Imagine Dragons call for ban on conversion therapy in the US

The band spoke out while accepting an award at the Billboard Music Awards last night

Imagine Dragons have spoken out against conversion therapy in the US – watch footage of the band’s frontman Dan Reynolds calling for a nationwide ban of the practice below.

The Las Vegas four-piece made the powerful statement as they collected their prize for Top Rock Artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards.

Addressing the audience, Reynolds, a prominent supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, used the platform to speak out in support of the LGBTQ community as he called for a ban on conversion therapy in the 34 US states which currently have no legislation on the issue.

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“I just want to take this moment to say there are 34 states that still have no laws banning conversion therapy,” Reynolds said. “On top of that, 58% of our LGBTQ population live in those states.

“This can change, but it’s going to take all of us talking to our state legislation, pushing forward laws to protect our LGBTQ youth,” he continued.

“We’ve seen with conversion therapy that our LGBTQ youth have double the rate of depression [and] triple the rate of suicide after conversion therapy. It’s not working, it needs to change.”

Reynolds’ statement follows on from a passionate plea he posted on Twitter back in March which called on religious leaders to “stand up for equality”.

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Last month, Foster The People’s Mark Foster issued a heartfelt apology over previous comments he had made about Imagine Dragons.

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