Good news, Victoria: the state government is making moves to give so-called ‘gay conversion therapists’ the biggest of boots.
Fairfax reports a new push for the foundation of an independent health watchdog, capable of shuttering any unlicensed practitioners who make claims to patients they can’t back up. The so-called Health Complaints Commissioner would be capable of stripping the ability of so-called ‘therapists’ to conduct their work.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy backed up the move, saying they’d be given the right to end the work of anyone “making false claims and to be acting in a manner that puts people’s physical, mental or psychological health, safety or welfare at risk.”
Specifically, Hennessy further clarified the government’s stance on such ‘treatments’:
“We have zero tolerance for any person purporting to be able to ‘covert’ gay people through medical or therapeutic means.
Any attempts to make people feel uncomfortable with their own sexuality is completely unacceptable.”
Community acknowledgement of both the cruelty and inefficacy of such groups has lead to them petering out without government intervention; an advocate against similar groups described the 2014 closure of Living Waters Australia, one of the nation’s largest gay conversion organisations, as a sign “we are near the end,” and that “the tipping point was reached some time ago.”
Still, having an authoritative body to stamp out any remainders would be pretty swell. The ‘treatments’ often contain utterly demoralising components that have been known to drive individuals to self-harm, and even as far as suicide; now, that’s a pathway the government intends to shut off completely.
Source: Fairfax.
Photo: Scott Barbour / Getty.
