Brown Announces Bill to Ban Conversion Therapy

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced his cosponsorship of the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act -- a bill to ban conversion therapy, condemning it as ineffective and harmful. Conversion therapy or "sexual orientation change efforts" (SOCE) is a practice where a health care provider or counselor seeks to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Brown has helped lead the fight against conversion therapy and, in May 2015, he introduced the Stop Harming Our Kids Resolution of 2015, condemning conversion therapy as and declaring that it should be prohibited from being practiced on minors.

"Conversion therapy has been discredited time and time again," Brown said. "Experts agree that the practice is harmful, and should not be used in health care facilities or counseling centers. We must stand against conversion therapy and the emotional trauma it can cause, especially on young people."

"Families are being torn apart as a result of this therapy," said Alana Jochum, managing director of Equality Ohio. "I believe to protect kids, we've got to be honest: so-called conversion therapy is a scam, and families should not be duped into participating in it."

Laws to ban conversion therapy, in some instances, have been referred to as "Leelah's Law" in remembrance of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teenager from Kings Mills, Ohio, who tragically took her own life in 2014 after being subjected to conversion therapy.

Specifically, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act would classify SOCE illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FCTA), and classify advertising these services or providing them in exchange for monetary compensation as fraudulent, unfair, and deceptive. The bill would also explicitly clarify that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the duty to enforce this provision and would further provide State Attorneys General the authority to enforce it in federal court.

The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Counseling Association Governing Council, and the American Psychoanalytic Association have all found that conversion therapy is neither safe nor effective. This legislation is endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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