An Assembly panel has approved a measure that would ban licensed therapists from trying to convert gay minors into heterosexuals.
The Women and Children's Committee voted on the bill Thursday. It now heads to the full Assembly, then the governor's desk.
The idea of what is sometimes called "conversion therapy" has increasingly drawn criticism.
In March, lawmakers heard from people who said they had been harmed by such therapies, including a woman who said she was subjected to electrical shocks.
It's also spurred debate about how much say the state should have in parents' decisions on how to raise their children.
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 bats.
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