Greece bans LGBTQ conversion therapy

An enormous rainbow flag is seen in front of the parliament constructing throughout a gay pleasure parade in Athens, Greece June 10, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas

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ATHENS, May 10 (Reuters) - Greece on Wednesday banned conversion remedy for minors, a apply geared toward suppressing a person's sexual orientation or gender identification and which the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and trans neighborhood worldwide, as well as well being experts, have condemned as harmful.

Below the invoice, which Greece's parliament accepted, psychologists or other health professionals want a person's express consent to perform such treatment and face fines and a jail term in the event that they violate the law.

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

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"There have been some false therapies that acknowledged that when a minor has chosen a special sexual orientation, his dad and mom could supposedly proceed with 'treatments' for this youngster to 'return to normality'", Health Minister Thanos Plevris advised parliament this week.

"Clearly these treatments not only are usually not a therapy but they aren't supported scientifically," the minister stated.

The invoice additionally bans promoting such practices.

Plevris added that Greece also plans to ban surgical procedures on intersex infants and babies born with atypical chromosomes that have an effect on their reproductive anatomy in a way that doesn't fit with the normative definition of male or feminine.

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Reporting by Renee Maltezou Modifying by Bill Berkrot

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.