PROGRESS

Denver Bans Gay Conversion Therapy Aimed at Minors

In a unanimous vote late Monday, Denver’s city council approved Mayor Michael B. Hancock’s proposal to prohibit the practice.

Denver has banned conversion therapy, or the medically-discredited practice of trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In a unanimous vote late Monday, the city council approved Mayor Michael B. Hancock’s proposal to prohibit the practice. Conversion therapy is currently banned in 14 states and the District of Columbia—although municipalities in states like Florida, Ohio, and New York have instituted their own bans in the absence of a state-wide law.

According to Mayor Hancock, Denver is the first jurisdiction in Colorado to bar conversion therapy—and as KDVR reported, Colorado could soon pass its own ban, now that Democrats have a majority in the state Senate. In a press release, Hancock said that the city council’s vote sends a message “that we will never allow our LGBTQ+ youth to be the targets of these dubious practices, and that we are here to support them.”

— Samantha Allen