Jacob Rudolph, the LGBT teen from New Jersey who came out at a school awards ceremony, testified before a state Senate committee on Monday, calling for a statewide ban on gay-to-straight conversion therapy.
The measure being considered by the state legislature, A3371, would prohibit counseling that seeks to change the sexual orientation for any person under the age of 18.
In testimony before the committee, Rudolph said, “Like every other LGBT person, I am not broken, I am not confused, and I do not need to be fixed.”
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“It is beyond baffling to me that anyone might actually believe that sexual orientation is a lifestyle choice that can be altered if desired.”
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Rudolph had also created a petition at Change.org, calling on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to support the legislation; the petition has received over 112,000 signatures.
The Senate panel advanced the bill by a vote of 7 to 1. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
Earlier this year, during an acceptance speech for being awarded “class actor,” Rudolph stood before 300 classmates to tell them he had “been acting every single day” of his life as “straight Jacob.” Video of Rudolph’s coming out has more than 1.7 million views on You Tube.
