Mr. Speaker, a young woman here in the Lower Mainland, Susan, identified as a boy for as long as she could remember. At age 10, she was raped. These early sexual molestations led her to reject her feminine identity and feel unsafe as a girl. At the age of 16, she was so distraught that she was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital. Later in life friends invited her to church and though the experience was not perfect, she felt embraced and loved. She chose to start seeing a counsellor to help deal with unwanted non-heterosexual behaviour. She looked forward to each counselling session because she felt deeply encouraged by each session. Susan wants the government to know that it must protect the right of Canadians to seek the counselling of their choice.
Would the legislation, with the current broad definition of conversion therapy, put Canadians like Susan at risk of not receiving the counselling they chose?