White House supports banning conversion therapy for minors
“This Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.”
— Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, responding to a petition on the White House website which called for a ban on all LGBTQ+ conversion therapy — also known as “ex-gay” therapy. The petition was inspired by Leelah Alcorn, a trans teen who committed suicide after her parents forced her to attend conversion therapy and isolated her from society. The petition collected 120,958 signatures since its posting in January this year.
“This Administration believes that young people should be valued for who they are, no matter what they look like, where they’re from, the gender with which they identify, or who they love,” Jarrett added in her official response.
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