LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville is the second city in Kentucky to ban ‘conversion therapy’. Thursday night, Metro Council passed a resolution 24-1 to prohibit mental health professionals from engaging in efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity.
A study by the Trevor Project, a resource center for young LGBTQ people, said 42% of people who underwent conversion therapy reported a suicide attempt in the past year.
“I hear you talk about safety of youth and if the practices have been so devastating to youth that we have statistics that are letting them know that they're harming themselves to the point of suicide, and that the practitioners, the experts, not us the politicians, the experts are saying this is unsafe, well then I think it's beholden on us to make sure we do protect the people,” Metro Councilman David Yates said.
Conversion therapy bans have been proposed at the state level but have not been put up for a vote.
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