Yesterday, the Oregon House voted 41-18 to protect youth from dangerous, discredited “conversion therapy,” which aims to change one’s sexual orientation or suppress a person’s gender identity or expression. Bend Representative Knute Buehler advocated to prohibit conversion therapy on minors and voted yes on the legislation.
House Bill 2307, the Youth Mental Health Protection Act, will prevent licensed medical care providers from practicing “conversion therapy” on youth under the age of 18.
During committee hearings, legislators heard numerous stories from people who survived these practices in their youth. This harmful “therapy” is based on the idea that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is a mental illness that needs to be cured—which puts youth at risk for serious harms such as depression, substance abuse and suicide.
“We’ve heard from many people who underwent attempts at conversion in their youth that left them with lifelong scars for themselves and their families,” says Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland), who carried the bill on the floor. “The attempts at conversion left these individuals feeling ashamed of their identities, and ashamed they were not able to cure themselves.”
“HB 2307 is a bill with a simple message to Oregon’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth,” Rep. Nosse continued. “And that message is this: ‘There is nothing wrong with you.’”
“Conversion therapy” has been discredited by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the American School Counselor Association.
The bill will now head to the Senate for consideration.
Representative Buehler Advocates to Prohibit Conversion Therapy on Minors
Would ban the discredited procedure that attempts to convert homosexuals
Testimonial from Knute Buehler
Salem, OR – Today the Oregon House is considering HB 2307, a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors. Representative Knute Buehler, who was the only Republican to vote for HB 2307 on the Health Care committee, spoke in support of the bill and banning this harmful practice. Here is a copy of his statements.
“Colleagues, each day I come to this grand building and work hard to be worthy of the inclusive campaign I ran which avoided narrow political labels. Some days I do better than others. However, today I am confident we have the opportunity to make a difference by ending a practice of psychotherapy that should have long ago been outlawed – so called conversion therapy.
Oregon should ban this fraudulent practice. Conversion therapy is based on the deeply flawed premise that because of your sexual orientation – you must have a mental disorder and be in need of professional help. Of course, we know that idea is not only ridiculous – but incredibly offensive. In fact, what both academic and medical research has shown – and personal testimony confirms – is that conversation therapy itself can cause incredible emotional and mental trauma to people, particularly young people in the process of coming to terms with their own sexual identities.
As a physician and someone who has supported marriage equality and civil rights for our minority communities, I see banning conversion therapy as another step forward on the road to civility, equality and understanding in Oregon. It’s another step in the journey to forming a more perfect union. I urge all my colleagues, and especially my libertarian minded Republican colleagues, to cast a vote against this discredited practice and in favor of sound science and sound medicine. Just as important, this is a vote for tolerance and the recognition that all men and women are created equal, regardless of how they come into this world and regardless of who they choose to love.”
I urge you to vote yes on HB 2307.
