New Hampshire passes bill banning ‘gay cure’ therapy for minors
The Republican-controlled state made history last week after passing a bill introducing protections for transgender people
New Hampshire has just passed a bill banning conversion therapy.
The US state made history last week after it became the first Republican-controlled state to pass a bill introducing protections for transgender people.
And now the state has passed a second bill to ban gay ‘cure’ therapy for minors. House Bill 587 is set to ban “persons licensed to provide counselling services to propose to engage or engage in conversion therapy with a person under 18 years of age.”
State governor Chris Sununu has confirmed he will sign the bill, making New Hampshire the thirteenth state to ban the controversial practice after Hawaii and Maryland.
Hawaii is set to ban the practice on July 1 with Maryland following on October 1. Meanwhile, New Hampshire’s ban will only come into effect from January 1, 2019.
Speaking about the news, JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights Campaign’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs, said: “Children across the Granite State deserve to live their lives authentically and should never be subjected to the abusive practice of so-called conversion therapy.
“This dangerous practice has no basis in science and is uniformly rejected by every major medical and mental health organisation in the country. We thank the state legislators who voted to protect LGBTQ youth. Governor Sununu now must sign this crucially important legislation.”