This week I reintroduced legislation that would bar licensed mental health providers from engaging patients under 18 in sexual orientation change efforts, which are sometimes known as conversion “therapy.” Since the legislature gaveled out last spring, New Jersey and California passed groundbreaking legislation banning this so-called “therapy” and now is the time for New York to do the same. This practice has been thoroughly discredited by experts, including the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. Please click here to see a recent Wall Street Journal article on our efforts to protect our state’s children from this practice.