Greece bans LGBTQ conversion therapy

A huge 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 therapy for minors, a follow aimed toward suppressing an individual's sexual orientation or gender id and which the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and trans group worldwide, as well as health specialists, have condemned as harmful.

Underneath the bill, which Greece's parliament authorized, psychologists or other health professionals need an individual's explicit consent to perform such remedy and face fines and a jail time period in the event that they violate the regulation.

The federal government has drafted a nationwide technique that runs until 2025 on reforms promoting gender equality in Greece, a largely conservative nation. Canada, New Zealand and France criminalized conversion remedy earlier this yr.

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"There have been some false therapies that said that when a minor has chosen a distinct sexual orientation, his parents may supposedly proceed with 'treatments' for this baby to 'return to normality'", Health Minister Thanos Plevris advised parliament this week.

"Obviously these remedies not only will not be a remedy however they aren't supported scientifically," the minister said.

The invoice additionally bans advertising such practices.

Plevris added that Greece also plans to ban surgical procedures on intersex infants and babies born with atypical chromosomes that affect their reproductive anatomy in a means that does not fit with the normative definition of male or feminine.

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Reporting by Renee Maltezou Enhancing by Bill Berkrot

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.