A bill banning ‘gay cure’ conversion therapy has been proposed under Mike Pence’s name
A lawmaker in the US has introduced a law which intended to ban conversion therapy under Mike Pence’s name.
Patrick Burke, a legislator for Erie County has a designed a bill titled the Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment, which is PENCE for short.
Currently just five states, including Washington D.C, prohibit the practice outright.
The bill challenges Pence’s views, as the vice president elect has been a long supporter of the damaging conversion therapy which aims to ‘cure’ people of homosexuality.
In 2000 he openly supported the practice of changing sexual orientation and gender identity of LGBT minors through conversion therapy.
The legislator is trying to raise awareness about Pence’s past of anti-LGBT views before he gets into the White House in January.
Burke said: “Mike Pence is probably going to have the most power of any vice president in the history of our country and he has openly advocated for conversion therapy.
“I want that to sink into people. I want them to realise it’s a serious issue of abuse of children flatly, whether they are gay or not, it’s abuse, then you have a man who is going to have enormous power over all of us, who advocates for it.”
“This practice has no business in our society and really the idea of trying to sexually desensitise children is disgusting and distributing,” he added.
Burke’s bill is due to be debated next year but has faced opposition on the grounds that conversion therapy isn’t practiced in Erie county.
Republican lawmaker Josep Lorigo said: “There has been no use of this technique anywhere in Erie County.
“I am 100 percent opposed to this brand of ‘therapy,’ but I am also opposed to attempting to legislate every single issue we can think of, especially a law banning something that has never actually happened in Erie County.”
