April McCullum

Free Press Staff Writer

MONTPELIER - When Becca Balint began to tell people she was gay, she refused to accept efforts to make her change.

Deep in depression at age 17, Balint asked a school counselor to refer her to a therapist who would accept her sexual orientation.

"It absolutely saved my life," Balint said, "and if it had been handled differently, I honestly don't know if I would be here."

Several years later, she was finally able to tell her parents.

"The first thing my family said to me was, we will take you to a therapist. We will pay for therapy to fix you, essentially," Balint said. She refused.

Nearly three decades have passed, and now Balint, 47, serves Windham County as a Democratic state senator. On Wednesday she joined an overwhelming voice vote to prohibit the practice of conversion therapy that attempts to change the sexual orientation of a person younger than 18 years old.

Lawmakers are unsure whether any Vermont physicians or psychologists participate in conversion therapy, which has been disavowed by national mental health associations and renounced by a key Christian "ex-gay" organization. Senators considered the bill to be a preventative measure.

Balint and other Vermont legislators met Tuesday with the LGBTQ organization Outright Vermont, on the anniversary of the day the House of Representatives approved civil unions for gay couples on March 15, 2000.

The legislators told the high school students that much had changed over 16 years — a shift demonstrated on the Senate floor when Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison, said the conversion therapy ban was delayed in committee because "it was hard to find people who were opposed to it."

Balint said she recognizes that being gay is still unacceptable in many families.

"We're not trying to interfere with you as a parent, but we have a vested interest in keeping kids emotionally whole," Balint said.

Sen. Brian Campion sponsored S.132, saying he wants every child in Vermont to feel the same support that he experienced when he told his family he was gay.

“We want to send the message that this is not a choice," said Campion, D-Bennington, "that we’re here to help you, we’re here to support you, but we are not here to change who you are.”

Oregon, California, New Jersey, Illinois and the District of Columbia have already banned the use of conversion therapy for minors.

Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank