A House resolution introduced last week
calls on states to approve laws that prohibit therapies that attempt
to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT youth.
California Representative Jackie
Speier, a Democrat, introduced the Stop Harming Our Kids (SHOK)
Resolution of 2015 on Tuesday.
Two states, California and New Jersey,
plus the District of Columbia, already prohibit so-called conversion
therapy to anyone under 18 years old.
The move comes less than a week after
the Obama administration came out in support of such bans.
(Related: Obama
supports bans on “ex-gay” therapy to minors.)
Speier, a longtime opponents of such
therapies, introduced a similar resolution in 2012.
LGBT advocate the National Center for
Lesbian Rights (NCLR) last year launched its #BornPerfect campaign,
which aims to raise awareness about “the serious harms caused by
attempts to change a young person's sexual orientation or gender
identity.”
“We applaud Congresswoman Speier for
her genuine leadership and commitment to protecting young people and
their families from the dangers of these widely discredited
practices,” NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell said in a
statement. “We are proud to stand with the congresswoman in urging
every state to adopt legislation to ensure that no young person or
vulnerable family is exploited by mental health professionals
peddling devastatingly harmful psychological practices to fix
something in our children that was not broken in the first place.”