The Colorado Senate on Monday approved
a bill that bans therapies that attempt to alter the sexual
orientation or gender identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth.
Such therapies go by names such as
“conversion therapy,” “reparative therapy,” “sexual
orientation change efforts” or “ex-gay therapy.”
According to local outlets, the bill
cleared the Senate with a 21-13 vote, with three Republicans joining
Democrats in favor of it. Similar bills had previously died in the
Senate.
The bill now heads back to the House,
which approved it in February, for a vote on amendments in the
Senate. The measure is expected to clear the House. Governor Jared
Polis, the nation's first openly gay elected governor, is expected to
sign the bill into law.
(Related: Jared
Polis, first elected gay governor, hopes to inspire LGBT youth.)
One Colorado Executive Director Daniel
Ramos cheered passage.
“It is my sincere hope that, with
this being the fifth time this measure has been introduced in the
Colorado legislature, this will be the year Colorado says ‘no more’
and bans a practice on minors that is based on the false claim that
being LGBTQ is a mental illness that needs to be cured,” Ramos said
in a statement. “This is a critical step that affirms that Colorado
continues to be a state for all.”