In a landslide majority, Iceland’s parliament, on June 9, passed a law banning so-called conversion therapy practices on the bases of sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity, PinkNews reported.
The country joined Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Malta, France, Ecuador, Spain and Germany in banning the practice. (In the United States, 25 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 100 municipalities have prohibited it.)
Fifty-three representatives voted for the bill that Liberal Reform Party MP Hanna Katrin Frioriksson proposed, while three others abstained.
“The legislation had cross party support in parliament, despite attempts from known anti-trans hate groups under English influence to oppose it, and wrongfully claiming they managed to ‘kill the bill,'” writer Ugla Stefanía Kristjonudottir Jonsdottir tweeted.
Jonsdottir told PinkNews that the historic vote shows that “justice will prevail over prejudice.”
—Andrew Davis