Colorado is now the 18th state to ban so-called “conversion therapy” for vulnerable LGBTQ youth, also becoming the second state to take action to ban the practice within the span of a week. Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected governor, signed the legislation into law just one day before the start of LGBTQ Pride Month.
“Colorado has joined a growing list of states that have banned so-called conversion therapy,” he said in a tweet. “It’s a tortuous practice that has long been widely-discredited by medical and mental health professionals.” Advocates who helped pass Maine’s bill last week expressed similar concerns, with Dr. Judith Glassgold, Director of Professional Affairs for the New Jersey Psychological Association, stating that “conversion therapy puts children’s lives at risk.”
But that wasn’t the only step Colorado took that day to protect and ease the lives of vulnerable residents. Polis “also signed a bill making it easier for transgender people to change the gender listed on state-issued documents.” The Denver Post reports that state legislators had spent years unsuccessfully trying to get the bills passed. “What a great way to kick off pride month for 2019,” Polis said.
Other elected leaders expressed hope that these recent pro-LGBTQ victories in Colorado and Maine can spur action on a national level to protect vulnerable youth. “When I was in the [California] State Senate, I wrote the first law in the nation to ban conversion therapy,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu. “Pleased 18 states have now banned this evil practice on minors. Later this month I will reintroduce my bill to ban it nationwide. Progress will not be stopped.”