A Virginia state lawmaker says he will bring a bill before the 2015 General Assembly aimed at banning gay-to-straight conversion therapy on LGBT youth.
The announcement by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington County) comes just days after a controversial billboard was erected along a Richmond interstate by a group that supports the practice.
“There’s is no on/off switch for sexual orientation, and putting this bill in is necessary to send that message,” said Hope.
The bill would prohibit licensed healthcare professionals from performing the controversial therapy (also referred to as “reparative therapy) on minors.
Hope says “ex-gay,” or conversion therapy, is based on the false assumption being gay is a mental disorder.
Proponents of the treatment argue that bans limit freedom of speech, and infringes on the rights of parents to treat their children as they see fit.
But Hope, and the medical community, disagrees.
Lawmaker responds to anti-gay billboard with bill to ban ‘ex-gay’ therapy for minors – LGBTQ Nation
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