Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a
Democrat, on Thursday called therapies that attempt to alter the
sexual orientation or gender identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth “torture.”
Such therapies go by names such as
“conversion therapy,” “reparative therapy,” “sexual
orientation change efforts” or “ex-gay therapy.”
Omar made her comments at a rally at
the state Capitol steps in support of a Minnesota bill that seeks to
prohibit conversion therapy to minors. The rally was part of
OutFront Minnesota's seventh annual Youth Summit.
“Had a blast speaking at the
@outfrontmn Youth Summit,” Omar tweeted. “LGBTQIA+ rights are
human rights!”
According to the AP, Omar called such
therapies “torture” and said that they should be banned across
the United States.
As a member of the Minnesota House, the
freshman congresswoman co-sponsored a similar bill.