it the 19th state and one of the most conservative to prohibit it. Conversion therapy is a practice used to try to change sexual orientation or gender identity, and many people who have been through...

Mormon Church Not Happy Utah Plans to Ban Conversion Therapy

LDS church wants pending state regulation on minors amended

(Newser) - A state regulation is pending in Utah that would prohibit psychologists from using gay conversion therapy on minors—and on Tuesday night, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement announcing its opposition to the ban. "We teach the right of individuals to self-determination and the...

Conversion Therapy Leader: 'I WAS WRONG!'

McKrae Game asks for forgiveness

(Newser) - McKrae Game came out as gay in June, but his sexual orientation is getting fresh attention, reports the Hill . That's because Game founded and led one of the biggest conversion therapy programs in America until Hope for Wholeness' board fired him in 2017. The program is based in South...

He Practiced 'Gay Conversion' Therapy. Now, a Change

David Matheson comes out

(Newser) - A leading "conversion therapy" practitioner has come out as gay—yet refuses to condemn the practice that's been banned in 15 states and denounced by most major US health associations, NBC News reports. David Matheson, a Utah-based Mormon, revealed his orientation Tuesday on Facebook after being outed by...

$82K Raised for Gay Teen's Tuition After Parents Spurn Him

Seth Owen, co-valedictorian of his senior class, got in to Georgetown, couldn't afford to go

(Newser) - Seth Owen was over the moon when he received what appeared to be the path to his "life goal" of going to college: an acceptance letter from Georgetown University. But the Florida 18-year-old, who was the co-valedictorian of his senior class, had his hopes dashed when he later received...

Toronto Therapist Had Sex With Male Patients

Melvyn Iscove will likely lose his license

(Newser) - A Toronto psychiatrist who considered homosexuality a "disorder" also had sex with male patients in his office—and will likely lose his license over it, Newsweek reports. Melvyn Iscove, 72, has been found guilty of sexually abusing two men who came to him in the 1990s and early 2000s....

BuzzFeed's Piece on HGTV's 'Fixer Uppers' Decried

Kate Arthur took a look at the church Chip, Jo Gaines attend

(Newser) - What HGTV superstars Chip and Joanna Gaines think about same-sex marriage is unclear. Whether they'd bring their Fixer Upper skills to a gay couple is also unclear— BuzzFeed tried to get an answer on the question from the couple's reps and couldn't. So Kate Arthur came at...

Obama: Stop Trying to 'Convert' Gay Youth

White House backs ban on conversion therapy

(Newser) - Therapies that try to "cure" gay or transgender young people are wrong and harmful, and President Obama supports banning them, the White House says. In a statement released in response to a WhiteHouse.gov petition to ban so-called gay conversion therapies, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett says the administration shares...

Texas GOP Backs Gay 'Reparative Therapy'

Other states' bans on conversion treatment a 'freedom issue'

(Newser) - Texas Republicans are officially in favor of "treatment" to turn gay people straight. "We recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle," the party says in its newly approved platform. New...

Christie Sued Over Ban on Gay Conversion Therapy

Couple wants counselor to turn gay son straight

(Newser) - Chris Christie is expected to easily win a second term as New Jersey governor today, but he'll have a fresh lawsuit waiting when he gets back to his desk. A couple is suing the governor for signing a law that bans therapists from trying to turn gay teens straight...

NJ Ban: Therapists Can't Try to Turn Gay Teens Straight

Joins California as 2nd state to outlaw 'gay conversion therapy'

(Newser) - Chris Christie may not have done much bill-signing on Friday, but the same can't be said for today. The AP reports that the governor is set to sign a bill that will prevent licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teens straight. New Jersey will join California as the...

NJ Looks to Ban Gay Conversion Therapy

Would join California as only states to do so

(Newser) - California may soon have an ally in its battle against anti-gay psychological therapy. The New Jersey Assembly voted 56-14 yesterday to ban licensed therapists and social workers from pushing gay and lesbian young people to alter their sexuality, Reuters reports. The state Senate is likely to approve the measure Thursday....

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