{"id":222917,"date":"2019-04-06T15:56:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?p=222917"},"modified":"2019-04-06T15:56:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:56:54","slug":"supermajority-of-nc-republicans-and-democrats-support-protecting-lgbtq-youth-from-conversion-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?p=222917","title":{"rendered":"Supermajority of NC Republicans and Democrats Support Protecting LGBTQ Youth from ‘Conversion Therapy’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
For Immediate Release<\/strong>
April 1, 2019<\/strong>James Michael Nichols | Equality NC | james@equalitync.org<\/a> | 919-829-0343
Adam Polaski | Campaign for Southern Equality | adam@southernequalitync.org<\/a> | 610-306-7956 Supermajority of NC Republicans and Democrats Support Protecting LGBTQ Youth from ‘Conversion Therapy’<\/strong> New poll shows massive bipartisan support for protecting minors from conversion therapy.<\/em> RALEIGH <\/strong>\u2013 New polling data affirms that an overwhelming majority of North Carolinians from every political affiliation support preventing licensed medical professionals from conducting so-called \u201cconversion therapy\u201d on LGBTQ minors and disabled adults.

A February 2019 poll conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by Equality NC and the Campaign for Southern Equality, found that a supermajority of Republicans (87%), Democrats (75%) and Independents (78%) support protecting North Carolina\u2019s young people from conversion therapy<\/strong>. Click here to access PDFs detailing this polling data in English and Spanish.<\/a>

Overall, 80% <\/strong>of all polled respondents immediately stated that they think \u201cconversion therapy\u201d purporting to change a person\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity should be illegal on children under 18<\/strong>. Of the remainder who initially disagreed or had no opinion, more than half changed their mind <\/strong>after better understanding what the practice of \u201cconversion therapy\u201d entails.

Conversion therapy has been rejected by every leading professional medical and mental health association in the country, who have declared it unnecessary, ineffective, and dangerous to an individual’s health and well-being. Tactics of the practice can include inducing nausea, vomiting, or paralysis while showing the patient homoerotic images; providing electric shocks; and using shame to create aversion to same-sex attractions. The devastating and long-lasting harms often lead to severe depression and even suicide. An estimated 700,000<\/a> Americans have endured \u201cconversion therapy\u201d in their lifetime, with half of these receiving the treatment as minors.

This profound display of bipartisan support comes on the heels of legislators introducing The Mental Health Protection Act <\/strong>(HB516\/SB426), which would protect LGBTQ minors and disabled adults from \u201cconversion therapy.\u201d The life-saving legislation, introduced March 28 in the North Carolina General Assembly, is supported by Born Perfect NC<\/a>, a grassroots statewide campaign from Equality North Carolina and the Campaign for Southern Equality that is backed by a coalition of clergy, mental health organizations, faith groups, child welfare advocates and civil rights organizations.

\u201cRepublicans and Democrats agree, it is time to protect North Carolina\u2019s children from so-called \u2018conversion therapy\u2019 practices,\u201d said Equality NC<\/strong> Executive Director Kendra R. Johnson<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s rare that we find bipartisan support around an issue in North Carolina, but I think we can all agree that we want the safest and healthiest future for our children.\u201d

\u201cThe overwhelming bipartisan support demonstrated in this poll reflects the reality that people across North Carolina understand that no one can change something as fundamental as their sexual orientation or gender identity,\u201d said Allison Scott,<\/strong> Director of Policy and Programs for the Campaign for Southern Equality<\/strong>. \u201cWe know that support for the Mental Health Protection Act will keep growing because it protects our kids and just makes sense.\u201d

The poll was conducted among 807 voters in North Carolina between February 6-7 by Public Policy Polling.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
###<\/em>Equality NC<\/a> is dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) North Carolinians. www.equalitync.org<\/a><\/em>Based in Asheville, NC, the Campaign for Southern Equality<\/a> works for full LGBTQ equality across the South. Our work is rooted in commitments to equity in race, gender and class.www.southernequality.org<\/a><\/em>Born Perfect NC<\/a> is the campaign to protect young people across North Carolina from “conversion therapy” and send the message that LGBTQ youth should feel safe, supported, and affirmed.www.bornperfectnc.org<\/a><\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Immediate ReleaseApril 1, 2019James Michael Nichols | Equality NC | james@equalitync.org | 919-829-0343Adam Polaski | Campaign for Southern Equality | adam@southernequalitync.org | 610-306-7956 Supermajority of NC Republicans and Democrats Support Protecting LGBTQ Youth from ‘Conversion Therapy’ New poll shows massive bipartisan support for protecting minors from conversion therapy. RALEIGH \u2013 New polling data affirms that an overwhelming majority of North Carolinians from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-222917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-latest-news","8":"without-featured-image"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"carolina","author_link":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=222917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=222917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=222917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinarainbownews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=222917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}