II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3949 

To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to ensure protections 

for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their families. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2024 

Ms. BUTLER (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WELCH, 

Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to ensure 

protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

youth and their families. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pride In Mental 

5 Health Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR 

2 LGBTQ+ YOUTH. 

3 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520O. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR 

7 LGBTQ+ YOUTH. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

9 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

10 Use (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall 

11 establish a program under which the Secretary will award 

12 grants to eligible entities to assess and improve lesbian, 

13 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, non14 binary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth mental health and 

15 substance use outcomes. 

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

17 grant under this section shall use funds received through 

18 such grant— 

19 ‘‘(1) to provide behavioral health and crisis 

20 intervention resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

21 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 

22 intersex, and Two Spirit youth, including trauma-in23 formed care; 

24 ‘‘(2) to provide cultural competency training for 

25 caregivers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to develop and disseminate behavioral 

2 health and crisis intervention resources for lesbian, 

3 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, 

4 nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their 

5 families and caregivers; 

6 ‘‘(4) to develop and disseminate evidence-based 

7 practices to be added to the Evidence-Based Prac8 tices Resource Center of the Substance Abuse and 

9 Mental Health Administration; 

10 ‘‘(5) to collect data with respect to the behav11 ioral health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 

12 queer or questioning, nonbinary, intersex, and Two 

13 Spirit youth; 

14 ‘‘(6) to issue school bullying prevention guide15 lines with respect to lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

16 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 

17 intersex, and Two Spirit youth; 

18 ‘‘(7) to provide for the integration within school 

19 systems of behavioral health services for lesbian, 

20 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, 

21 nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth; 

22 ‘‘(8) to establish and implement behavioral 

23 health patient navigator programs for lesbian, gay, 

24 bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949

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1 binary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their 

2 families; and 

3 ‘‘(9) to create and disseminate family accept4 ance and support models for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

5 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 

6 intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their families 

7 and caregivers. 

8 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity selected 

10 to receive a grant under this section shall agree, as 

11 a condition on receiving the grant that such funds 

12 shall not be used— 

13 ‘‘(A) to provide conversion therapy to any 

14 individual; 

15 ‘‘(B) to advertise for the provision of con16 version therapy and claim in such advertising— 

17 ‘‘(i) to change another individual’s 

18 sexual orientation or gender identity; 

19 ‘‘(ii) to eliminate or reduce sexual or 

20 romantic attractions or feelings toward in21 dividuals of the same gender; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) that such efforts are harmless or 

23 without risk to individuals receiving such 

24 therapy; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to knowingly assist or facilitate the 

2 provision of conversion therapy to an individual 

3 if such person receives compensation from any 

4 source in connection with providing conversion 

5 therapy; or 

6 ‘‘(D) to promote or direct an individual to 

7 conversion therapy resources or providers. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION THERAPY DEFINED.—In this 

9 subsection, the term ‘conversion therapy’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means any practice or treatment by 

11 any person that seeks to change another indi12 vidual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, 

13 including efforts to change behaviors or gender 

14 expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or 

15 romantic attractions or feelings toward individ16 uals of the same gender, if such person— 

17 ‘‘(i) receives monetary compensation 

18 in exchange for such practice or treatment; 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(ii) instead of, or in addition to, re21 ceiving monetary compensation in ex22 change for such practice or treatment di23 rectly, receives monetary compensation in 

24 exchange for a product or service that is 

25 integral to the provision of such practice or 


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1 treatment by such person, unless such 

2 product or service is protected by the First 

3 Amendment to the Constitution; and 

4 ‘‘(B) does not include any practice or 

5 treatment, which does not seek to change sexual 

6 orientation or gender identity, that— 

7 ‘‘(i) provides assistance to an indi8 vidual undergoing a gender transition; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) provides acceptance, support, 

10 and understanding of a client or facilita11 tion of a client’s coping, social support, 

12 and identity exploration and development, 

13 including sexual orientation-neutral inter14 ventions to prevent or address unlawful 

15 conduct or unsafe sexual practices. 

16 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec19 retary shall review, and update as necessary, the re20 ports and publications listed on the internet website 

21 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Adminis22 tration as of the date of the enactment of this sec23 tion that are focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

24 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 

25 intersex, and Two Spirit individuals. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In reviewing reports and pub2 lications under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

3 prioritize updating older reports and commissioning 

4 new reports that fill information gaps with respect 

5 to the behavioral health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

6 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 

7 intersex, and Two Spirit individuals. 

8 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SURVEY.—The Secretary shall develop 

9 and conduct a Federal survey measuring serious psycho10 logical distress, mental illness, mental health, and mental 

11 health care among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 

12 queer or questioning, nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit 

13 youth. In developing such survey, the Secretary may con14 sider integrating such survey as an enhanced feature of 

15 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. 

16 ‘‘(f) REPORT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

19 Secretary shall, in consultation with the Director of 

20 the National Institute of Mental Health and the As21 sistant Secretary for the Administration for Children 

22 and Families, commence a report on mental health, 

23 mental health care, and cultural competency in men24 tal health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

25 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 


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1 intersex, and Two Spirit youth in foster care and 

2 who are beneficiaries of other social services pro3 grams subject to Federal oversight. 

4 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

5 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

6 section, the Secretary shall submit the report re7 quired under paragraph (1) to the Committee on 

8 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen9 ate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

10 the House of Representatives.’’. 

Æ 


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