Illinois Governor Signs Sweeping Law Banning Gay Conversion Therapy

On Thursday, Illinois became the fourth state in the country to ban gay conversion therapy on minors — controversial practice of attempting to "cure" a person's sexual orientation through counseling or behavior modification.

The Illinois law cites the harmful psychological and health effects that come from "reparative" attempts to treat someone's sexual orientation as a disease, such as an increased risk of suicide, anxiety, and substance abuse. It makes it illegal for health providers to offer the counseling to those under 18.

"Illinois has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harms caused by sexual orientation change efforts," read the text of the state's Youth Mental Health Protection Act.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed the bill into law on Thursday.

Related: Judge Says Gay Conversion Therapy Is Consumer Fraud in Groundbreaking Ruling

"This archaic form of so-called treatment is based on an outdated and flawed philosophy that greatly increases the risk of suicide and mental anguish to the children who are forced to participate," State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. "I join a coalition of professional mental health organizations in applauding the passage of the bill."

California, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, DC have also passed similar measures outlawing the practice. But the new law in Illinois is unusual in that it states that gay conversion therapy violates the state's consumer fraud act and allows people who have been subject to the practice to seek action against the provider.

Conversion therapy is based on the belief that homosexuality is caused by something that went wrong developmentally and can be treated in some way, Sam Wolfe, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center who helped coordinate victim testimony for the Illinois law, told VICE News. He called it "an offensive model that really strikes at the dignity of LGBT people everywhere."

New Jersey paved the way for linking gay conversion therapy to consumer fraud in a groundbreaking ruling in February. A judge found an organization guilty of committing fraud and ordered it to pay a $70,000 fine to four former clients because it falsely claimed that homosexuality was a disease.

Related: New Jersey Jury Decides That 'Gay Conversion Therapy' Is a Fraud

The Illinois law is part of a sea change surrounding attitudes toward gay conversion therapy that began nearly 20 years ago. In 1997, the American Psychological Association passed a resolution opposing reparative therapy, stating that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and attempting to "cure" it poses serious ethical issues.

Supporters of gay conversion therapy are generally conservative and religious groups whose members believe that homosexuality is a choice that can be reversed with concerted efforts such as prayer or behavior modification, like exposure to heterosexual sex. This theory has been repeatedly disproven by a majority of psychologists and by scientific evidence.

In April, the White House called for an end to the practice, in response to a petition, saying that it was not "medically or ethically appropriate." At least 18 other states have introduced similar legislation outlawing gay conversion therapy this year.

Photo via Flickr