LAKEWOOD, Ohio — The city council in this Cleveland suburb is considering an ordinance that would ban conversion therapy for minors.
Cleveland.com reported on Wednesday that Ward 4 City Councilman Daniel J. O’Malley is sponsoring the ordinance.
“We’ve seen some really tragic examples of how conversion therapy has impacted LGBT youth,” O’Malley told the website. “There was a very sad story out of Cincinnati a few years ago where a transgender girl committed suicide. One of her last things she was able to convey was that she was in conversion therapy.”
Conversion therapy has been banned in fourteen states, including Illinois, and the District of Columbia. If the ordinance passes, it would be the fourth Ohio city to ban the practice. The state of Ohio does not.
Most medical associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have called the the practice harmful.
“I would expect a hearing probably in the next month,” O’Malley told cleveland.com. “We’ll certainly have mental health experts and local advocates as well.” He also said the ordinance was in line with a 2016 ordinance banning LGBTQ discrimination.