‘It is dangerous’: Johnson County city closer to banning LGBTQ conversion therapy
Prairie Village moved one step closer to banning the controversial practice of conversion therapy Monday when the City Council approved wording of an ordinance it will vote on in two weeks.
It would prohibit licensed medical or mental health professionals from using the practice on minors. The practice tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and is condemned by the medical community.
The council voted 11-1 to send the ordinance to a final vote Oct. 18.
“Conversion therapy is harmful not just to the individual that is being placed through (it), but the family gets torn apart in this process,” said council member Terrence Gallager.
Council member Sheila Myers, who cast the lone “no” vote, asked city attorney David Waters about the council’s jurisdiction in regulating professional conduct and therapeutic treatment. She suggested the ban wasn’t needed if no one in Prairie Village is practicing conversion therapy. If only churches are doing it, “we can’t ban it there because of the First Amendment.”
Myers said she had “tremendous compassion for the victims of this terrible therapy. Anybody who is listening to this, it’s heartbreaking. … I would support a resolution expressing our opposition to this therapy and its use, but I will not support the ordinance.”
Council member Inga Selders told Myers “this isn’t something I think professionals are advertising, putting in the Yellow Pages, ‘Hey come see me, I practice conversion therapy.’
“I think this is something that happens behind closed doors where it’s not totally public. The fact of the matter is, 1 out of 10 members of the LGBTQ community, throughout their lifetime, were subjected to conversion therapy.
“So there are individuals in Prairie Village who have suffered the repercussions of this. We cannot ignore that fact. This is something that is kindness to our children, to prevent this further kind of abuse.”
Over the summer, the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Kansas spoke to Prairie Village’s diversity committee about the harm conversion therapy does to minors. On Sept. 20, the City Council agreed to consider enacting an ordinance prohibiting it.
The proposed ban would apply only to licensed medical or mental health professionals, including counselors, psychologists and therapists working with minors. It does not prohibit churches or religious leaders from speaking with youth about their sexuality or gender identity.
Of three possible penalties, the council decided to impose a $1,000 fine on violators. Waters had also presented two alternatives for to consider: a $1,000 fine or 170 days in jail; or a $500 fine.
A couple of council members referenced emails the group had received from the public suggesting divisiveness on the topic.
“I’m troubled by any implication that a parent should send their children to this kind of therapy. It is dangerous, it is harmful, it is part of the toxicity that has led to increased suicide risk among our LGBTQIA children. I am deeply saddened by that,” said council member Chad Herring, who called the proposal “a well-constructed ordinance.”
Herring said some people wanted to know whether the ban is timely or necessary if no one is practicing it in Prairie Village, as Myers suggested.
“I don’t think we know for sure whether it is practiced, or whether it would be practiced, whether someone would move in to practice it,” said Herring. “I think bans often have a proscriptive nature to them to outline permissible and not permissible practice.
“I am in favor of moving forward with action that would clearly proscribe this practice in the city of Prairie Village.”
Council member Ian Graves said he had received a couple of emails accusing the council of “virtue signaling,” of “harping on something that doesn’t happen here.”
“That’s as if virtue-signaling in this instance is somehow a bad thing. It’s not. Conversion therapy happens in Kansas. It happens in this state,” said Graves.
“It may not happen here. But we want to keep it that way and we want to say to the LGBTQ community we see you and we know how this has harmed you as a community and as individuals. And we want to make Prairie Village a known, safe place for you and we want it to stay that way.”
Graves said the city regulates and bans “all kinds of things that don’t happen here,” such as carnivals.
“It’s the kind of community we’ve built for ourselves and this is just another one of those things,” he said.
Prairie Village’s plan is similar to an ordinance adopted last year by another Johnson County community, Roeland Park.
Conversion therapy is widely denounced by the medical community. The American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, among others, say there’s no scientific evidence to support it, and it contributes to depression, suicide and other mental health issues among young LGBTQ people.
No other Johnson County communities have taken up the issue.
In Kansas, Lawrence has also banned the practice. In Missouri, Kansas City, North Kansas City, St. Louis, St. Joseph and Columbia have implemented bans. But this past summer, the Independence City Council rejected such an ordinance.
Includes reporting by The Star’s Sarah Ritter.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 12:17 PM.
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