Conversion therapy’ ban finds commission converts

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

When Key West City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley chose to postpone a vote last month on a proposed ordinance banning “conversion therapy,” he was hoping to gain time to overcome the reservations of some of his fellow commissioners and enlist the help of local residents against the controversial mental health practice that attempts to change sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling or other psychological treatments.

It worked.

Commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 8, with Mayor Craig Cates absent, to approve the ordinance on first reading, making it illegal for licensed mental health practitioners to use conversion therapy on a minor. Although there are no reported cased in Key West, the therapy has been used in the United States to attempt to turn a gay person straight or a transgendered person’s identification back to their birth sex.

Several speakers returned to City Hall after waiting six hours the previous night only to see the agenda item postponed to the next evening because of the late hour. One was 16-year-old Palace Niekerk, a Key West High School student, who said conversion therapy can lead to suicide because of “all the hate and discrimination” LGBT youth endure.

“Conversion therapy is only going to make that worse,” she said. “No one should have to hide their true identities because their parents are against it. If you love your child as much as you say you do, then you’ll accept who they truly are.”

Several mental health professionals and psychiatric nurses also spoke in favor of the ban, including Mia Schmidt, who has a gay son. Schmidt, who worked 20 years as a psychiatric nurse, said that Vice President Mike Pence has spoken in favor of conversion therapy.

“Conversion therapy, in my professional opinion as well as multiple other well-documented mental health studies, is abusive and harmful,” she said.

And Natalia Duke, representing the Key West chapter of the newly-formed political activist group, Women’s March Florida, said the city needs to protect its youth.

“It [proposed ordinance] lets them know they are supported and protected by us as a community and as a city,” Duke said. “Now is the time to stand up for our principals and remember our slogan, ‘One Human Family,’”

At least two potential votes against the ban did not materialize. Mayor Cates had said after Weekley postponed the vote in January that he did not want to supersede a parent’s wishes for their child.

“We’re not getting into parenting and we don’t have a [conversion therapy] problem in Key West,” he said on Jan. 4.

Commissioner Margaret Romero also earlier stated her intention to vote against the ordinance. However, she said at the Feb. 11 meeting that she had a change of heart. Although she initially compared banning conversion therapy to refusing to treat a patient for a medical illness, she said she had received several calls from gay constituents in protest.

“I did listen. I looked at it from other people’s eyes and I’m supporting [the ordinance],” she said. “I hope this proves I do listen and I can be persuaded.”

Cates was absent from the meeting but will have to vote on the ordinance at its second and final reading on Feb. 22. That ordinance will have one significant change. The current proposal makes it a criminal misdemeanor if local mental health professionals engage in conversion therapy. Weekly asked that the penalty be changed to a civil crime, allowing the city to levy potentially more severe penalties, including making the therapist refund all fees associated with the banned therapy.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]