The Seattle City Council yesterday unanimously approved an ordinance protecting youth from “gay conversion therapy.”
The Seattle ordinance provides for a fine of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for any violation after that, The Advocate reports. There will also be misdemeanor charges for advertising conversion therapy. Seattle becomes the 10th jurisdiction to enact such a ban, joining California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and Miami Beach, Fla.
The ordinance bars licensed health care providers from subjecting anyone under 18 to “ex-gay” therapy.
“Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or transgender is not an illness,” said Councilmember Lorena González, the ordinance’s chief sponsor, when introducing it, The Advocate report continues. “Nor is it something that needs a cure.”
