The EU committed for the first time to seek a ban on conversion therapy as part of a new LGBTQ equality strategy European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to pursue in her second term.
The EU is following in the path of countries including Ireland and the UK, which have moved to ban conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to change an LGBTQ child’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. The issue has also become a politicized fight in the US — where similar bans have been subject to lawsuits, including ones that have been appealed to the Supreme Court.
Kim van Sparrentak, a lawmaker and co-president of the European Parliament’s LGBTIQ+ intergroup, welcomed the EU’s move. “I can’t wait until our community is protected from these torturous practices,” van Sparrentak said. “We are not sick, and we do not need to be fixed.”
Gosc101 on
That is a good thing. Even if a minor “consents” to such therapy we all understand it is not his choice, but his parents really. Indeed we shouldn’t perform any arbitrary medical procedures on minor related to their identity.
So, um, should we include ban on convertion of minors to different gender as well.
BubsyFanboy on
Wait, it wasn’t banned before?
Well, anyway, glad that they’re tackling this now.
3 Comments
*From Bloomberg News reporter Max Ramsay:*
The EU committed for the first time to seek a ban on conversion therapy as part of a new LGBTQ equality strategy European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to pursue in her second term.
The EU is following in the path of countries including Ireland and the UK, which have moved to ban conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to change an LGBTQ child’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. The issue has also become a politicized fight in the US — where similar bans have been subject to lawsuits, including ones that have been appealed to the Supreme Court.
Kim van Sparrentak, a lawmaker and co-president of the European Parliament’s LGBTIQ+ intergroup, welcomed the EU’s move. “I can’t wait until our community is protected from these torturous practices,” van Sparrentak said. “We are not sick, and we do not need to be fixed.”
That is a good thing. Even if a minor “consents” to such therapy we all understand it is not his choice, but his parents really. Indeed we shouldn’t perform any arbitrary medical procedures on minor related to their identity.
So, um, should we include ban on convertion of minors to different gender as well.
Wait, it wasn’t banned before?
Well, anyway, glad that they’re tackling this now.