Ohio State Senator Charleta Tavares
announced Monday that she would back a bill in the Senate that seeks
to ban therapies which attempt to alter a minor's sexual orientation
from gay to straight.
“If they are already questioning
their sexuality, we don't want them to think there is something wrong
with them that needs to be fixed,” Tavares, a Democrat, is quoted
as saying by The
Columbus Dispatch.
California last year approved a similar
bill, though Liberty Counsel, a Christian conservative group, sued to
block its start. Opponents have vowed to appeal a recent loss in
federal appeals court.
(Related: Federal
appeals court unanimously upholds California's “ex-gay” therapy
ban.)
Lawmakers in New Jersey followed
California's lead this year. New York, Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts lawmakers are also debating the issue.
With Republicans disinterested in gay
rights in control of all three branches of government, passage in
Ohio would appear to be a long shot.