Iowa Senate votes to ban gay conversion therapy

Iowa mental health professionals would be banned from trying to change the sexual orientation of gay patients younger than 18 under a bill approved on a straight party line vote Tuesday by the Iowa Senate.

Senate File 334 was passed 26-24. All Democrats voted in favor. All Republicans voted no. The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled House, where it will likely be declared dead amid strong opposition from Christian conservatives.

So-called conversion therapy attempts to convert gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals from homosexuality to heterosexuality through prayer and other efforts. It's based on the idea that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity is a choice.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, urged support for the bill, saying lawmakers were seeking to prohibit a discredited practice.

"I am heterosexual, and I would hate to go to a therapist who would try to convert me to be gay," said Bolkcom, adding that the legislation would send the message to Iowans that "being gay is OK."

Most major medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, have denounced the practice of conversion therapy. The Senate bill's supporters include the Iowa Psychiatric Society, Iowa Medical Society, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund, the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, and One Iowa Education Fund.

Christian conservatives who are against the legislation say parents are best suited to make medical decisions for their children. The bill's opponents include the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Iowa Catholic Conference.

The Iowa bill mirrors bans that have already passed in California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. A New Jersey state court recently upheld the ban there on the basis that conversion therapy constitutes consumer fraud.

Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, spoke against the bill, saying the most important issue is one of choice.

"There may be parents and minors who desire this kind of counseling, and should we deprive them of that choice, particularly if they want to go to a licensed professional?" Garrett said. "I believe we ought to leave this choice up to the parent and the minors involved. If they do want it, it should be their right."

Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who is openly gay, said conversion therapy has a "dark history" that he described "as the worst kind of child abuse" in the history of gay and lesbian people. Such therapy can provoke guilt and anxiety in children and lead to suicide and drug abuse, he added.

"I urge my colleagues today to stand on the right side of history," McCoy said.