Lake Worth, Fla. City Commission Votes Unanimously to Ban Conversion Therapy

City officials in Lake Worth, Florida voted unanimously to enact a ban on gay conversion therapy for minors in their South Florida municipality. The vote to ban the discredited practice came out of concerns over the dangerous effect it has on LGBT youth.

"Conversion therapy is usually forced on minors by parents who find it impossible to accept the fact that their children identify as gay or lesbian," said Attorney Trent Steele, a member of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) Board of Directors. "This so-called 'treatment' is extremely harmful."

The ban applies only to licensed therapists. "Faith-based" practitioners are permitted to continue to indulge in the harmful practice under the guise of religious liberty.

According to My Palm Beach Post, a public hearing has been set for January 10. The ordinance will need a second vote before becoming law.

PBCHRC along with The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) were instrumental in bringing the vote for the Lake Worth ban to the table last week.

EDGE media partner South Florida Gay News (SFGN) notes that PBCHRC, SPLC and NCLR have focused efforts on banning gay conversion therapy on the local level throughout Florida due to inaction on the issue in the state legislature.

"The big problem we have here in Florida is that we can't get any pro-LGBT legislation out of Tallahassee," Randy Hoch, retired president and founder of the PBCHRC told SFGN over the phone. "There hasn't been anything significant since 1991. That's why groups like SAVE and PBCHRC are taking the initiative to do that at the state and county level."

Lake Worth joins neighboring West Palm Beach, Miami, Wilton Manors, Miami Beach, Bay Harbor Islands and North Bay Village.

Bans on conversion therapy for minors exist on the state level in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont and the District of Columbia.