Support From An Unexpected Source

Maryland is on the path to pass a law banning Conversion Therapy for minors and support for the bill is coming from both sides of the aisle.

A Republican dramatically came out to pass a conversion therapy ban in Maryland
LGBTQ Nation
By Alex Bollinger
April 5, 2018

Maryland‘s legislature passed a bill that bans licensed mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation and gender identity of minors.

And the debate over the bill brought out a strange story from two politicians.

Delegate Meagan Simonaire (R) gave a speech against the bill, describing how her parents tried to “fix” her by getting her to go to conversion therapy when she came out as bisexual.
[…]
Her father is Sen. Bryan Simonaire (R), and he voted against the bill, and was one of the most vocal defenders of the practice.

“I wonder if Jesus would have been banned if he had been licensed in Maryland,” Bryan said during the debate.

Um… I am by far not a Bible scholar but I don’t seem to remember anything that was written about Jesus’s preaching against LGBT people, to the contrary I remember something about “loving thy neighbor.”

The conversion therapy ban passed the Maryland House of Delegates in a 95-27 vote and the Maryland Senate with a 34-12 vote. All Senate Democrats and two Republicans voted for it, while only Republicans voted against it.

If signed into law, conversion therapy will be classified as “unprofessional conduct” and mental health professionals will be subject to discipline from the state licensing board if caught practicing it.

Connecticut passed a similar law last year and it had bipartisan support in both chambers, in the Senate the vote was 36-0.