Connecticut Governor Danial Malloy [official website] on Wednesday signed [press release] into a law a measure to ban gay conversion therapy. House Bill 6695 [text] was passed by the legislature to end the practice of using various measures in order to force people to disavow their same sex orientation. The Governor immediately signed the bill to stop the controversial practice.

At a time when we see harassment increasing against anyone perceived as being different, at a time when we see the rights of our friends and neighbors being threatened by the national government, at a time when we see LGBTQ youth turning to suicide at record rates, to remain silent is to be complicit…This legislation is about protecting children and teens who have been forced to undergo this so-called therapy, despite the fact that it is not supported by any medical evidence and its only proven results have been harmful, destructive, and lasting…

LGBT rights are still discussed in the global legal context. The US Supreme Court in May declined to hear [JURIST report] an appeal challenging California’s 2012 ban on “gay conversion” therapy. Nigerian prosecutors in Kaduna in April charged [JURIST report] 53 men for celebrating an LGBTQ wedding in violation of the state’s law against ‘unlawful assembly’ and the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups urged [JURIST report] UN Secretary General in March to investigate alleged abuse against LGBT people in Chechnya. The Nebraska Supreme Court in April upheld [JURIST report] a lower court decision overruling the state of Nebraska’s long-time ban on same sex partner foster parenting.