A bill banning licensed therapists in the state of Washington from practicing conversion therapy on minors was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee on Wednesday.
The law prohibits therapists from counseling minors in order to change their sexual orientation, gender identity or to eliminate their feelings of same-sex attraction. The law does not limit nonlicensed or religious counseling, Kiro 7 reports.
“We know the scars caused by conversion therapy need to end today in the state of Washington,” Inslee said while signing the bill, according the news station.
Danny Cords, an individual who reportedly attempted suicide after undergoing conversion therapy as a minor, was there Wednesday as Inslee signed the bill into law.
“Yes, absolutely,” it was comparable to torture, Danny Cords said, according to Kiro 7. “Snapping a rubber band on my wrist, putting a rock in my shoe so I could always be thinking of Christ and not everything else that was going on in my brain because of biology.”
“It’s a shame that we’ve gone this far in 2018 and haven’t outlawed this therapy nationally,” Cords added.
Washington joined 10 other states on Wednesday that have laws or regulations banning conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender minors, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
