Illinois is the fifth jurisdiction to ban gay conversion therapy for minors and the first to include language linking conversion therapy to consumer fraud.
Illinois became the fourth state and the fifth jurisdiction to ban gay conversion therapy for minors, after Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed HB 0217 on Thursday. California, New Jersey, Oregon, and the District of Columbia also have laws banning the practice on minors, but the Huffington Post notes that the new Illinois law is the first to include language linking conversion therapy to consumer fraud.
“Our version of this legislation is the most comprehensive bill in the nation, barring health providers from engaging in this practice and affording survivors access to consumer fraud action against the perpetrators of this abuse,†Rep. Kelly Cassidy, an openly gay member of the State House and sponsor of the bill, said in a statement on her website. She continues by explaining, “Every major scientific organization has dismissed conversion therapy as harmful.â€
The American Psychological Association, and numerous other organizations have denounced the practice of “converting†or “repairing†a person’s sexual orientation, and have noted that the debunked treatment has the potential risk of depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior. Other groups against reparative therapy include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Counseling Association, and many others.
People celebrated the passing of the new law on twitter.
Even President Obama called for an end to gay conversion therapy earlier this year in response to a White House petition brought after the suicide of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen from Ohio. Alcorn, 17, left a note explaining her conservative Christian parents forced her to undergo conversion therapy in order to change her sexual orientation and gender identity.
The 2014 documentary, Kidnapped for Christ, exposed the unthinkable crimes that occur when children are sent to a Christian behavioral modification program for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. The film focuses on American teenagers who are kidnapped and sent to a school in the Dominican Republic against their will so that their behavior can be “modified.â€
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns people to “avoid any treatments that claim to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation, or treatment ideas that see homosexuality as a sickness.â€
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Image by gpaumier via Flickr and a CC license