Greece bans LGBTQ conversion therapy

A huge rainbow flag is seen in front of the parliament building throughout a gay delight parade in Athens, Greece June 10, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas

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ATHENS, Could 10 (Reuters) - Greece on Wednesday banned conversion therapy for minors, a observe aimed at suppressing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and which the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and trans community worldwide, in addition to well being consultants, have condemned as harmful.

Beneath the invoice, which Greece's parliament permitted, psychologists or different health professionals want an individual's explicit consent to perform such treatment and face fines and a prison time period if they violate the regulation.

The federal government has drafted a national strategy that runs till 2025 on reforms promoting gender equality in Greece, a largely conservative country. Canada, New Zealand and France criminalized conversion remedy earlier this year.

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"There were some false therapies that acknowledged that when a minor has chosen a different sexual orientation, his parents could supposedly proceed with 'therapies' for this baby to 'return to normality'", Well being Minister Thanos Plevris informed parliament this week.

"Obviously these treatments not solely will not be a remedy but they are not supported scientifically," the minister mentioned.

The invoice additionally bans advertising such practices.

Plevris added that Greece additionally plans to ban surgical procedures on intersex infants and infants born with atypical chromosomes that affect their reproductive anatomy in a means that does not fit with the normative definition of male or female.

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Reporting by Renee Maltezou Editing by Invoice Berkrot

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