--- description: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday approved legislation that will prohibit doctors and therapists from trying to change a minor's sexual orientation. title: Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94beca479a734b7/698860702dce011b799e533e/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Health Care](/tag/health-care/) ## Health Care Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors by [Aditya Agrawal](/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 7:21 PM CUT  Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner greets fairgoers during the Twilight Parade at the Illinois State Fair on Aug. 13, 2015, in Springfield, Ill. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner greets fairgoers during the Twilight Parade at the Illinois State Fair on Aug. 13, 2015, in Springfield, Ill.Seth Perlman—AP by [Aditya Agrawal](/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 7:21 PM CUT Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday [approved](http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=13292 "undefined") legislation that will prohibit doctors and therapists from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation. The legislation, known as the “Youth Mental Health Protection Act,” makes it illegal for any “mental health provider” to engage in “sexual orientation change efforts” with a person under the age of 18\. Providers will also be prohibited from referring a patient to anyone else for purpose of attempting to change their sexual orientation. Additionally, the law prohibits individuals from advertising conversion therapy services in a manner that represents homosexuality as a “mental disease, disorder or illness.” The bill passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly in May of this year, but the governor did not sign it until Thursday. Illinois State Senator Daniel Bliss said in a [statement](http://senatorbiss.com/ "undefined") published Friday that conversion therapies for homosexuality could be extremely harmful to young adults. “They’re out of date and can be deeply destructive to youth,” said Bliss. “Outlawing these practices is a small step in our pursuit for LGBT rights, but it’s an extremely important step in protecting young people in Illinois.” The new law makes Illinois [the fourth state](http://www.vox.com/2015/8/21/9186917/conversion-therapy-ban-lgbt "undefined") in the United States to outlaw conversion therapy for minors. In April, the Obama administration [called](http://time.com/3814732/white-house-conversion-therapy-youth/ "undefined") for a nationwide ban on conversion therapy for gay and transgender youth. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/"},"headline":"Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors","datePublished":"2015-08-21T19:21:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:21:40.026Z","description":"The law blocks mental health providers from engaging in \"sexual orientation change efforts\" with a person under the age of 18","url":"https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/","keywords":["Health Care"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94beca479a734b7/698860702dce011b799e533e/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aditya Agrawal","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94beca479a734b7/698860702dce011b799e533e/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Illinois State Fair Bruce Rauner","caption":"Illinois State Fair Bruce Rauner","creditText":"Seth Perlman—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/","name":"Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors"}}]}] ```