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Utah group aims to ban gay conversion therapy of minors as new research shows harm programs can do

Posted at 5:33 PM, Nov 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-18 22:54:17-05

This weekend, “Boy Erased” hit the big screen, showcasing the efforts of a Christian therapist to convince young gays that their sexual orientation is a choice and that they can rid themselves of it with prayer and devotion to Jesus, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Sunday.

If LGBT advocates in Utah have their way, such efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual — commonly called “conversion therapy” — will become illegal in the Beehive State.

A just-published survey provides supporting evidence of the need.

“We have a piece of legislation on this that we’ve drafted,” Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams said this week, “and it includes concerns about suicide of gay youths.”

Utah then would join more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia in outlawing conversion therapy for minors.

Click here to read the full story from The Salt Lake Tribune.