x
Breaking News
More () »

Proposed bill will make Arizona 10th state to ban gay conversion therapy

Democratic State Senator Sean Bowie is trying to get a bill passed that would make Arizona the 10th state in the nation to bar mental-health professionals from practicing conversion therapy.

Critics say it only makes things worse.

Conversion therapy is the official name for "treatment" that aims to turn someone who is homosexual, heterosexual.

Democratic State Senator Sean Bowie is trying to get a bill passed that would make Arizona the 10th state in the nation to bar mental-health professionals from practicing conversion therapy, with methods like psychological or spiritual interventions.

“For anybody out there that thinks they can pray this away or convert this away that’s wrong, and this is an example of a protection we are putting in place for these young people.”

Bowie recently introduced the bill he says is going to save lives within the LGBT community.

Already mainstream medical and mental health organizations reject the practice as dangerous and actually does more harm than anything.

“LGBT youth have higher rate of suicide depression and anxiety," Bowie said.

But these negative effects don’t represent the entire “conversion” experience says California and Texas-based therapist David Pickup.

"There is no proof of harm," Pickup said. "In fact, if people will just look for themselves - they don''t have to believe me - they can go to page 82 and 83 on the American Psychological Association's report on sexual orientation change efforts, and in their conclusions on those pages, they say there is no proof of harm."

The bill still has to make it through the legislative process, but Bowie says in a recent poll a majority of Arizonans support it.

Across the United States, at least nine states and more than two dozen municipalities have banned conversion therapy, including Pima County who approved a ban last year.

Before You Leave, Check This Out