Kansas City Council Approves Gay Conversion Therapy Ban

City council members in Kansas City, Missouri took a stand to fight back at gay conversion therapy — and it works.

On Thursday (November 14), city council members voted to pass ordinance banning licensed mental health care providers from practicing gay conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth. As per a report from The Kansas City Star, the city becomes the second in Missouri to ban the scientifically discredited practice. It was unanimously approved and comes about a month after Columbia passed a similar ordinance. In a conversation amongst the committee members, several advocates and LGBTQ residents detailed their opposition, with some admitting that they were abused and fell into depression as a result of the practice.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph regarded the ban as overly broad and an "inappropriate encroachment by a city’s police power into the work of professionals who are already well regulated by professional licensing standards and state law."

Earlier this year, Google lost their endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign after the internet giant refused to delete a conversion therapy app from its online stores. After the move, Google lost their perfect store on the HRC's Corporate Equality Index because of the incident. Additionally, they had to have its rating withheld until the app (Living Hope Ministries) was removed for sale. In a statement from HRC, this marked the third time in CEI's history that a positive rating had been halted because of controversy.

Photo: Getty Images


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