Anchorage has become the first Alaskan city to pass a ban on ‘conversion therapy’. The ordinance, which was passed on Wednesday (26 August) by 9-2, bans medically licenced professionals from performing the harmful practice on people under 18.
The practice – which has been discredited by the NHS and the World Psychiatric Association – refers to any attempt at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and often involves techniques like electroshock therapy or prayer.
The new ordinance will punish those who break it with a $500 fine for every day that they performed it on someone. However, it has not banned clergy who are acting in a religious sense, instead of a mental health sense.