Democrats on Tuesday introduced a bill
that would ban therapies aimed at altering the sexual orientation or
gender identity of a person who identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender.
Introduced by Washington Senator Patty
Murray, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 is nearly
identical to a bill introduced last year by Democrats and shelved by
Republicans.
“The Trump Administration has laid
out a hateful, damaging agenda to undo hard-won progress, divide our
communities, hurt our friends, neighbors, and family members just
because of who they are or who they love,” Murray said in a
statement.
The
bill makes it “unlawful” for any person “to provide
conversion therapy,” or claim in an advertising that “such
efforts are harmless or without risk to individuals receiving such
therapy,” or “to knowingly assist or facilitate the provision of
conversion therapy to an individual if such person receives
compensation from any source in connection with providing conversion
therapy.”
Democrats, however, appear divided on
the issue. With only 22 co-sponsors in the Senate, fewer than half
of the chamber's Democrats have signed on. Backers include Senators
Cory Booker, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren and Al
Franken. Similar legislation in the House has 67 Democratic
co-sponsors, or slightly higher than a quarter of Democratic
representatives.