You can’t convert the gay away. And Cuomo agrees.
New York’s Governor Cuomo is the first to take executive action to ban coverage of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is any form of psychotherapy designed to force clients to repress or try to remove their innate sexual orientation. It doesn’t work, and it is cruel of the practitioner to think that it will. The Governor’s action also prohibits some major providers from conducting conversion therapy procedures on minors. Full information about the executive action can be found HERE.
“Conversion therapy is a hateful and fundamentally flawed practice that is counter to everything this state stands for,” said Governor Cuomo. “New York has been at the forefront of acceptance and equality for the LGBT community for decades – and today we are continuing that legacy and leading by example. We will not allow the misguided and the intolerant to punish LGBT young people for simply being who they are.”
Both the medical and mental health community has been calling attention to this practice, and the consensus of leaders in the field is that this therapy is beyond harmful. AASECT (American Academy of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists) is one of the organizations that has issued a statement against any reparative and conversion therapies, But in the political arena, despite support from the White House for a Federal ban on the practice, has been slow to pass these prohibitive bills. This is the first time a state has passed patient protections in this area.
I hope this is the beginning of more awareness and legal change in order to prevent these barbaric practices.
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