The Anchorage Assembly voted to ban conversion therapy for minors on Wednesday after a two-day public hearing. Conversion therapy, as defined in the ordinance, is a practice that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It has been discredited and condemned by the American Psychological Association and many other medical and civil rights organizations.
The Assembly passed the ban 9 to 2, with Chugiak/Eagle River assemblywomen Jamie Allard and Crystal Kennedy voting against.
During two days of public hearing this week, the majority of call-in testifiers were against the ban. They cited concerns about the ban encroaching on freedoms of speech and religion and parental rights. Some called it overreach of the assembly’s powers.
Those who testified in favor of the ban called conversion therapy child abuse and pointed out that it results in higher suicide rates among LGBTQ youth. Some had experienced the practice themselves and detailed the lifelong traumatic effects of the conversion therapy they said they were forced to undergo as children.
The ordinance prevents licensed professionals such as therapists or school counselors from engaging in efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It passed with two amendments — one to reinforce the rights of parents to provide counsel to their children, and another that exempts clergy members who are acting in a religious capacity.
Anchorage joins 20 states and dozens of cities across the country that have passed conversion therapy bans in the past ten years.
