Friend –

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve had a big breakthrough in the South! Today North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed an Executive Order to ensure that no taxpayer dollars are used for “conversion therapy” for minors, including North Carolina Medicaid and North Carolina Health Choice. 

This makes North Carolina the first Southern state to establish a state-level policy protecting youth from “conversion therapy,” the abusive (and nearly unanimously discredited) practice of licensed mental health providers attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Youth who endure the practice can face electroshock treatment, institutionalization, or ‘counseling’ services designed to shame them out of being who they are. 

Earlier this year the Campaign for Southern Equality teamed up with Equality NC to launch a statewide campaign to end conversion therapy in North Carolina. We worked with lawmakers to introduce, for the first time in NC, a bill to protect minors from “conversion therapy” and it now has 35 co-sponsors. Together, we built up a robust grassroots coalition of faith leaders, mental health providers, LGBTQ organizations, and child welfare advocates. We blanketed the state with press, sending an affirming message of love and support to LGBTQ youth. We connected hundreds of supporters with their state representatives to urge them to support this bill.

Today, we saw the impact of that momentum: Governor Cooper’s Executive Order has created tangible and immediate change for LGBTQ kids in North Carolina. 

Now our campaign with Equality NC enters its next phase. There’s lots of work to do to pass a statewide law that bans ‘conversion therapy’ – and we need your help to fuel that work. Can you join us in celebrating today’s big victory and support this work moving forward? Click here to donate, and every dollar will go toward growing and expanding efforts to protect NC kids from the harms of “conversion therapy.”

Thank you,
Allison Scott
Director of Policy & Programs, Campaign for Southern Equality

P.S. Want to get plugged in directly in the campaign to end ‘conversion therapy’ in NC? Click here to sign up for updates from Protect Our Youth NC.