Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill into law on Tuesday that bans LGBTQ+ conversion therapy on minors statewide.
This therapy technique as defined in the law includes "any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender."
"Conversion therapy sends the harmful message that there is something wrong with who you are. No one should be made to feel they are not okay the way they are—especially not a child. I'm proud to sign this ban into law." — Gov. Northam to CBS 6
Under the law, organizations who practice conversion therapy on those under age 18 will become subject to disciplinary action under the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
The law does not impact therapists who counsel on topics such as social support for LGBTQ+ identifying minors or sexual identity exploration.
»RELATED: Atlanta mayor urges state to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy
Conversion therapy is a highly controversial technique that has been discredited by the American Psychological Association.
An estimated 698,000 adults have had the therapy, over half of which were teenagers, according to the William Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
While the APA acknowledges that some religious groups see homosexuality as “developmental defects or spiritual and moral failings,” therapy techniques have not been shown to be effective in reversing same-sex tendencies.
"The American Psychiatric Association does not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed, and efforts to do so represent a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment which have not been scientifically validated and by undermining self-esteem when sexual orientation fails to change. No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation; nor, from a mental health perspective does sexual orientation need to be changed." — APA 2013 statement
Minors are especially vulnerable, according to the Human Rights Campaign, and research has shown that conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness and suicide.
Virginia is the first southern state among the 20 states that currently have laws about conversion therapy to ban the therapy.
»MORE: Palm Beach County is first to ban conversion therapy in Florida
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms published a resolution last April calling for state legislation restricting conversion therapy.
"State-sanctioned practices that inflict persecution and suffering on LGBTQ individuals — particularly young people— should end immediately. Simply put — we cannot and should not endanger the well-being of the LGBTQ community for living their truth." — Mayor Bottoms
House Bill 580 was introduced to the Georgia House of representatives in March 2019 to ban conversion therapy, drawing on the emotional testimony of a Norcross resident whose parents took him to a conversion therapist at 15.
No action on the bill has been noted in about a year on Georgia Legislature records.
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