COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two Democratic state lawmakers in Ohio are using this week’s Transgender Day of Remembrance as an opportunity to push their bill seeking a ban on therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation of minors.
State Reps. Denise Driehau of Cincinnati and Debbie Phillips of Albany held a news conference this week to draw attention to legislation they introduced in June.
Driehaus said conversion therapy can hurt children struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity. Philips said “no child should be forced to change who they are or how they feel.”
Jody Davis, a transgender woman who underwent the therapy as a youth, said at the event that the process didn’t help but “reinforced my self-hatred.”
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A Transgender Day of Remembrance will be observed nationally on Friday.
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