The conversion therapy ban passed unanimously in the Erie County Legislature Thursday, making it the first municipality in Upstate New York to approve such a measure.

The bill was sponsored by Erie County Legislator Patrick Burke, and describes conversion therapy as any treatment that tries to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of a minor.

Although members of the legislature say there are no proven cases of conversion therapy happening in Erie County, they hope the passing of the bill will discourage it from happening at all.

"We can’t really vet how large of a problem it is. I think it's pretty clear from reports that from every conversion therapy site that we know about, there's a hundred that we don’t. It is literally designed for us to not know about it,” said Burke.

Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams says backing the bill sends a bigger message.

"We're being proactive, we're stepping forward along with my colleague to make sure that those that want to do it, they need to hear loud and clear that here in Erie County, we don't support gay conversion therapy,” said Miller-Williams.

The bill initially got national attention due to its acronym, which spells ‘PENCE,’ and stands for Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment.

The bill was named after then-Indiana governor Mike Pence, who many believed was in favor of conversion therapy. Pence has since denied that claim.

“We labeled it the ‘PENCE' bill, the Prevention of Neglect and Emotional Child Endangerment. I said publicly that I would remove the title of that if the vice president made a very clear statement that he does not support conversion therapy, and eventually he did,” said Burke.

Burke says the bill targets everything from clinics, websites and underground operations that promote conversion therapy.

The legislation will make the practice on minors a misdemeanor crime punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or one year in jail.

Burke expects the bill to be signed into law in the next few weeks.