This past weekend, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is joining four other states in announcing several regulations that will discourage the practice of conversion therapy. This therapy is aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice has been denounced by many leading scientists, gay rights activists and medical groups including the American Psychological Association; but it is still being perpetrated on many young adults. The American Psychological Association states, “such efforts [conversion therapy] have serious potential to harm young people because they present the view that the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth is a mental illness or disorder, and they often frame the inability to change one’s sexual orientation as a personal and moral failure.” The Association explains the side effects of conversion therapy as, “The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.”
Governor Cuomo has decided to take action against this type of therapy because, in his opinion, “Conversion therapy is a hateful and fundamentally flawed practice that is counter to everything this state stands for. New York has been at the forefront of acceptance and equality for the LGBT community for decades -- and today we are continuing that legacy and leading by example.”
These measures come on the heels of President Obama’s address in April about the cruelty of conversion therapy on youth. Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor in the White House made this statement, “As part of our dedication to protecting America's youth, this administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors." She also said the President’s stance on this issue comes from the therapy’s, “potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer youth.”
Cuomo’s list of regulations, suggested by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), will require health care providers to ban covering this practice. It also restricts Medicaid from paying for conversion therapy. The State Office of Mental Health, which oversees many health care facilities, will require these facilities to prohibit the practice on anyone under the age of eighteen. While there may be some negative feedback about these regulations from religious and anti-gay groups, Governor Cuomo’s office feels positively that the lack of funding and financial incentives will be enough to effect serious change in New York.
Governor Cuomo encouraged the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2011. Just last fall the Governor promoted a list of protections for transgender people. For all of Governor’s work in the queer community he was presented with the HRC’s National Equality Award on Saturday, February 6, 2016. Cuomo continues to champion the rights of LGBTQ+ citizens. HRC President Chad Griffin told CNN this, “With leaders like Governor Cuomo, we're on our way to putting an end to conversion therapy."
With a city like New York taking on the charge of eliminating conversion therapy, the hope is that cities across the nation will rise up and take action as well. Because as Governor Cuomo said, “We will not allow the misguided and the intolerant to punish LGBT young people for simply being who they are." A truth that becomes clearer every day in the fight for equal rights.
