PARIS (Parliament Politics Magazine): A new law prohibiting so-called gay conversion therapy has been approved unanimously by MPs in the parliament of France.
Any citizen who seeks to modify the gender identity or sexual orientation of LGBT+ individuals will face prison sentences and penalties under the new law.
On Tuesday, MPs overwhelmingly endorsed the draft bill. 142 members voted in favour and 0 voted against it. The law had already received Assembly backing in October and was passed in December by the senators.
Anyone who was found guilty of the so-called gay conversion therapy would face a sentence of two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. For attempts towards children or other very vulnerable people, the penalty may be up to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine.
A member of President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party, Laurence Vanceunebrock said that they were sending a strong message by formally rejecting all those who regard a change of identity or sex as a disease.
On Tuesday, almost every French MP who spoke said the same thing: “there was nothing to treat.”
Though “conversion therapies” might already be prosecuted under rules on moral harassment, violence, or unlawful medical practises, the new ban has come forty years after France legalised homosexuality.
The approval of the bill, according to France’s Minister for Equality, Elisabeth Moreno, provides “a clear message” that victims of so-called conversion therapy can now report it more with more ease.
She made a statement last year on the matter saying that being oneself was not a crime, adding that “unbearable attacks on human integrity” were the result of so-called conversion therapy.
“Homosexuality and trans-identity are not curable disorders,” Moreno stated. “There isn’t anything that needs to be cured.”
Other EU countries, such as various Spanish towns, Germany and Malta have already passed laws prohibiting the practise, and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Belgium are considering similar legislation.
