So-called ‘conversion therapy’ has no place in Manitoba health-care system: Blady

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This article was published 22/05/2015 (4115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health Minister Sharon Blady says she’s been assured that so-called “conversion therapy” is not being practised in Manitoba.

Conversion therapy, also referred to as reparative or sexual reorientation therapy, is based on the theory that people can change their sexual orientation from gay to straight.

Many health organizations have condemned the practice.

“The idea that sexual orientation or gender identity can be cured through health care intervention has the very real potential to damage an individual,” Blady said Friday. “Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate, and can cause substantial harm.”

Blady told reporters the government recently scanned the provincial health care system to see if conversion therapy was being practised in Manitoba. It was assured it was not.

She noted the issue has come up in Ontario as well as in the United States.

“It’s unethical behaviour. It is discriminatory behaviour,” she said.

The minister said the government was being “proactive” in ordering the review.

“We’re ahead of the curve and we’re going to stay ahead of the curve,” she said Friday.