Reps. Kupchick & Devlin Vote to Stop Conversion Therapy on Youths

From the Connecticut General Assembly: A legislative proposal banning conversion therapy on youths was supported by the State Reps. Brenda Kupchick and Laura Devlin in the House of Representatives.

The bill, HB-6695, An Act Concerning the Protection of Youth from Conversion Therapy, would prohibit any licensed professional from engaging in conversion therapy with a person under the age of eighteen in Connecticut. The bill currently has over 100 members of the General Assembly as introducers and/or co-sponsors, including Rep. Kupchick and Rep. Devlin.

Conversion therapy is a controversial psychological treatment or counseling designed to change a person's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual.

“The legislation protects young people from those who engage in conversion therapy. This is a practice that has been strongly discredited by the medical community and frankly causes psychological harm.” said Rep. Kupchick.

Rep. Devlin said, “Conversion therapy harms rather than helps youth who may already be struggling with societal and family stigma about their identity. Attempting to convert someone's identity further heightens the stigma and trauma increasing the risk of long lasting damage to these individuals.”

According to the American Medical Association which opposes conversion therapy, there are no professional standards or guidelines for how it is conducted.

According to a 2004 article in the British Medical Journal, early treatments in the 1960s and 70s included aversion therapy, such as shocking patients or giving them nausea-inducing drugs while showing them same-sex erotica.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have declared that clinicians should be aware that there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be altered through therapy, and that attempts to do so may be harmful. There is no empirical evidence adult homosexuality can be prevented if gender nonconforming children are influenced to be more gender conforming. Indeed, there is no medically valid basis for attempting to prevent homosexuality, which is not an illness. On the contrary, such efforts may encourage family rejection and undermine self-esteem, connectedness and caring, important protective factors against suicidal ideation and attempts.

Currently, six states have already banned conversion therapy on youths: California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey and New York.

Image via the Connecticut General Assembly