--- title: Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors description: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday approved legislation that will prohibit doctors and therapists from trying to change a minor's sexual orientation. canonical: https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/ author: Aditya Agrawal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-21T19:21:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:21:40.026Z article:section: Politics og:title: Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors og:description: Advertisements for conversion therapy services are also restricted og:url: https://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94beca479a734b7/698860702dce011b799e533e/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2800 og:image:height: 1575 og:image:alt: Illinois State Fair Bruce Rauner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors twitter:description: Advertisements for conversion therapy services are also restricted twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94beca479a734b7/698860702dce011b799e533e/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Illinois Bans Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Aditya Agrawal](https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Aug 21, 2015 7:21 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Aug 21, 2015 7:21 PM UTC Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday [approved](http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=13292) 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/) 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) 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/) 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"}}]}] ```