• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
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

Pro-abortion rights activists rally at the Texas State Capitol in Austin against SB8, September 11.
Featured

The Horrors of a Repressive Regime, American Style

by Stephen J. Lyons
October 26, 2021
"Like a rock concert. You couldn't see pavement and you couldn't see grass," an official said, describing Ocean Drive.
National

Miami Beach Declares State of Emergency Over Uncontrollable Crowds

by Staff Writer
March 21, 2021
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.
Featured

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

by Jonathan Branfman
October 26, 2021
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
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

Damage from a series of powerful storms and at least one tornado is seen on March 25, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

After Tornado Kills 25, Mississippi Faces More Extreme Weather

March 26, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
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