Bipartisan support helped the Minnesota House of Representatives pass a bill on Monday that outlaws conversion therapy for LGBTQ adolescents and “vulnerable adults.”
The DFL-led chamber voted 81-47 to ban mental health practitioners from giving therapy intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity after hours of at times tearful debate.
Under the proposed regulation, those who practice with children or adults who are vulnerable will be disciplined by a professional licensing board. Physicians generally discredit the practice.
Similar proposals have passed in the Minnesota House several times before but met a wall in the GOP-led Minnesota Senate. With DFL in control of both chambers and the governor’s office, the bill’s supporters said they were hopeful that it will become law this year.
DFL leaders in the Senate have said they support the bill and are set to weigh it soon. And Gov. Tim Walz has said he will sign it if it reaches his desk.
The bill’s supporters, including several lawmakers who are in LGBTQ community, said the proposal was overdue. And they said it was time for the state to prohibit the practice.
“It’s been denounced by every mainstream medical and mental health organization,” said bill author Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul. “It preys on the fears of parents and does irreparable harm to children.”
