Utah Finally Banned Subjecting LGBTQ+ Children To Harmful 'Conversion Therapy'

Utah has finally banned the discredited and harmful practice referred to as conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday (January 22). The move makes Utah the 19th to formally adopt legislation to protect children from the practice, which has been denounced by most medical agencies and is defined by GLAAD as “any try to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”


“It’s major,” Mathew Shurka, a survivor of conversion therapy and the co-founder and chief strategist of BornPerfect, a crowd that works to end conversion therapy nationwide, told MTV News.


Activists like Shurka hope that the move will lead other states to follow suit, according to the AP, given that Utah is one of the most conservative states to ban the practice for now. Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, instructed them AP that this ban has “really given people a lot of hope.” According to the UCLA Williams Institute, about 350,000 LGBTQ+ children nationwide have been subjected to the practice.


For his part, Shurka is heartened by the fact that opposition to conversion therapy is becoming a non-partisan supply. “If you look at the right now 19 states, including Utah, eight of these governors [that] signed and passed those laws are Republican,” Shurka mentioned, adding that Utah signing this measure into law is a “huge turning point.”


One of the original sponsors of the bill, HB0399, was Republican Representative Craig Hall; he mentioned in a statement that the ruling will “truly save lives,” according to the AP.


Utah legislators first introduced HB0399 in February 2019 and went through a couple of revisions before it was signed into law by Utah Republican Governor Gary Herbert. “The stories of youth who have endured these so-called therapies are heart rending, and I’m grateful that we have noticed a way forward that will ban conversion therapy forever in our state,” Herbert mentioned in November 2019, according to The Hill. “I’m grateful to the several stakeholders who came to the table in good faith, with never-ending patience.”


The measure prohibits licensed mental nutritionists from engaging in the practice however does not prohibit parents, clergy members, or religious counselors who are not acting “in the capacity of a health care professional.”


“People have freedom of speech and have their opinion,” Shurka explained. “But we're attempting to keep the integrity of what it means to be a licensed professional.”


The vote came soon following the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints, known also because the Mormon church or the LDS church, officially voiced support for the measure, the AP announced. Most of the Utah state legislature and around two-thirds of these living in the state are Mormon, so the church carries a large amount of power here, according to the AP. In October 2019, the LDS church noted on their website that they’ve routinely opposed conversion therapy, adding that their “therapists don't practice it.”


However those announcements were deeply scrutinized, in part because of the church opposing a version of the bill that didn’t let for religious exemptions, the Associated Press announced at the time. As a result, they pressured state legislators to rework the ban categorize in attempt to let therapists to continue counseling children about prioritizing their religion above their sexuality, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. This, they contend, isn't conversion therapy, as their therapists don't “seek to ‘repair,’ ‘convert,’ or ‘change’ sexual orientation.”


Although the Mormon church has a long history of homophobic policies. According to TIME, the LDS church has imagined that sexuality would be changed for decades, influenced in part by a 1969 book, Miracle of Forgiveness, written by the church’s then-president. In it, he described LGBTQ+ sex as a “crime against nature” and argued that sexual orientation would be prayed away. Researches at Brigham Young University, which is owned by the church, allegedly used conversion therapy tactics in the 1970s, TIME announced. Last year, they reversed a 2015 policy that banned the baptism of children whose parents were LGBTQ+, without prior approval from church leadership, according to the AP and TIME; the church still opposes same-sex marriage.


Still, the passage of HB0399 is giving desire to activists championing bans all over the nation. “This is a hopeful day for Utah’s LGBTQ+ youth, and we’re grateful to the leadership of Equality Utah and others on the ground who have been working tirelessly to prepare this day a reality,” Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “Now, we have to continue to push for laws and regulations in each state and jurisdiction In America, so that no youth will be forced to endure this dangerous practice anymore.”