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UPDATE: Puerto Rico Has Banned Conversion Therapy on Minors

Puerto Rico Pride

An executive order makes the ban go into effect immediately.
 

MikelleStreet

UPDATE (3/27/2019): Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rossello has today issued an executive order banning conversion therapy for minors, effective immediately according to The Advocate.

ORIGINAL (3/21/2019): The governor of Puerto Rico said Wednesday that he would sign an executive order banning conversion therapy on minors.

"As a father, as a scientist and as the governor for everyone in Puerto Rico, I firmly believe that the idea that there are people in our society who need treatment because of their gender identity or whom they love is not only absurd, it is harmful to so many children and young adults who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," governor Ricardo Rossello said in a press release according to Washington Blade. The governor who received a Ph.d. in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan and has won awards for his stem cell research, added that conversion therapy has "zero scientific basis and causes significant damage," during a press conference.

Though Rossello has not set a date on signing the executive order, the announcement comes shortly after Rossello's own party blocked a vote in the territory's House of Representatives that would have done the same. The move adds Puerto Rico to a growing list of local governments who have signed similar legislation. In January, New York State became the 15th state to ban conversion therapy, joining the likes of Connecticut, California, Illinois, and New Mexico.

Conversion therapy is a widely debunked theory wherein a series of discredited practices are used to presumably change or alter someone's sexual orientation or gender expression. It has resulted in depression, drug use and suicide amongst minors. In 2018, widespread conversation about the discredited theory was resurfaced in films like Boy Erased and The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which made it a landmark year for the anti-conversion therapy movement.

RELATED | Former Mormon Conversion Therapist Comes Out as Gay

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.