North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has signed an executive order barring state funds from going to doctors and organizations that practice gay conversion therapy.
Tweeted Cooper on Friday: “Conversion therapy has been shown to pose serious health risks, and we should be protecting all of our children, including those who identify as LGBTQ, instead of subjecting them to a dangerous practice. Today, Gov. Cooper signed Executive Order No. 97 to help protect LGBTQ children in North Carolina from the harmful practice of conversion therapy.”
“It wasn’t immediately clear Friday whether any state money goes toward funding the practice,” The Herald Sun reported. “Cooper’s order instructs the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to make sure it’s not sending any state or federal funds to people or organizations that use conversion therapy.:
Said Kendra R. Johnson, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Equality NC, in a press release: “No child should be told that they must change their sexual orientation or gender identity. We’re grateful that Gov. Cooper agrees. We are committed to ending this debunked practice and will work for statewide protections.”
