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TRENTON, NJ — Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a law yesterday barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, the latest example of the potential 2016 presidential candidate steering a moderate course.
The governor said the health risks of trying to change a child’s sexual orientation, as identified by the American Psychological Association, trump concerns over the government setting limits on parental choice. “Government should tread carefully into this area,” he said in the signing note, “and I do so here reluctantly.”
The decision marked the third time this month that Christie has staked out a moderate position on a hot-button social issue as he seeks a second term in a Democratic-leaning state. It also offers more evidence that the popular governor is positioning himself as a pragmatist who bucks more conservative GOP elements.
Christie found middle ground on medical marijuana for children when he agreed Friday to allow growers to cultivate additional strains, and for marijuana to be made in an edible form for chronically ill children. But he would not lift an oversight provision that could require as many as three doctors to sign off on a prescription.
Last week, Christie vetoed a bill banning .50-caliber rifles that was vigorously opposed by gun-rights advocates and gutted a proposed overhaul of the state’s gun permit law. Recently, he signed 10 less-significant gun measures that the Democrat-led Legislature passed after last year’s school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
The decisions allow Christie to quiet some of the criticism he could face from conservatives by offering specific reasons why he was taking the steps, often citing compassion for the needs of children and families.
His approval of the conversion ban could offend Christian-conservative groups with influence in early primary states like Iowa and South Carolina.
Conversion therapy gained attention two years ago when GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was questioned over whether her husband’s Christian counseling business provided services that attempted to change gays and lesbians.
In signing the ban, Christie reiterated his belief that people are born gay and homosexuality is not a sin, a position he first stated in a 2011 interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. That view is inconsistent with the teachings of his Catholic faith, which hold that homosexual acts are sins.
Conversion therapy has increasingly drawn fire for its methods. Last year, four gay men sued a Jersey City group for fraud, saying its program included making them strip naked and attack effigies of their mothers with baseball bats.
California has also banned it.