Cincinnati closer to historic ban on gay 'conversion' therapy

A committee of the Cincinnati City Council voted 7-2 Monday to approve a proposed ordinance that would prohibit therapy designed to change sexual orientation or gender identity and impose a $200-a-day fine on violators.

The measure goes before the full council Wednesday. If the council passes the language, Cincinnati would be the first city in the United States to enact a ban on what often is called “reparative” or “conversion” therapy.

Members of the city’s Budget and Finance Committee praised Councilman Chris Seelbach for introducing the proposed ordinance. Seelbach, the only openly gay member of the council, explained his motivation with a brief acknowledgement that as a young man, he has been subjected to the practice.

And although he did not say the name, Seelbach referred to Leelah Alcorn, the 17-year-old transgender girl in Warren County who died in a suicide Dec. 28 and left an anguished note about undergoing “Christian therapy.”

“This is not a partisan issue,” Seelbach said. “This is a matter of life and death for LGBT young people.”

Councilman Kevin Flynn, who voted yes, said that when the ordinance was proposed late last week, “I was worried that this was something that the city couldn’t do. Not that we shouldn’t do it. But I didn’t think we could do it. But with help from the city solicitor’s office and in doing my own research over the weekend, I’ve come to the conclusion that we must do it.”

Council members Amy Murray and Charlie Winburn voted no. Murray said ahead of the vote that while she did not know much about the subject, she had received email from constituents saying, “Please don’t take this away, so that people can have this option. … It’s obviously going to pass, but for all the other emails and letters saying don’t take this option away, I probably can’t support it.”

Laura A. Haynes, a Tustin, California, psychologist, emailed council members to say she provides “sexual orientation change efforts” therapy. She was emphatic in her opposition to the ordinance: "This bill restricts FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY, A CLIENT'S RIGHT TO SELF DETERMINATION, and PARENTS’ RIGHTS,” Haynes writes. “I URGE YOU TO OPPOSE LEGISLATION AGAINST FREEDOM TO CHOOSE THERAPY FOR UNWANTED SAME SEX ATTRACTION FOR TEENS.”

Most mental-health professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association have spoken out against the therapeutic practice as not useful and possibly harmful to patients.

In addition to Seelbach and Flynn, the other yes votes in committee came from David Mann, Yvette Simpson, P.G. Sittenfeld, Christopher Smitherman and Wendell Young.