You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security.

Skip to main
Press

Arizona Takes Major Step in Protecting LGBTQ Youth

BY: Josh Weaver
Violet Purple Gradient

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arizona just took a major step in protecting LGBTQ youth by being one of the first states to introduce a bill this year to ban the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapists claim to reduce and eliminate the homosexual or bisexual orientation of youth, or force a child to reject their gender identity. Every major mental health professional organization has refuted the practice of conversion therapy as ineffective and potentially harmful. Arizona may soon join the nine states which have passed similar legislation and the more than 30 states which have considered such protections.

As the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth, The Trevor Project applauds the actions of Senator Sean Bowie of the Arizona State Senate for submitting this bill. The Trevor Project frequently receives calls of LGBTQ youth in crisis stemming from their experience with conversion therapy and aims to advocate for the eventual end of state sanctioned conversion therapy across the country via the 50 Bills 50 States campaign.

“With 2018 comes an incredible opportunity to protect thousands of LGBTQ youth from the horrors of conversion therapy” said Sam Brinton, Head of Advocacy and Government Affairs for The Trevor Project. “We look forward to building a strong coalition with Senator Bowie to once and for all remind LGBTQ youth in Arizona that they are worthy of love just as they are.”

If you would like to help The Trevor Project protect LGBTQ youth from the horrors of conversion therapy you can text TREVOR to 40649.

If you’d like to learn more about conversion therapy and the nationwide efforts to end it you can go to our 50 Bills 50 States campaign website: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/50-bills-50-states/.

You can also help support this important work by donating here: www.TheTrevorProject.org/give.

The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people. The Trevor Project offers a suite of 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs, including TrevorLifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat as well as the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, TrevorSpace. Trevor also operates an education program with resources for youth-serving adults and organizations, an advocacy department fighting for pro-LGBTQ legislation and against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric/policy positions, and a research team to discover the most effective means to help young LGBTQ people in crisis and end suicide. If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless or suicidal, our trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at via chat www.TheTrevorProject.org/Help, or by texting to .

Calvin Stowell, Chief Growth Officer

Read more from
Press

Violet Purple Gradient
Press

Montana House Votes Down Anti-Transgender Medical Care Ban, Advances Discriminatory School Sports Ban

Today, The Trevor Project celebrated the defeat of House Bill 113 in the Montana House of Representatives, which would have prohibited licensed medical professionals from providing best-practice medical care to transgender and nonbinary youth. The bill was voted down yesterday during its third reading and then again today when a motion to reconsider failed. However, House Bill 112, which would restrict transgender women and girls from playing on school sports teams at the elementary school to college levels that correspond with their gender identity, continued on its procedural path to the Montana Senate. Both bills were initially passed by the…
Tangerine Violet Gradient
Press

Historic Package of Legislation Filed to Advance LGBTQ Dignity and Equality in North Carolina

Package includes the first-ever bill in North Carolina to protect LGBTQ minors from ‘conversion therapy’ and coincides with launch of Born Perfect NC coalition RALEIGH – In a monumental display of support for LGBTQ people in North Carolina, state legislators today introduced three separate bills that would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people living in every corner of the Tar Heel State. Today’s historic package includes the Mental Health Protection Act, which would protect LGBTQ minors and disabled adults from the dangerous, debunked, and discriminatory practice of ‘conversion therapy,’ which is used legally in North Carolina by…