It is a great victory for Mexico’s queer community: in the capital, the inhuman conversion procedures are banned until further notice. Queer activists celebrate this step. The rest of the country could follow suit: in 2009, Mexico City was a pioneer in same-sex marriage. 18 of 31 states have since joined.

The dangerous pseudo-therapies are now generally prohibited in Mexico City – even with adults. This makes the law more comprehensive than in Germany (we have reported). Whoever offers such treatments in Mexico’s capital can be punished with up to five years in prison – if the procedures are applied to minors, even higher penalties apply.

In a virtual session last Friday, 24 July, a draft law was passed by the Regional Congress of Mexico City. The New York Times reports that under the collective term “conversion therapy” it will ban all practices that aim to change, hinder, reverse or undermine sexual orientation or gender identity. There were 49 votes for the ban and nine against. Five people abstained in the vote. Support for the bill was cross-party.

The queer community celebrates

Mexican queer activists celebrated the historical law that could set the tone for the whole country. The queer youth organisation Jóvenes LGBT México wrote on Twitter

“Today, another struggle in our city has ended in our favor and another chapter in the history of the LGBTI+ movement in Mexico has been consolidated. This victory is yours.”

More and more countries are banning conversion procedures

Germany, Malta, Ecuador, Taiwan and Brazil: More and more countries recognise by law that queer people do not need to be healed or corrected. The inhumane conversion methods have so far been banned in five countries worldwide and almost half of the US states. More and more countries are thinking about a ban, most recently Israel (we have reported). In Albania, psychologists have unceremoniously banned the procedures themselves (we have reported).

Since 2019, a law has also been pending in the Mexican Congress that will ban the pseudo-scientific practice nationwide and provide penalties of three years imprisonment for anyone who practices it anyway. The draft law was forwarded to the Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, since then there have been no new developments. Perhaps the decision in the capital will now give the project new impetus.

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