• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, January 17, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

LGBTQ Community Worried as Florida Rolls Back Local Conversion Therapy Bans

Deon Feng by Deon Feng
11/25/20
in Featured, National
LGBTQ Community Worried as Florida Rolls Back Local Conversion Therapy Bans

People wave flags during a vigil in reaction to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. Photo: Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Is the ban on Conversion Therapy unconstitutional?

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals thinks so.

In a 2-1 vote, the court sided with two therapists, Robert Otto and Julie Hamilton, who challenged the conversion therapy ban in the city of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County, which was passed in 2017.

According to Liberty Counsel, the Christian legal organization representing Otto and Hamilton, conversion therapists “provide life-saving counseling to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and gender identities to their sincerely held religious beliefs.” The plaintiffs argued that they were barred from even talking to clients through “speech-based therapy,” which they claimed was a violation of the First Amendment.

Conversion therapy aims to change a queer individual’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity to adhere to straight and/or cisgender roles in society. An analysis of peer-reviewed scientific articles on the topic showed that at least 12 studies have found the practice not only ineffective but also damaging for the client. The American Psychological Association has disavowed conversion therapy and has voiced concerns over Friday’s overturning of protections against the method.

“This ruling is wrong-headed and may well result in harm to patients, especially minors who are often subjected to this type of therapy against their will.”— APA President @sandyapa2020, in response to overturning bans on so-called "conversion" therapy https://t.co/dd80A4Xz1R

— American Psychological Association (@APA) November 23, 2020

A policy research director at the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), Naomi G. Goldberg, stated that “this ruling is concerning because so-called conversion ‘therapy’ is a harmful and discredited practice, especially when it comes to minors,” she wrote to The Globe Post. “Youth experiencing this type of abuse are at greater risk for depression, suicidality, anxiety, and social isolation.”

“We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial,” Judge Britt Grant wrote in the ruling. “But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech. We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny.”

Grant argues that “the First Amendment exists precisely so that speakers with unpopular ideas do not have to lobby the government for permission before they speak.”

Judge Grant and his colleague Judge Barbara Lagoa formed the majority vote to reverse the ban, while Judge Barbara Martin dissented.

Reasons to Worry

Whereas Judge Martin was appointed by former President Barack Obama, both Grant and Lagoa were chosen by President Donald Trump. In fact, Lagoa was on Trump’s shortlist for the Supreme Court nomination after Justice Ruth Bade Ginsburg‘s passing in September.

“Much attention has been paid to Trump’s appointments to the US Supreme Court,” Goldberg from MAP said, “but his appointments throughout the federal judiciary will also have a serious impact for decades to come.”

Goldberg claimed that this ruling limits the ability of other cities and counties in Florida, as well as other states covered by the 11th Circuit, to pass or enforce protection against conversion therapy. Prior to the appeal, only three counties and 19 cities in Florida passed local laws banning conversion therapy. The overturning of the case in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County could complicate future prohibitions of the practice throughout the entire state.

People holding LGBTQ signs outside the US Supreme Court
Supporters of LGBTQ rights rally outside of the Supreme Court on Oct. 8, 2019. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

LGBTQ Rights in the Sunshine State

Florida is just one of 29 states without a state-wide prohibition against conversion therapy, but there are many other issues concerning the LGBTQ community in America’s Sunshine State.

For one thing, although the Supreme Court ruled down a federal law that protects LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination in June, Florida still has broad religious exemption laws. Under these laws, individuals or churches can be immune from state legislation that burden religious beliefs, such as anti-discrimination laws. In other words, the right to free religious exercises trumps the right for LGBTQ people to equal opportunities in states like Florida.

According to MAP, there are no laws shielding LGBTQ individuals in Florida from discrimination in certain areas at all, such as credit and lending services, adoption and foster care, and access to school facilities.

Florida’s LGBTQ community hopes that the local conversion therapy case was a mere departure from the precedent, and not the start of many more challenges to come.

ShareTweet
Deon Feng

Deon Feng

Related Posts

LGBTQ flag
National

Nevada First US State to Recognize Gay Marriage in Its Constitution

by Staff Writer
November 16, 2020
A man holds a "Biden Harris 2020" campaign poster in a golf cart.
National

‘Anti-American Democracy Sentiments:’ Why Seniors Are Abandoning Trump

by Deon Feng
November 20, 2020
A man waves a rainbow flag as he rides by the US Supreme Court that released a decision that says federal law protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination on June 15, 2020 in Washington,DC.
Opinion

Unmasking the ‘Right to Harm:’ the US Supreme Court and the Attack on LGBTQ Lives

by Jonathan Branfman
October 14, 2020
President Donald Trump takes off his mask at the White House
National

Mr ‘Immune’ Trump Back on Campaign Trail With a Roar

by Staff Writer
October 13, 2020
Students march during a demonstration marking International Women's Day in Barcelona.
Opinion

Why Today’s Feminists Must Build Bridges With Other Social Movements

by Lilia Giugni
August 5, 2020
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.
Interviews

Not Accepted: The Tale of an Iraqi Human Rights Activist in Turkey

by Victoria Mulville
July 30, 2020
Next Post
Chinese students show support for Chinese President Xi Jinping as he arrives to tour the National Graphene Institute at Manchester University in English in October 2015.

Things Chinese College Students Say About Trump

Diego Maradona

Argentines Mourn Maradona Amid Economic Crisis and Pandemic

Recommended

The filing was submitted by Justice Department lawyers on Thursday, January 14.

US Rioters Sought to ‘Capture and Assassinate’ Lawmakers at Capitol: Prosecutors

January 15, 2021
Biden proposes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Biden Unveils $1.9 Tn Economic Plan as US Recovery Buckles

January 14, 2021
Senegalese soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, July 24, 2019.

UN Peacekeeper Killed in Mali, Seven Wounded: Spokesman

January 13, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
People march against climate change in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on October 13, 2018.

NGOs Accuse France of Climate Inaction in Landmark Court Case

January 13, 2021

Opinion

President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

January 8, 2021
Volunteers are given the Moderna vaccine on August 5, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan.

Who’s First-in-Line for the Vaccine? A Classic Problem in Medical Ethics

December 30, 2020
A sorghum farmer inspects her small grains crop thriving in the dry conditions in March in the Mutoko rural area of Zimbabwe

The 10-Year Food Systems Revolution Must Start Now

December 22, 2020
Playing the Un-Naming Game in New York Is Harder Than It Seems

Pandenomics: The High Cost of Living While Undocumented in the United States

December 22, 2020
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post