CNN
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Michigan’s Democratic-controlled state legislature gave final approval this week to a pair of bills that would ban so-called conversion therapy for minors, joining other blue-chip states in advancing protections for LGBTQ community this legislative session.
The state Senate voted largely along party lines Tuesday to advance a ban on “conversion therapy,” a scientifically discredited practice aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation. The bills, which passed the state House earlier this month, now head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who signed a executive directive in 2021 which blocked the use of federal and state funds for conversion therapy in minors.
CNN has reached out to Whitmer’s office to ask what action he plans to take on the legislation.
If Whitmer signs the bills, Michigan will become the 22nd state to ban conversion therapy, according to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth. In April, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, signed that ban into law.
House Bill 4616 prohibits mental health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy with minors. Under the bill, any violation will result in the mental health professional facing disciplinary action, which could include a suspended or revoked license.
House Bill 4617, meanwhile, seeks to add the definition of conversion therapy to the state’s mental health code. It defines the term as “any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including but not limited to efforts to change behavior or gender expression or reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward a person of the same gender.”
The bills will take effect 90 days after the governor signs them.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, applauded Michigan lawmakers for passing the bills, which they called “critical.”
Sarah Warbelow, Vice President of Legal at HRC, he said in a statement Tuesday that “no one should live in fear of being subjected to the discredited and dangerous practice.”
“While it’s unfortunate that this practice has been allowed to go on for so long, today’s passage is just one more example of how Michigan is moving quickly toward being a more inclusive and safe state for people LGBTQ+,” Warbelow continued.
LGBTQ rights have become a hot topic in state legislatures across the country as Democratic and Republican lawmakers seek to push opposing bills that advance or reduce protections.
Earlier this week, Arizona Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs signed an executive order banning state resources from being used to support conversion therapy for minors. And in Michigan, where Democrats now control the governorship and both houses of the legislature for the first time in roughly four decades, Whitmer signed an invoice Earlier this year, it expanded the state’s Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination against “sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.”
