Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday passed an executive order seeking to “discourage” conversion therapy in Pennsylvania, calling the controversial practice that attempts change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity a “junk science” that negatively harms LGBTQ people across the commonwealth.
The executive order comes comes amid a surge of anti-gay rhetoric and sharpened attacks on LGBTQ people nationally, where Republican-dominated legislatures are seeking to roll back constitutional protections in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
“We have a crisis here,” Wolf said. “Political attacks on LGBTQ communities are not happening in a vacuum — they’re happening in our towns and they’re happening in our schools...and they’re causing horrific consequences for the mental health of a whole generation.”
