A bill protecting all Californians regardless of age from so-called “ex-gay therapy” passed the state’s assembly by a massive margin this week, 50-18. The legislation, introduced by assembly member Evan Low and cosponsored by human rights groups Equality California and the Trevor Project, would declare the practice a fraudulent practice in California and has the support of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the California Psychological Association, and numerous other groups:

Low, who is gay and leads the Legislature’s LGBT caucus, said the therapy is harmful and those who are defrauded by people advertising or selling the therapy should have legal recourse. “This is a very personal issue to me,” the Campbell Democrat said. “This notion that we would accept as a legal practice that conversion therapy works is antithetical to my very existence in this body.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), “if enacted, California would join Illinois and Connecticut in explicitly making ‘conversion therapy’ subject to consumer protection laws. California was the first state to enact legislation protecting LGBTQ minors from the abusive practice in 2012.” That legislation was introduced by then-state Senator Ted Lieu, who is now a U.S. congressman.

So-called “ex-gay therapy” is torture, and the practice has been discredited by numerous professional health groups. “There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of ‘reparative therapy’ as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation,” the American Psychiatric Association (APA) said in 1997.

In fact, the practice further damages already vulnerable populations. “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great,” the APA continued, “and include depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.”

According to HRC, “Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Washington all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this abusive practice. In addition, the Maryland state legislature recently passed similar protections and the legislation awaits Governor Larry Hogan’s signature.”