All LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) California teens no longer have to worry about mental health providers attempting “reparative” therapies aka practices that look to change sexual orientation or gender identity.
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a historic bill (Cali’s the first state to do so!) banning these measures. "Conversion" therapies include a range of techniques that include counseling, shock therapy and in extreme cases – exorcism.
"This bill bans non-scientific 'therapies' that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery," Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle [1].
Senate Bill 1172 [2] will become effective January 1, 2013.