Rep. Celia Israel
Austin Rep. Celia Israel filed a bill for the upcoming session of the Legislature to ban reparative therapy in Texas.
“Yesterday, I filed HB 517 to protect LGBTQ youth who need love and support, not conversion,” Israel wrote on Facebook. “Bans on ‘conversion therapy’ are bipartisan and have been upheld in federal court.”
Reparative or conversion “therapy” uses torture to persuade children who are gay or lesbian to become straight. There’s no evidence it has ever worked, but has caused teen suicide. This torment is also used with transgender teens to persuade them to change their gender identity. Again, this is done with no evidence of success.
The bill makes no bones about the danger of the practice of reparative therapy. The intro line reads: “Relating to unprofessional conduct by mental health providers who attempt to change the sexual orientation of a child; providing penalties.”
The bill has no co-sponsors yet.
— David Taffet
