New York State Bans "Gay Conversion Therapy"

New York State joins the list of states that have banned fraudulent, witch doctor-like "conversion therapy" or "reparative therapy" for those under age 18.  The bogus practice is peddled by the professional Christian crowd and charlatans as both a lucrative money making scheme and to keep the myth alive that gays can "change" their sexual orientation. A bill that would have made conversion therapy illegal in Virginia has been tabled by Republicans in the GOP controlled House of Delegates no doubt at the demands of The Family Foundation, Virginia's leading hate group.  Here are details from Huffington Post:

New York state will bar health insurance coverage of therapy aimed at changing the sexual or gender orientation of young people, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, decrying the practice as "misguided" and "intolerant."

Top U.S. health officials have long discredited so-called "conversion therapy," saying attempts to change lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth are unethical and often harmful.

"Conversion therapy is a hateful and fundamentally flawed practice that is counter to everything this state stands for," Cuomo said in a statement. "We will not allow the misguided and the intolerant to punish LGBT young people for simply being who they are."

As of August 2015, four U.S. states and the District of Columbia have already banned therapies that seek to "convert" minors, according to a report released in October by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Another 21 states and the U.S. Congress have considered or are considering bans, the report said.

Under New York's new regulations, the state would bar private and public health insurers from paying for coverage for conversion therapy to a person under the age of 18.

Additionally, the state's Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to the poor, will not cover the practice, and the New York State Office of Mental Health will prohibit facilities under its jurisdiction from providing the treatment to minors.

Quacks like Michelle Bachmann's closeted husband make fortunes preying on religiously brainwashed gays and/or their parents.  Conversion therapy needs to be banned nationwide and authorities need to crack down on bogus "ministries" that peddle the dangerous lie that one can "pray away the gay."  I tried for 37 years and it is utter bullshit!