The vote comes
only about a week after Canada approved a ban on it.
Conversion
therapy is a harmful and discredited practice attempting to change a person’s
sexuality or gender identity. The practice has been condemned by the American Medical Association and other leading
medical and mental health groups around the world.
The country’s
ban prohibits “practices, behaviors, and repeated statements with the intent of
modifying or repressing a person’s real or perceived sexual orientation or
gender identity, and having the effect of a material alteration to their mental
or physical health,” according to French news site The Connexion.
France’s
legislation would jail anyone for up to two years for offering LGBTQ+
conversion therapy. They’d also face a $33,810 fine, according to The Thomson Reuters Foundation. The outlet reports that
sentences would be tougher if minors or vulnerable adults were found to have
been involved.
Parliament’s
lower house, the National Assembly, voted unanimously for the bill in October,
and its upper house, the Senate, voted 305 to 28 for the bill on December 7.
The houses agreed to the wording of the legislation on Tuesday.
French
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sign the law. It should be introduced
by February, reports The Connexion.
“Very happy
with this agreement,” French Equalities Minister Elisabeth Moreno wrote on
Twitter. “No, being yourself is not a crime.”
European
Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, who is gay, tweeted his thanks to members
of parliament who voted for the bill. He added that he was “proud of this
agreement.”
The country
joins a growing list of nations that have banned conversion therapy, including
Brazil, Ecuador, Germany, and Malta.
Twenty
states in the U.S. have banned the practice for minors. Five
states have partial bans on it, while three states are prevented from enforcing
a ban due to a federal injunction.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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