More than 36 Bay State lawmakers have signed a pledge with fellow elected officials around the world calling for a ban on conversion therapy.
Joining State Rep. Jack Lewis, who spearheaded the Bay State officials’ participation in the pledge, according to a MassLive.com report, are Mass. House Speaker Ron Mariano and State Sens. Becca Rausch, Cindy Friedman, Jo Comeford and Jason Lewis. The complete list of names won’t be announced until a June 2022 formal declaration, and more lawmakers may be signing on since the MassLive count last week.
“I urge elected officials at all levels of government to join me in pledging to ban the barbaric practice of conversation therapy across our country and world,” MassLive reported Rep. Lewis tweeting on Nov. 22.
Reports MassLive:
The Global Equality Caucus’s new campaign, called Ban Conversion Therapy Now!, aims to outlaw practices that are psychologically and physically harmful to members of the LGBTQ+ community. Conversion therapy, according to the caucus, is an umbrella term for attempts to “change, suppress or divert one’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”
“So far only four countries have outlawed it entirely, and many legal loopholes exist in countries where legislative bans have not been introduced,” the caucus states. “We need legislators and elected officials to act.” …
[Mass. House Speaker Ron ] Mariano, in a tweet Thursday morning, noted that Massachusetts legislators voted to ban conversion therapy in 2019. That ban prohibits licensed health care providers from offering conversion therapy to minors — but it doesn’t address conversion therapy for adults or pastoral counseling.
Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. now have laws protecting youth from conversion therapy, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
The pledge is an initiative of the Global Equity Caucus.
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