A petition that calls for the ban of gay conversion therapy for Orange County minors was launched this past week, backed by organizations like The Trevor Project, and Equality Florida.
Conversion therapy is a practice that, historically, tries to change someones’ sexual orientation through a variety of tactics but mostly rooted in behavioral modification techniques like aversive conditioning; like presenting same-sex erotic imagery and then applying electric shock or nausea-inducing drugs.
National health organizations around the world, as well as in America, have denounced sexual orientation change efforts as ineffective, risky, and possibly very harmful to those undergoing the process.
Conversion therapy is banned in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illiniois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and a number of counties and territories, including Puerto Rico.
All the above bans are limited to therapy for minors and most of them were imposed as the result of a lawsuit or class-action.
A local rally will be held at Stonewall Bar on August 15 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and will include speakers from the Zebra Foundation, Orlando Youth Alliance, and Alan Chambers, the former president of Exodus International; an Orlando-based conversion therapy group.
You can click HERE to sign the petition.
