California becomes first state to ban gay therapy

California bans gay therapy on teenagers

wikipedia-Marco Gomes

California becomes the first US state to ban therapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight. 

The ban was signed on October 1 by California Governor Jerry Brown, who said that sexual orientation change efforts "have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery".

The law prohibiting sexual orientation 'cures' on children younger than 18 marks a crucial victory for gay rights advocates who claim that the therapy has no medical basis as homosexuality is not a disorder. The opponents of the therapy also claim that it can cause depression and, in many cases, lead to suicide.  

"LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being," a gay rights advocate commented on the signing of the ban.