UK government announces plan to ban 'ex-gay' therapy

The British government has announced plans to ban therapies that attempt to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Such therapies go by names such as "conversion therapy," "reparative therapy" or "ex-gay therapy."

The proposed ban is part of a wider effort to counter discrimination against the LGBT community and follows a nationwide survey of LGBT people.

The government found that 2 percent of the 108,000 people who participated in its poll had undergone conversion therapy. More than two-thirds of respondents said that they avoid holding hands in public.

"No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love," Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement. "This LGBT action plan will set out concrete steps to deliver real and lasting change across society, from health and education to tackling discrimination and addressing the burning injustices that LGBT people face."

The government's "LGBT Action Plan" includes "bringing forward a proposal to end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK."

In the United States, fourteen states plus the District of Columbia prohibit such therapies to minors. California recently unveiled a bill that seeks to extend its ban to adults.

(Related: California bill seeking to ban selling of "ex-gay" therapy advances in Senate.)