Yahoo News 'Gay conversion therapy' ban: French parliament working on law to outlaw controversial practice
Politicians in France have started working on a law that would outlaw the practice of “gay conversion therapy”.
Its parliament is holding hearings this week on a draft bill that could become law by early next year.
It seeks to ban practices which attempt to “cure” homosexuality.
Last year, the British government announced plans to ban “gay conversion therapy” in the UK.
If implemented, the law would ban any procedure that would alter someone’s physical or mental health.
It could come with sentenced of up to two years in prison and a £27,000 fine, it was reported by France Inter.
This week’s hearings focus on “practices claiming to alter a person's sexual orientation or gender identity”.
They will include input from LGBTQ+ groups, the National Council of French Evangelicals and victims of the therapy.
Politicians want to combat the rise of so-called “conversion therapy” in France.
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Two French MPs have proposed the bill - Laurence Vanceunebrock-Mialon from president Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche party and Bastien Lachaud from the far-left France Insoumise party.
MPs will examine the claims of two Christian groups: Courage and Torrents of Life.
On its website, Torrents of Life says “confusion and breaks in our relational and sexual identity can lead us into sin and make us incapable of loving”.
It claims to “help homosexual Christians, who feel uncomfortable in their identity, to find resources in Jesus”.
People can pay the group up to £270 to spend a week of “restoration” in the countryside.
Last year, the EU published a document calling on all member states to ban conversion therapy.
