A huge rainbow flag is seen in front of the parliament building during a gay pride parade in Athens, Greece June 10, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
ATHENS, May 10 (Reuters) - Greece on Wednesday banned conversion therapy for minors, a practice aimed at suppressing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and which the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community worldwide, as well as health experts, have condemned as harmful.
Under the bill, which Greece's parliament approved, psychologists or other health professionals need a person's explicit consent to perform such treatment and face fines and a prison term if they violate the law.
The government has drafted a national strategy that runs until 2025 on reforms promoting gender equality in Greece, a largely conservative country. Canada, New Zealand and France criminalized conversion therapy earlier this year.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register
"There were some false treatments that stated that when a minor has chosen a different sexual orientation, his parents could supposedly proceed with 'treatments' for this child to 'return to normality'", Health Minister Thanos Plevris told parliament this week.
"Obviously these treatments not only are not a therapy but they are not supported scientifically," the minister said.
The bill also bans advertising such practices.
Plevris added that Greece also plans to ban surgeries on intersex infants and babies born with atypical chromosomes that affect their reproductive anatomy in a way that does not fit with the normative definition of male or female.
Reporting by Renee Maltezou Editing by Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
GRYOLOCRAFT on May 12nd, 2022 at 15:28 UTC »
Except it doesn't.
Greek person here who just read through the bill.
It only bans conversion therapy if it is done without the consent of the patient. Such procedures can still happen if written consent exists.
peepeeonmydoodoo on May 12nd, 2022 at 15:02 UTC »
Well how am I supposed to turn gay now?
theseeyesareflying on May 12nd, 2022 at 13:28 UTC »
Actual therapist - and sex therapist at that here: new bill says “Psychologists or other health professionals need a person's explicit consent to perform such treatment” — in Canada the big move was finally making it illegal to practice this at ALL. This means it is still legal if the person ‘consents’. In the US, teens are coerced by parents / churches into giving consent and shuttled away to camps, coming back with high suicide rates. Adults are coerced through church-cult pressure into grueling useless processes- suicidal it’s also high as a result, zero shift in orientation or attraction is outcome, obviously.
The problem is that it’s almost never a licensed therapist who practices this: it’s church staff, pastors, lay clergy, whatever. They don’t have therapeutic training, haven’t taken licensing board ethics trainings, there’s no methodology/ foundation. Because none exists.
Every therapy modality’s ethics positions for counselors, psychologists, social workers, MFTs etc has long-standing guidelines prohibiting this—that’s separate from the state licensing.
The article is saying legally it’s still possible: has their Orthodox Church found its loophole?
The ban on assigning sex to infants with non-common genitalia or genetic presentations is progressive, maybe more than in North America.