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A New York lawmaker trolls Mike Pence by naming an anti-conversion therapy bill after him.

The vice president-elect got a shoutout in the name of a new bill.

New York lawmaker Patrick Burke is doing his part to put an end to a controversial brand of "therapy" that targets the LGBTQ community, specifically kids and young adults.

The goal of this practice, called "conversion therapy," is to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, and Burke wants to put an end to it in Erie County, New York.

"I didn't know it was still a thing," Burke says, referencing a troubling conversation he had with someone who told him of their experience as a survivor of conversion therapy and the horrible things that were done to them — to the point where it made them suicidal.


"It was really hard to sit there and listen to a person who had suffered so much, and there's nothing to say, but there's certainly something to do," Burke says.

Patrick Burke. Photo from Erie County Legislature.

While conversion therapy has been around for decades, there's little credible proof that it works — and it's certainly not humane.

Over time, conversion therapy has consisted of everything from lobotomies to electroshock treatments to psychoanalysis. It's been described as "torture," and to top it off, it doesn't even work, having been discredited by some of the country's major medical associations.

Five states — California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont — along with Washington, D.C., have banned the practice.

Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images.

While Burke has proposed similar legislation in the past, he's trying a different approach this time around: focusing on our next vice president.

The full name of Burke's bill is the Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment — or PENCE, for short, a reference to Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Over the course of Pence's career in government, he's earned a reputation as one of the most anti-LGBTQ politicians in the country. He's voted against LGBTQ nondiscrimination bills, spoken out against marriage equality, and yes, even advocated for diverting taxpayer funds from HIV/AIDS prevention programs to support conversion therapy efforts.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Burke has helped influence national policy through local legislation before. With PENCE, he hopes to do it again.

In 2015, Burke proposed a ban on microbeads — which have been linked to plastic particle water pollution — in soaps and facial scrubs. In July 2015, Erie County became the first municipality in the country to ban the beads. Nine states followed suit, and in December 2015, President Obama signed a nationwide ban into law.

While President Obama has called on Congress to pass a bill banning conversion therapy, efforts to end the practice on a nationwide scale have stalled. Burke hopes that, once again, his push for local legislation can reignite a national conversation about an important issue.

"We're going to do this here, we're going to do it right, and we're gonna try and lead again," says Burke.

As for the bill's name, Burke is happy to change it — if Pence walks back his past support for conversion therapy.

Pence's support for conversion therapy comes from a 2000 statement on his website. While it's understandable that a person's views might change over the course of 16 years, Pence hasn't ever walked it — or, really, any of his anti-LGBTQ views — back. Burke hopes his bill will put a little pressure on Pence to do just that.

"If Mike Pence wants to publicly say he opposes conversion therapy, I'll change the name of the law tomorrow," adds Burke. "I'd be happy to do that."

Even if Pence never comes out against conversion therapy, there's still something we can all do to help.

It starts with educating ourselves and others. People need to know that efforts to "de-gay" and "de-trans" kids are alive and well. Until Burke encountered someone who had undergone the practice, he didn't know about the practice. It's an issue that could use some raised awareness, and that's something we can all help out with.

Another important thing you can do to help put an end to conversion therapy is to write and call your Congressperson to let them know you support bills like Representative Ted Lieu's Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, which would outlaw the practice.

It's an overwhelming time in our country, which makes these small acts more important than ever before.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

True

It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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