The state has become the tenth U.S. state to do so.
Earlier this month, a bill known as SB 5722 was sent off for approval to Washington’s governor, Jay Inslee. The bill prohibited the use of gay ‘cure’ therapy on minors.
Thankfully, Inslee has approved the bill, and Washington has become the tenth U.S. state to ban the practice. The law is set to come into force in June of this year.
The other nine states that have banned the practice are New Jersey, California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New Mexico, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Nevada.
And sixteen others state are currently considering bans on the discredited practice. These states are Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
However, even though the practice is still legal in most of the states, certain cities like Cincinnati in Ohio or Miami in Florida have banned the practice.
The president of the Human Rights Campaign, Chad Griffin, praised the passing of the legislation saying: “No child should be put through the dangerous and abusive practice of conversion therapy.
“Medical professionals agree this harmful and discredited practice not only doesn’t work, but can also have life-threatening consequences.
“We thank the many advocates, allies, parents, and survivors who spoke out against conversion therapy and urged their elected officials to adopt these crucial protections.
“We also thank Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature for enacting this legislation to protect LGBTQ youth.”
Earlier this month, the EU voted to condemn the practice, and urged all of its member states to ban it.
The text that the EU adopted reads: “[The European Parliament] welcomes initiatives prohibiting LGBTI conversion therapies and banning the pathologisation of trans identities and urges all Member States to adopt similar measures that respect and uphold the right to gender identity and gender expression.”
Latest
