Sen. Chenette statement on Senate conversion therapy vote

AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate voted against an amendment that would legalize some forms of conversion therapy in a vote of 19-15 on Tuesday. The amendment alters the intent of the original bill, LD 912, “An Act To Clarify the Scope of Practice of Certain Licensed Professionals Regarding Conversion Therapy,” which sought to ban the practice of conversion therapy in Maine.

In response to the vote, Sen. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, released the following statement:

“I don’t have the luxury of talking about this bill in the abstract. It’s real for me because keeping conversion therapy legally on the books is personally offensive to every fiber of my being. The issue before us is about basic human decency and the ability to recognize another human being’s worth in this world. It is unconscionable why we would even debate whether or not to permit this barbaric practice of trying to unsuccessfully convert people—people like me.

Conversion therapy is anything but therapy. It assumes from the get go, that something is wrong with the individual and that someone needs fixing. It assumes you want and need fixing.

Supporting a bill to ban conversion therapy would not only protect Maine kids from direct psychological abuse, but also sends a message to all the kids in Maine struggling with their identity, that they aren’t weird or inferior—they are exactly who they were put on this earth to be: themselves.”

Sen. Justin Chenette was the youngest, openly gay legislator in the nation and state when he was first elected to the Legislature in 2012.

LD 912  was ultimately tabled for reconsideration and faces additional votes in the Senate.

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