Michigan bans conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth

The discredited practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth is now banned in Michigan under two pieces of legislation signed Wednesday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Michigan’s House Bill 4616 bars mental health care providers from engaging in conversion therapy with a minor. Violators are subject to disciplinary action and licensing sanctions.

It’s companion bill, House Bill 4617, amends Michigan’s mental health code to define conversion therapy as “any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behavior or gender expression or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward an individual of the same gender.”

Conversion therapy, according to the legislation signed Wednesday, does not include counseling that “provides acceptance, support, or understanding” to an LGBTQ person or that assists a transgender individual with a gender transition.

Both measures, which are set to take effect in October, passed out of the legislature last month in close votes along party lines. Republican state Sen. Mark Huizenga was the only Republican to vote in favor of the bills in the state Senate. Not one Republican backed either measure in the House.

State Rep. Neil Friske, a Republican from northern Michigan, argued on the House floor last month that Democrats’ definition of conversion therapy was too broad, and passing the bills would criminalize providers who are “simply upholding natural law and refusing to buy into the new age left-wing gender schemes.”

Democrats, meanwhile, argued that conversion therapy practices are tantamount to abuse, citing studies from groups including the Williams Institute and the Trevor Project that point to higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicide among individuals who have experienced them.

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Conversion therapy, sometimes referred to as “reparative therapy,” has been denounced by major medical organizations as unscientific, in part because it is underpinned by the false belief that LGBTQ identities are pathologies that need to be cured.

“As a mom of a member of the community and a proud, lifelong ally, I’m grateful that today we’re banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy in Michigan,” Whitmer wrote Wednesday in a post on Twitter. “In doing so, we are taking action to make Michigan a more welcoming, inclusive place.”

Michigan already bans the use of state and federal funding for conversion therapy for minors under a 2021 executive order signed by Whitmer.

Including Michigan, 27 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws that either fully or partially ban conversion therapy for minors. Three states — Alabama, Georgia and Florida — are unable to enforce bans on conversion therapy because of a preliminary injunction that prevents them from doing so.

House and Senate Democrats in June re-introduced federal legislation that would ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ youths and adults nationwide.