SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council has unanimously passed an ordinance to bar the practice of “conversion therapy” to try to make young LGBT people straight.
The measure proposed by Councilmember M. Lorena González passed unanimously August 1.
It will punish licensed medical or mental-health professionals with fines up to $1,000 for using the form of talk therapy for minors to ‘treat’ same-sex attractions. It will also put into effect misdemeanor charges for advertising the service.
Five states and the District of Columbia have taken steps to ban mental-health counselors from engaging in the practice with minors. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, have also banned it.
