Sudbury LGBTQ advocate hopes conversion therapy bill becomes law

An advocate for the LGBTQ community is hoping a bill that would criminalize conversion therapy will become federal law.

CurrentlyOntario is one of the few provinces in Canada with laws to restrict conversion therapy.Conversion therapy is a practice that aims to change an individual's sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, which meansidentifying with the sexassigned to them at birth.

A federal bill is currently making its way through the system.

Vincent Bolt is the education manager for TG Innerselves, a Sudbury-based group that supports those struggling with gender identity.

Bolt said this law needs to be in place across the country.

"[Conversion therapy]has been proven to be 100 per cent ineffective," Bolt said. "It doesn't work. You cannot change who a person is, fundamentally. You cannot change a person's gender identity or a person's sexual orientation."

The billput forward by Senator Serge Joyal, has passed firstreading.

Bolt said he hopes the bill becomes law before the upcoming federal election.

"It's also a worry that if there's a change in government, whoever ends up coming into government may not support the bill like the members of parliament are supporting it and the senators are supporting it right now," Bolt said.