Gov. Peter Shumlin signs S.132 on Wednesday, a bill that bans conversion therapy. Photo by Jasper Craven/VTDigger
Amid a national debate over rights and rules regarding the LGBTQ community, Vermont has become the fifth state to outlaw conversion therapy, a practice aimed at changing a person’s sexual or gender identity.
“It’s absurd to think that being gay or transgender is something to be cured of,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday in signing S.132. “At a time when the rights of LGBT individuals are under attack in other parts of the country, Vermont will continue to stand up to hatred and bigotry and show the rest of the country what tolerance, understanding and common humanity look like.”
Shumlin signed the bill into law on the steps of the Statehouse, surrounded by legislative leaders who have long fought to protect the civil liberties of gay, bisexual and transgender Vermonters.
Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, sponsored the bill. Another longtime leader for LGBTQ rights in the state, Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, attended the signing ceremony.
“Every Vermont youth is precious,” Lippert said. “And this bill helps give them that message and helps keep them in Vermont — safe, healthy and productive — the way they deserve to be.”
The bill bans conversion practices on any Vermonter younger than 18. Any medical professional found to have violated the law could face discipline, including the denial of a medical license.
Shumlin and other proponents of the bill pointed to a 2015 study from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that “found that variations in sexual orientation and gender identity are normal, and that conversion therapies or other efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity are not effective, are harmful, and are not appropriate therapeutic practices.”
Vermont follows California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, D.C., in banning the controversial practice. The law goes into effect July 1.
Though Shumlin said officials aren’t aware of any therapists using conversion therapy in the state, he signaled that new protections are necessary during a time when other states are scaling back civil rights.
“You literally have governor after governor who is trying to find every way they can to undo the work of the United States Supreme Court, to take away people’s rights and to find ways to turn the clock back,” Shumlin said. “It’s astonishing to me.”
The most recent high-profile instance came in North Carolina in March, when the Legislature passed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which says that, in government buildings, people may use only the restrooms and changing rooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates.
After the so-called bathroom bill generated national headlines, Shumlin banned official state travel to North Carolina and called the legislation “an absolute disgrace.”
The Vermont Agency of Education issued guidelines in March for public schools over how to approach transgender issues.
“Schools must determine supports for transgender and gender nonconforming students on a case-by-case basis, informed by the individual student’s needs,” the guidelines read.
The state guidelines faced some backlash from students, including at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester. The New York Times wrote about protests that arose there after a transgender student used the men’s bathroom. Some students wore shirts that read “Straight Pride.”
Melissa Murray, executive director of the advocacy group Outright Vermont, said Wednesday that Vermont offers many legal protections for LGBTQ Vermonters, and she hoped the state’s guidelines for transgender bathroom use could be enhanced through legal protections.
“One of the issues we see coming up time and again — both locally and federally — is the issue around access to bathrooms for trans folks,” Murray said. “I would love to see Vermont taking a leadership role to do something statewide to make sure that trans youth, in particular, are free to pee.”
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