Pasadena Delegate: Family Sought Gay Conversion Therapy For Her

PASADENA, MD — Father and daughter Republican lawmakers disagree on gay conversion therapy, which the state of Maryland may ban by the end of this legislative session. For Meagan Simonaire, it's a personal issue. When she told her parents she was bisexual, they tried to have her go through the process, which has been discredited by mental health professionals.

The effort by therapists to offer a so-called cure to being gay is an attempt to change one's sexual orientation. Maryland's bill would ban licensed medical professionals from carrying out conversion therapy on minors, and state money could not pay for support or referral of conversion therapy. Families could still use the therapy, but not with licensed workers.

“What is not broken cannot be fixed,” Simonaire told lawmakers during a floor speech Wednesday. Once the bill was approved 95-27, many legislators applauded her. Her speech began as what she termed "a girl's story," but she concluded by saying her tale of a girl whose parents were disgusted and wanted to "fix her" once they learned she had fallen in love with a woman was, in fact, her own story. Her father is GOP Sen. Bryan Simonaire, who opposes the ban and tried to have his daughter see a gay conversion therapist.

Sen. Simonaire said he supports conversion therapy if a child is willing and the therapy is done in a loving manner. While he doesn’t agree with his daughter’s “lifestyle,” the senator told The Capital-Gazette he “loves (his daughter) and always will.”

“I have always taught my children to be free thinkers, and she is an adult and thinks about every vote, which I respect,” he said. The elder Simoniare disputed his daughter's view that he tried to have her go through conversion therapy.

Del. Simonaire said she supported the proposed ban to protect children who could be at risk of suicide because of conversion therapy.

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The bill was approved by the Maryland Senate last week, and now heads to Gov. Larry Hogan for his signature.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, earlier this week Washington was the 11th state to ban conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender minors. Other states that have passed similar measures or regulation include California, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Hawaii is about to adopt similar legislation.

"To me, this measure will save lives," said Senate Democrat Richard Madaleno of Montgomery County, who is openly gay and the primary sponsor of the bill.

More than 1,200 young people called Maryland's LGBTQ suicide hotline last year, WUSA reports. "If we can help drive down the risk of suicide for young LGBTQ people in our state, we have done a valuable service," Madaleno said.

Resources For LGBTQ Youth

Telephone

• LGBT Help Line: (for all ages, lines open 6pm-11pm EST): (888) 340-4528
• LGBT Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 850-8078
• LGBT Youth Peer Listening Line: (lines open 5pm-11pm EST) (800) 399-PEER (7337)
• National Allianceon Mental Illness HelpLine: (800) 950-NAMI (6264)
• GLBT National Hotline: 1 888 THE GLNH (1 888 843 4564)

Websites

• Hearts & Ears, Inc., Baltimore, MD: www.heartsandears.org
• The Trevor Project is a 24/7 suicide & crisis prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth: www.TheTrevorProject.org
• Gay and Lesbian Medical Association: www.glma.org.
• GLBT National Help Center provides free and confidential telephone, and email peer counseling and local resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning callers throughout the US: http://www.glbtnationalhelpcenter.org/

Photo of GOP Delegate Meagan Simonaire via her website