Panelists: - Senator Scott Surovell, Sponsor of Senate Bill 245 and Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
- Delegate Patrick Hope, Sponsor of House Bill 386
- Adam Trimmer, Virginia Ambassador for Born Perfect
- Scott Price, Policy Director for the Alliance for a Progressive Virginia
- Casey Pick, Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Government Affairs at the Trevor Project
Resources Discussed: - Organizations working to ban conversion therapy in Virginia and the US:
- Tell friends and family in other states to text “Trevor” to 40649 to join their "50 bills, 50 states" campaign to ban conversion therapy nationwide.
- Equality Virginia will collaborate with legal experts to create an information sheet answering common questions about the ban on conversion therapy including enforcement, implementation, and what comes next.
- If you suspect a minor has undergone conversion therapy, file a complaint here.
- Video of the subcommittee hearing where Senator Scott Surovell presented SB 245 and advocates shared their testimony.
- The film Boy Erased was recommended as a powerful film that accurately portrays conversion therapy experiences.
- A list of professional healthcare associations that denounce conversion therapy.
- Dozens of former ex-gay leaders have denounced conversion therapy.
Highlights: - The conversion therapy bans were the first pieces of LGBT-friendly legislation signed in 2020, making Virginia the 20th state in the country and the 1st state in the South to do so.
- In 2013, Roland Winston and Victoria Bragunier asked Scott Price for APV to lobby for a bill to ban conversion therapy on minors. In 2014, APV asked Delegate Hope to carry the bill in the House of Delegates and later Senator Louise Lucas in the Senate. In 2016, Senator Surovell started carrying the bill consistently in the Senate. APV also worked with survivors, advocates, and organizations to build a coalition of support.
- In 2018, advocates and lawmakers took the fight to ban conversion therapy to the Health Boards in the Virginia Department of Health Professions, many of which started issuing guidances and regulations banning the practice by licensed providers.
- Senator Surovell brought up the importance of codifying the ban into law since regulations can change more easily. He expressed that coalitions were the key to seeing success.
- Delegate Hope discussed the significance of the multi-year effort to pass this legislation. He also thought that this bill could have passed sooner if allowed to proceed to a floor vote in previous years, rather than dying in subcommittee.
- Adam discussed how many conversion therapy survivors blame themselves for the therapy not “working” in changing their identity. He also underscored the importance of survivors’ stories in advocacy for this legislation, while making sure they practice self-care. He also hopes Virginia will serve as a model for other states in the South.
- Casey explained that the Trevor Project has a "50 states 50 bills" campaign to see conversion therapy on minors banned in every state. Virginia’s victories will inspire other states and inform how they go about this work. There is a big link between undergoing conversion therapy and suicidality and mental health issues.
- It was important for the law to protect LGBTQ minors since they aren’t able to refuse this harmful treatment.
- Moving forward, our panelists wanted to see continued education of conversion therapy’s harm, robust enforcement for the legislation, and efforts to address conversion therapy outside of professional counseling settings.
We hope you will join us for the rest of this series to learn more about the many pro-equality bills that passed in the General Assembly and find out what they mean for the community. Click here to see the schedule, read the descriptions, and register. Registration is free and required to participate. Don’t forget to invite your friends and family too! | |
Please join us in two weeks on Tuesday, April 28, from 12:00-1:00pm, for our next Legislative Lunch & Learn to celebrate legislation empowering transgender people to have updated identity documents. Speakers will include Senator Scott Surovell, Senator Jennifer Boysko, Delegate Marcus Simon, community advocate Julie Williams, and Harper Jean Tobin from the National Center for Transgender Equality. We can't wait to see you! In Solidarity,
All of us at Equality Virginia | |
