Is Mike Pence being trolled after gay ‘cure’ ban bill is named after him
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A county in New York state appears to have trolled Vice President-elect Mike Pence, by naming a bill to ban gay ‘cure’ therapies after him.
The bill, introduced in Erie County by Patrick Burke, is named the Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment.
Despite Burke not having explicitly stated that the bill is named after Pence, who has in the past supported funding gay ‘cure’ therapies, the acronym for the bill is P.E.N.C.E.
Burke told WKBW: “The overwhelming evidence says that inflicting this phoney therapy on children and adolescents isn’t just medically ineffective, but it is detrimental to a child’s wellbeing.”
“It is time to call this practice what it is, abuse. Kids are exceptionally affectible, and the last thing an LGBTQ+ child needs is to be told that the way they were born is wrong and must be changed.”
A hardline evangelical who has not supported a single LGBT reform across nearly two decades in politics, VP-elect Pence has one of the worst records on equality of any President or Vice President in recent memory.
The Governor of Indiana stirred up international outrage last year when he signed Indiana’s controversial ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, giving businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Pence claimed the law was intended to “protect” organisations from having to provide services for same-sex weddings, saying: “I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier [Indiana citizen] of every faith.
“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack.”
Earlier this year appeared unable to answer when asked whether it should be legal to fire people because of their sexuality.
Governor Pence previously suggested that HIV prevention funding be drained in order to fund state-sponsored ‘gay cure’ therapy.
On a 2000 Congressional campaign website, he wrote: “Congress should support the reauthorisation of the [HIV funding] Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organisations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviours that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behaviour.”
Pence has never walked back the claim.
