Palm Beach County is first in Florida to ban discredited LGBTQ "conversion therapy"

December 19, 2017

Commissioner Dave Kerner, Vice Mayor Mack Bernard, Commissioner Hal Valeche, Mayor Melissa McKinlay, and Commissioners Mary Lou Berger, Paulette Burdick and Steven Abrams.

 

(West Palm Beach, Florida) Following this morning's 5-2 vote by county commissioners, Palm Beach County became the first county in Florida -- and the largest county in the United States -- to prohibit conversion therapy for minors. Commissioners Steven Abrams and Hal Valeche cast the sole vote against the ban.

 

 Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation change efforts, encompasses a range of discredited counseling practices by which health care providers or counselors seek to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression through aversion treatment.

  

The ban covers Palm Beach County's 39 municipalities as well as the county's unincorporated areas. It applies to doctors, osteopaths, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, marriage or family therapists and counselors licensed by the State of Florida as well as  people who perform counseling as part of the person's professional training.  

 

The ban does not apply to members of the clergy unless they are also licensed -- or in training to become licensed -- mental health professionals.  

 

In June, 2016, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), the county's most effective civil rights organization, asked county commissioners to enact the ban.  

 

PBCHRC Board Member Trent Steele headed up the campaign to ban conversion therapy throughout Palm Beach County.

 

"Kudos to Palm Beach County Commissioners for recognizing that instilling self-hatred in LGBTQ children through psychological torture is not therapy," said Steele.   

 

 

For almost three decades, PBCHRC, an independent non-profit organization, has succeeded in having public officials enact more than 120 laws and policies providing equal rights, benefits and protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community.  

"Palm Beach County has repeatedly taken the lead in protecting the rights of LGBTQ people," said PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch. "As a result, Palm Beach County is now one of the safest places in the world for LGBTQ people to live, study, work, create families, raise children and retire.

   

Dr. Rachel Needle, a local psychologist, told county commissioners that the practice of conversion therapy is based on two false premises.

"First, it is based on the falsehood that being gay, lesbian or transgender is a mental disorder or defect that needs to be cured," said Needle. "And second, it is based on the presumption that being LGBTQ is something that can actually be changed through therapy."

Needle, who is also an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University, stated that the potential risks of conversion therapy on children include shame, guilt, depression, decreased self-esteem, increased self-hatred, feelings of anger and betrayal, loss of friends, social withdrawal, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, hostility and blame towards parents, high risk behaviors, confusion, self-harm, substance abuse and suicidal ideation.

Dr. Julie Harren Hamilton, a local psychologist who treats patients for what she refers to as "unwanted same-sex attraction, led the opposition to the countywide ban.

Hamilton also opposed the eight municipal conversion therapy bans that have already been enacted throughout Palm Beach County over the past 18 months. However each of her campaigns failed in those municipalities which considered -- and enacted -- bans on conversion therapy for minors.

 

At today's public hearing, as well as at the December 5 first reading of the ordinance, Hamilton and her minions tried to persuade county commissioners that LGBTQ people needed to be corrected through "talk therapy".  They implored the commissioners to reject -- or at least water down -- the ordinance.  

 

But to no avail.

"For the past eighteen months I have had to endure these people suggesting to elected officials that gay people are God's mistakes and then go on to say that they are the ones who can fix God's mistakes through therapy," said Hoch. "How arrogant!"

 

Hoch told county commissioners that the choice before them was clear: "You can vote to protect children from harm, or you can vote to protect these people who want to continue to cause children harm. Basically, the choice is between kids and quacks."

 

"As a county commissioner, it is my duty to work to ensure the safety of our residents -- especially our children," said Mary Lou Berger, who brought the ordinance before the county commission last year at the request of PBCHRC. "Conversion therapy has been rejected by virtually every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades. No child in Palm Beach County should be subjected to this so-called treatment." 

  

Nearly every major medical and psychological association in the country has come out in opposition to conversion therapy. These include the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American College of Physicians, the American Counseling Association, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American School Health Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the Pan American Health Organization, the Regional Office of the World Health Organization and the World Psychiatric Association.

Conversion therapy has also been rejected by the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the School Social Work Association of America.

PBCHRC partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Both organizations have been successful in their efforts to protect minors from being subjected to the harms caused by conversion therapy.

In addition, PBCHRC worked closely with SAVE, a South

Florida LGBTQ rights organization which was the driving force behind six of the conversion therapy bans enacted in Broward and Miami-Dade.

"Palm Beach County made history today, becoming the first county in Florida to ban conversion therapy for minors," said Scott McCoy, senior policy counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).  

"We applaud the county commissioners for supporting the well-being of LGBTQ youth, and for taking a stand against this extremely dangerous and fraudulent practice that claims to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity."  

 

Last May, SPLC published a comprehensive report entitled " Quacks: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality."

"Conversion therapy is harmful to our youth and must be stopped," said McCoy. "We urge the rest of Florida to follow the example set by Palm Beach County, and pledge to protect our youth from this heinous practice."

"Numerous studies have linked conversion therapy to depression, substance abuse and even suicide, and these risks are particularly acute for youth," said Carolyn Reyes, Youth Policy Counsel and Coordinator of NCLR's BornPerfect Campaign to end conversion therapy 

"We applaud the efforts by the county commissioners to ensure that the children of Palm Beach County are protected from these harms, and that their families aren't duped by trusted professionals to whom they turn for support during a vulnerable time," said Reyes.

Across the nation, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia, Pima County (AZ), Cincinnati (OH), Seattle (WA), Pittsburgh (PA), Toledo (OH), Columbus (OH), Allentown (PA), Dayton (OH), Athens (OH) and New York City have enacted laws preventing licensed mental health providers from offering conversion therapy to minors.

Sixteen Florida municipalities -- Miami Beach, Wilton Manors, Miami, North Bay Village, West Palm Beach, Bay Harbor Islands, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, El Portal, Key West, Tampa, Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Boca Raton and Oakland Park -- have enacted conversion therapy bans for minors.

Broward County, which gave initial approval to an ordinance banning conversion therapy ban earlier this month, is expected to enact a ban in January. Gainesville City Commissioners are also expected to enact a ban within the next few months.

In early December, The Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBTQ hate group, filed suit against the City of Tampa in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to overturn that city's conversion therapy ban.

Hoch does not expect that lawsuit to be successful.

"Every court challenge to the constitutionality of banning conversion therapy ever filed in the United States has failed," said Hoch, who served as Florida's first openly gay judge in the 1990s. "And as recently as last May, the U.S. Supreme Court -- with Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch participating -- declined to consider an appeal filed in an attempt to overturn a statewide conversion therapy ban."

That was fourth time the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by an anti-LGBTQ group to overturn a conversion therapy ban, according to Hoch.

Palm Beach County Poised to be First in Florida to Ban Discredited Gay "Conversion Therapy"

http://capitalsoup.com/2017/12/05/palm-beach-county-poised-become-first-florida-ban-discredited-lgbtq-conversion-therapy/

Following today's 6-1 vote by county commissioners, Palm Beach County is poised to become the first county in Florida to enact an ordinance to prohibit conversion therapy for minors. Commissioner Hal Valeche cast the sole vote against moving forward with the ordinance. A final vote is required later this month before the ban may take effect. 

 

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation change efforts, encompasses a range of discredited counseling practices by which health care providers or counselors seek to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression through aversion treatment.

  

The ban, which covers the county's 39 municipalities and unincorporated areas, applies to doctors, osteopaths, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, marriage or family therapists and counselors licensed by the State of Florida. It also extends to people who perform counseling as part of the person's professional training.  

The ban does not apply to members of the clergy unless they are also licensed -- or in training to become -- mental health professionals.  

Last year, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), the county's most effective civil rights organization, asked county commissioners to enact the ban. Over the past 29 years, the independent non-profit organization has succeeded in having public officials enact more than 120 laws and policies providing equal rights, benefits and protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ)  community.  

Retired judge Rand Hoch, PBCHRC President and Founder, recognized the need to protect children from practitioners of conversion therapy.

"Children are almost always forced into conversion therapy by parents who find it impossible to accept the fact that their children identify as gay or lesbian," said Hoch. "Instilling self-hatred in children through psychological torture is not therapy."

PBCHRC is partnering with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Both organizations have been successful in their efforts to protect minors from being subjected to the harms caused by conversion therapy.

Last May, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) published a comprehensive report entitled "Quacks: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality." 

"Conversion therapy is an extremely dangerous and fraudulent practice that claims to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity," said Scott McCoy, SPLC's senior policy counsel. "This bogus practice is premised on the lie that LGBTQ individuals have a 'condition' that needs to be cured. Today, the Palm Beach County Commission took a step in the right direction by approving this ordinance to ban this harmful practice on minors. The county commission has sent a message to LGBTQ youth: 'You are perfect the way you are and do not need to be 'fixed.'"

Dr. Rachel Needle, a local psychologist, told county commissioners that the practice of conversion therapy is based on two false premises.

"First, it is based on the falsehood that being gay, lesbian or transgender is a mental disorder or defect that needs to be cured," said Needle. "And second, it is based on the presumption that being LGBTQ is something that can actually be changed through therapy."

Needle, who is also an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University, stated that the potential risks of conversion therapy on children include shame, guilt, depression, decreased self-esteem, increased self-hatred, feelings of anger and betrayal, loss of friends, social withdrawal, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, hostility and blame towards parents, high risk behaviors, confusion, self-harm, substance abuse and suicidal ideation.

"Any ethical mental health practitioner should not attempt to cure or repair gender identity or sexual orientation through these scientifically invalid techniques," said Needle. "Attempting to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity can have a devastating impact on a child or teen."

"As a county commissioner, it is my duty to work to ensure the safety of our residents -- especially our children," said Mary Lou Berger, who brought the ordinance forward on behalf of PBCHRC. "Conversion therapy has been rejected by virtually every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades. No child in Palm Beach County should be subjected to this so-called treatment."

Leading the opposition to banning conversion therapy was Dr. Julie Harren Hamilton, a local psychologist who treats patients for what she refers to as "unwanted same-sex attraction.

Hamilton served as president of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization that has advocated anti-LGBTQ therapy for children as young a three years old and has encouraged parents to have their children marginalize and ridicule their LGBTQ classmates.

Hamilton has repeatedly tried to persuade elected officials to allow therapists to continue to attempt to change children's sexual orientation or gender identity through sexual orientation change efforts. However her campaign has failed in all eight of the cities cities in Palm Beach County which have considered -- and have enacted -- bans on conversion therapy for minors.

Local children's rights advocates have long been in the forefront of the opposition to conversion therapy.

In November, 2009, more than 100 demonstrators turned out to protest Hamilton's NARTH conference in West Palm Beach at which  conference organizers held workshops to train therapists how to convert LGBTQ individuals to become heterosexuals.

Nearly every major medical and psychological association in the country has come out in opposition to conversion therapy. These include the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American College of Physicians, the American Counseling Association, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American School Health Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the Pan American Health Organization, the Regional Office of the World Health Organization and the World Psychiatric Association.

"The American Psychological Association has linked conversion therapy to depression, substance abuse and even suicide, and these risks are particularly acute for youth," said Carolyn Reyes, Youth Policy Counsel and Coordinator of NCLR's BornPerfect Campaign to end conversion therapy  "We applaud the efforts by the county commissioners to ensure that the children of  Palm Beach County are protected from these harms, and that their families aren't duped by trusted professionals to whom they turn for support during a vulnerable time."

Conversion therapy has also been rejected by the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the School Social Work Association of America.

Across the nation, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia, Pima County (AZ), Cincinnati (OH), Seattle (WA), Pittsburgh (PA), Toledo (OH), Columbus (OH), Allentown (PA), Dayton (OH) and Athens (OH) have enacted laws preventing licensed mental health providers from offering conversion therapy to minors. (New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promulgated regulations which bar public and private healthcare insurers from covering conversion therapy.)

Last week, the New York City Council approved a bill that prohibits conversion therapy not only for minors, but also for adults. The bill must be signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio before it can go into effect.

Sixteen Florida municipalities -- West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Miami, Wilton Manors, Miami Beach, Bay Harbor Islands, El Portal, Key West, Wellington, Tampa, Greenacres, Boca Raton and Oakland Park -- have enacted conversion therapy bans for minors. Broward County is expected to enact a conversion therapy ban early in 2018.

According to an Orlando Political Observer-Gravis Marketing poll of 1,243 Florida voters conducted last April, 71% think conversion therapy should be illegal for minors in Florida, 18% were uncertain and only 11% thought conversion therapy should be legal. The poll has a margin of error of 2.8%.

Every court challenge to the constitutionality of banning conversion therapy has failed and U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to consider cases which have been filed to overturn conversion therapy bans.

Legislation to ban conversion therapy has been introduced in Congress and in the Florida Legislature for several years; however, no action has been taken on any of the bills.

"While legislative leaders in Washington and Tallahassee refuse to act, we are going to do all we can do locally to protect the LGBTQ youth of Palm Beach County," said Berger.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast

LGBT Conversion Therapy Is Dying in Florida—and Fast

A network of LGBT Floridians has rapidly passed 17 local conversion therapy bans in as many months—a feat that no other state besides Ohio has come close to replicating.

By Samantha Allen, The Daily Beast

November 17, 2017

In June 2016, Miami Beach banned conversion therapy for minors.

Now, over half of the approximately two dozen U.S. municipalities that have banned the discredited therapy are located in a single state: Florida.

And, as the Sun-Sentinel reported earlier this week, Broward County—which contains Fort Lauderdale, and has a population of nearly 2 million—is aiming to add to that number with a ban of their own.

The practice of trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity is on its way to becoming extinct in the Sunshine State.

As frequent Florida vacationer Donald Trump might say, “There’s something going on.”

More specifically, a well-organized network of LGBT Floridians have rapidly passed 17 local conversion therapy bans in as many months—a feat that no other state besides Ohio has even come close to replicating.

“Local leaders have really taken it upon themselves to lead where the state legislature has failed,” Hannah Willard, senior policy director for Equality Florida told The Daily Beast, adding, proudly, “Not only do we have the most local conversion therapy bans passed, we also have the most local human rights ordinances passed out of any state in the country without state-level protections.”

In a media economy that often positions Florida as the butt of bad jokes—Willard, laughing, tells The Daily Beast that “we are a very unique state in many ways” and that “we know all of the memes”—this grassroots achievement has largely gone overlooked.

Florida, like 41 other states, does not have a statewide ban on conversion therapy for minors—even though virtually every major medical association has condemned the practice as dangerous, unethical, and premised on the false assumption that LGBT identity can be changed. (The American Psychiatric Association, for example, warns that the risks of conversion therapy are “great, including depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.”)

Nor does Florida have statewide protections for LGBT people in employment, housing, and public accommodations. With a Republican-dominated legislature in Tallahassee and Republican Gov. Rick Scott in the governor’s mansion, Florida is not exactly fertile ground for such efforts.

Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich is familiar with these limitations. A former state legislator who spent a total of 12 years serving in the state Senate and the House of Representatives, Rich proposed Broward County’s conversion therapy ban after joining the commission in 2016.

“We have not had any success at the state legislature,” Rich told The Daily Beast, noting that a statewide conversion therapy ban has now failed two years in a row.
 

Rich says that, after assuming her current role, she “saw the large number of cities [that had banned conversion therapy] and was wondering why there were no counties.”

Perhaps it couldn’t be done at the county level, she thought. After some research, she realized that there was nothing stopping her from calling for a Broward ban—and soon the vast majority of her fellow commissioners were co-sponsors on the effort.

“Obviously, we’re not going to have a problem passing this through the commission,” Rich told The Daily Beast, noting that it includes exemptions for religious organizations, while leaving open the option for individual municipalities to “opt out” of the ban.

If this process seems streamlined, that’s because it is. In the neighboring county to the north, the 30-year-old Palm Beach County Human Rights Council—led by Rand Hoch, the first openly gay judge in Florida—has rapidly passed ban after ban, working from the same template. West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Riviera Beach, Delray Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, and Boca Raton now all have bans of their own.

But it wasn’t until recently that Judge Hoch and the PBCHRC focused on this issue.

“We really haven’t had conversion therapy as a big priority, simply because we didn’t think there was a way that we could address it outside of the state legislature,” he told The Daily Beast.

But after fielding phone calls from parents of gay kids whose friends were being subjected to the fraudulent practice, the PBCHRC sent letters to the mayors of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County alerting them to its dangers.

“Literally within an hour, I had heard from both mayors, both saying that they wanted to be the ones to bring this forward,” Hoch recalled.

Instead of skipping directly to the county level, however, the PBCHRC worked on the “top 12 municipalities by population,” as Hoch told The Daily Beast, in order to “flesh out the opposition.”

The PBCHRC was worried about potential pushback from anti-LGBT groups—and they were right. (Last month, for example, Miami-Dade County rejected a ban on conversion therapy after outcry from religious groups, although the cities of Miami and Miami Beach both already have bans in place.)

By going from municipality to municipality—bringing along West Palm Beach psychologist Dr. Rachel Needle to provide a medical perspective—the PBCHRC was able to systematically exhaust the anti-LGBT justifications for conversion therapy. West Palm Beach’s ban went into effect last November; Boca Raton’s, after a long winning streak, was enacted just last month.

“Once we got to the comfort level where no one was bringing up any opposition anymore—they ran out of arguments—then we approached the county commission, and said, ‘OK, we’re ready to move forward on this,’” Hoch recalled.

The culmination of the PBCHRC’s efforts could arrive as soon as next month, when Palm Beach County will likely become the first county in the state to ban conversion therapy—although the Liberty Counsel, which is listed as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has already threatened legal action if the ban passes, as the Sun-Sentinel first reported.

For Hoch, this is not a hypothetical fight. By the PBCHRC’s tally, religious organizations aside, there are five remaining practitioners of conversion therapy in the county.

“We have two kids now that we’re aware of that are being subjected to this in our county,” he told The Daily Beast, “and they are crying out for help through their friends and through their friends’ parents.”

Indeed, as Willard told The Daily Beast, LGBT advocates in Florida have made it clear that conversion therapy isn’t “just this thing of the past that some quack, somewhere, is still practicing,” but a very real threat to LGBT youth.

In 2017, as ABC News reported, conversion therapy proponents were celebrating the election of Donald Trump under a GOP platform that protected the “right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children”—a line interpreted by LGBT advocates as a dog whistle for anti-LGBT groups.

The fact that the practice remains legal in the vast majority of U.S. states, as ABC News noted, can partially be attributed to the legal efforts of those groups.

That makes Florida all the more fascinating as a case study in grassroots LGBT activism. In a state that broke narrowly for Trump, a full 60 percent of the population—by Equality Florida’s estimate—is now covered by local LGBT non-discrimination ordinances. The recent flurry of conversion therapy bans, in many ways, simply builds on that foundation.

This success hasn’t been limited to Palm Beach County, either. The South Florida LGBT group SAVE was influential in passing the first ban in Miami Beach—along with subsequent bans in Wilton Manors, the city of Miami, and other municipalities in the area. Tony Lima, the executive director of the SAVE, told The Daily Beast that "impetus" for getting the first ban in Florida passed was the "failed effort" of Democratic state representative David Richardson to pass a statewide ban in 2015.

"[Richardson] then came to us at SAVE and asked us to take on the challenge of passing municipal bans in order to send a strong message to the state that this was a practice aimed at our youth that absolutely needed to end," Lima said.

Key West, the southernmost city in Florida, passed a ban in March and Tampa followed suit in April.

And the PBCHRC’s success in Palm Beach County has become something of a lightning rod for LGBT advocates working in other parts of the state. By drawing media attention to the issue—in October, for example, the Sun-Sentinel covered the trend of South Florida cities “one by one” banning the practice—Hoch says that his organization has been contacted by LGBT advocates in Tampa and, most recently, in Gainesville.

As the Gainesville Sun reported last week—the city commission is currently weighing a ban, with discussion scheduled for December. Interest, it seems, is spreading north.

“We’re sharing this,” Hoch told The Daily Beast. “We know there’s no hope that the Florida legislature will pass this—and it’s doubtful that, even if they did, the governor would sign it into law—so a lot of the political work we have to do here in Florida for our community has to be done on the local level.”

National LGBT groups, who are working to ban conversion therapy at the state and federal level, have noticed Florida’s ground game in the fight against the practice.

Xavier Persad, legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign told The Daily Beast that “particularly in Florida, municipal leaders are growing impatient with inaction on the state level.”

From a national perspective, Persad says, that is part of a trend of “cities leading the way on equality generally.” (According to the Movement Advancement Project, five Ohio municipalities and three Pennsylvania municipalities have passed conversion therapy bans, among a handful of others.)

Persad is not giving up hope on more wide-ranging legislation, noting that four Republican governors—in Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, and New Mexico—have signed statewide bans on conversion therapy for minors.

“Protecting our youth from abuse should not be a partisan issue—and it truly isn’t,” he told The Daily Beast.

Nor is Equality Florida going to stop pushing for a statewide ban to protect all LGBT youth in the state. As Willard told The Daily Beast, that remains their “ultimate goal.”

But if the local bans keep coming at this rate, much of the state could be covered before Tallahassee does anything. And there’s nothing stopping LGBT advocates in other red states from essentially copying Floridians’ homework.

Willard told The Daily Beast that the conversion therapy bans are “a potential model that can be exported to other states.”

“All it takes is a couple people to get the ball rolling,” Hoch told The Daily Beast. “And then once someone starts doing this, then it’s not that difficult for other motivated people to start doing it.”

Boca Raton Takes A Stand Against Conversion Therapy

By Bryanna Basilio. Boca Raton Tribune
October 20, 2017

The Boca Raton City Council has voted to enact an ordinance which prohibits conversion therapy for minors by licensed professionals. The ban to take effect immediately.

Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers was the only council member to be opposed to the ordinance saying,  “I see it as more as a state health issue and for that I am not in support of the ordinance.” Regardless the ordinance was approved, 1 – 4.

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, or sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), encompasses a range of discredited counseling practices by which health care providers or counselors seek to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression through aversion treatment.  

The county’s most effective civil rights organization,The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), asked the city to enact the ordinance. In the past 29 years, the independent non-profit organization has succeeded in having local public officials enact more than 120 laws and policies providing equal rights, benefits and protection for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community.

In the past year alone, PBCHRC has been successful in convincing elected officials in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Wellington and Greenacres to prohibit conversion therapy for minors.

“The discredited practice of conversion therapy has long been rejected by virtually all of our nation’s mainstream medical, psychiatric, psychological and mental health organizations,” said PBCHRC Board Member Trent Steele who is also an attorney who has spearheaded the yearlong project to ban conversion therapy throughout Palm Beach County. “Instilling self-hatred in children is not therapy,” he said.

Dr. Rachel Needle, a licensed psychologist and a leading expert on conversion therapy, notes that the practice of conversion therapy is based on two false premises.

“First, it is based on the falsehood that being gay, lesbian or transgender is a mental disorder or defect that needs to be cured,” said Needle. “And second, it is based on the presumption that being LGBTQ is something that can actually be changed through therapy.”

Needle, who is also an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University, states that the potential risks of conversion therapy on children include shame, guilt, depression, decreased self-esteem, increased self-hatred, feelings of anger and betrayal, loss of friends, social withdrawal, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, hostility and blame towards parents, high risk behaviors, confusion, self-harm, substance abuse and suicidal idealization.

“Any ethical mental health practitioner should not attempt to cure or repair gender identity or sexual orientation through these scientifically invalid techniques,” Needle added. “Attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity can have a devastating impact on a minor.”

Boca Raton joins more than a dozen other Florida municipalities — West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Miami, Wilton Manors, Miami Beach, Bay Harbor Islands, El Portal, Key West, Wellington, and Tampa. Greenacres has enacted conversion therapy bans for minors as well. In addition, Oakland Park is expected to enact a similar ban on October 18. Before year’s end, Palm Beach County Commissioners will consider a countywide ban.

The Boca Raton conversion therapy ordinance and all of the similar ordinances enacted to date applies only to state-licensed therapists. Unlicensed therapists, such as those associated with faith-based groups, retain their religious freedom to engage in such work. Additionally, adults remain free to seek out conversion therapy. 

Although there have been several court challenges to the constitutionality of banning conversion therapy, all have failed. On four occasions, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear challenges to the constitutionality laws banning conversion therapy for minors.

State Senator Jeff Clemens (D-Atlantis) introduced a bill for consideration by the 2018 Florida Legislature to prohibit conversion therapy on minors statewide. However, similar bills filed by Clemens in the 2016 and 2017 legislative sessions were never heard.

Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie issued the following statement: “While banning conversion therapy does not appear to be a priority action in either Tallahassee or Washington, DC, tonight Boca Raton took another step to protect LGBTQ youth in our city from the harms of conversion therapy. Allowing anyone to expose children to such harm is inconsistent with the values of the City of Boca Raton.”

In addition, conversion therapy has been soundly rejected by the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Education Association and the School Social Work Association of America.

Conversion therapy ban will get a vote in Palm Beach County

By Skyler Swisher, South Florida Sun-Sentinel  

Monday, September 25, 2017 

 

Palm Beach County is drafting regulations that would prohibit therapists from trying to change a child's sexual orientation. Advocates have been pushing for more than a year to ban the practice known as conversion therapy, said Rand Hoch, president of Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

 

"When you hear the stories of kids going through this, it is a nightmare," he said. "They are being taught to hate themselves for who they are."

 

Palm Beach County commissioners will consider the matter in November. Their legal staff spent months studying the issue.

 

The Miami-Dade County Commission is set to give final approval to a conversion therapy ban Oct. 3. Several South Florida cities have banned the practice, including Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Wilton Manors.

 

Leading medical groups, including the American Psychological Association, have denounced conversion therapy, concluding that trying to change someone's sexual orientation can cause depression, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse.

 

While not accepted by mainstream medical groups, the therapy is still offered in South Florida. The Human Rights Council has identified at least five licensed therapists who advertise conversion therapy for children in Palm Beach County.

 

Conversion therapists online say they can "address unwanted same-sex attraction" and offer weekend retreats that offer "intensive emotional-healing work." One service advertises, "You'll stand eye to eye with another man while we help you process whatever feelings might arise."

 

Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based nonprofit that bills itself as "restoring the culture by advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the family," has threatened to sue Palm Beach County if it proceeds with the ban, arguing the measure would violate the First Amendment.

 

Statewide bans on conversion therapy for children have survived court challenges. In one recent case, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit involving New Jersey's ban.

 

Palm Beach County's proposal would not apply to religious groups - only to licensed therapists working with children, County Attorney Denise Nieman said.

 

The county has the authority to issue a fine of up to $500, but the exact process for enforcing the rule is still being developed, she said.

 

With efforts to ban conversion therapy stalled in the state Legislature, Hoch said he hopes the Broward County Commission will be the next board to take up the issue.

 

"It is going to be easier for Broward County to put on agenda when they see a county to the north and a county to the south have already dealt with this," he said. 

 

 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-pn-conversion-therapy-ban-20170926-story.html

Palm Beach County, Florida LGBT History Timeline - updated 9/17/17

Palm Beach County LGBT History Timeline

1977 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners considered, but failed to approve,  an ordinance to  make it unlawful to discriminate in employment “for any reason, except where such reason is directly related to the job being applied for or being performed.”

1981 - The LGBT-inclusive Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches is founded.

1987 - Atlantic Coast Democratic Club becomes the second LGBT political organization to be  chartered by the Florida Democratic County.

1988 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) is founded to work towards ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

1988 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council issues its first political endorsements.

1989 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council begins an educational campaign on bias against gay men and lesbians in housing in Palm Beach County.

1989 - PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch is elected to serve as Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee.

1990 - Palm Beach County amends it’s Fair Housing Ordinance to protect gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from discrimination in housing, financing for housing, and in public accommodations.   (The law is the oldest gay rights law currently in effect in Florida).

1990 - Palm Beach County becomes the first public employer in Florida to amend the County's Affirmative Action Plan to protect gay and lesbian County employees from discrimination in County hiring and employment. 

1990 - Palm Beach County Commissioners unanimously vote to appoint local gay rights activist Norm Aaron to serve on the Palm Beach County Fair Housing Board.  Aaron becomes the first of many openly LGBT public officials to serve in Palm Beach County since 1990.

1990 - PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch becomes Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee.

1990 - Palm Beach County Anti-Violence Project is established by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council to work with law enforcement and LGBT community to combat an increase in gay bashing in Palm Beach County.

1990 - West Palm Beach includes LGBT issues in its diversity training for law enforcement officers and other municipal employees

1990 - West Palm Beach City Commissioners appoint PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch to serve on the West Palm Beach Employment Practices Review Commission.  His fellow commissioners elect him Chairman Pro Tempore.

1990 - LGBT activist Norm Aaron forms “Seniors and Sunshine” to support for LGBT Seniors in Palm Beach County.

1991 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights council plays an integral part in the successful "West Palm Beach '91" campaign to switch the city into a 'strong mayor' form of government.

1991 - The School Board of Palm Beach County rejects PBCHRC’s request to add sexual orientation to its list of categories protected from employment discrimination.


1991 - West Palm Beach becomes the first public employer in Florida to enact an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public employment.

1991 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council conducts a countywide survey on anti-LGBT crimes and bias.

1991 - An amendment sponsored by Senator Eleanor Weinstock (D-West Palm Beach) to include sexual orientation in Florida’s Hate Crimes Act is enacted into law

1991 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners appoints PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch to serve on the Palm Beach County Ethics Steering Commission.

1991 - West Palm Beach reverses an initial denial by the Zoning Board of a license for The Backdoor Bookstore, a lesbian owned business geared to the LGBT community.  The short-lived bookstore becomes the unofficial LGBT community center in Palm Beach County.

1991 - The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Election designates The Backdoor Bookstore an official Continuous Voter Registration Site by.

1991 - The Southern Source, a “lesbian/gay vehicle for communication and information” published by Susan Harris is founded.

1991 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council presents awards to State Senator Eleanor Weinstock and West Palm Beach Police Chief Billy Riggs for their work in successfully combating violence against the LGBT Community.
    
1991 - The Palm Beach County Fair Housing Board begins testing on LGBT bias in housing.

1991 - PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch addresses FBI Hate Crimes Training Conference of law enforcement officials from Florida and Alabama.

1991 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council establishes both a state and a federal political action committee.  The pro-LGBT PACS are the first in the nation to be headed by a lesbian, longtime lesbian activist Roz Rizzo.

1991 - West Palm Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.   

1991 - Boynton Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.

1991 - Riviera  Beach adopts a policy prohibiting the use of any public funds for organizations or facilities which discriminate on the basis of several protected classes, including sexual orientation.
  1992 - Governor Lawton Chiles appoints PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch to serve as Florida’s first openly gay judge.

1992 - West Palm Beach becomes the first public employer in Florida to provide domestic partnership benefits for municipal employees.

1992 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man working in the administration of Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, is appointed Director of Florida Relief Center, which is headquartered at the Palm Beach County Fairgrounds.

1992 - Compass, the successor of the Stop AIDS Project, is formed as the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of the Palm Beaches.

1992 - The first PrideFest is held at the Armory Center in West Palm Beach.

1992 -  PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch is selected as an LGBT "Avant Guardian" by The Advocate, the nation's largest gay and lesbian news magazine.
1994 - West Palm Beach enacts an Equal Opportunity Ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in private and public employment, housing and public accommodation.

1994 - West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham head’s the “NO on 1!" campaign, urging voters not to repeal the City’s recently enacted Equal Opportunity Ordinance.

1994 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man, serves as Director of Operations for Chiles/McKay reelection campaign.

1995 - Voters in West Palm Beach overwhelmingly reject the effort to repeal the Equal Opportunity Ordinance by a margin of 56% to 43%.  West Palm Beach becomes the first jurisdiction in Florida to withstand a repeal effort by popular vote.

1995 - The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County presents its Legislative Advocacy Award to PBCHRC Secretary Rae Frank and Vice President Fields.

1995 - By a four-to-three vote, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners reject PBCHRC’s request to include sexual orientation as a protected class in the Palm Beach County Equal Employment Ordinance, which the County Commission enacts – without sexual orientation – by a five-to-two vote.

1995 - Denise Bleau, an open lesbian, is elected to the Lantana Town Council.

1996 - Lake Park enacts an Equal Opportunity/Minority and Women Business Enterprises Ordinance which prohibits discrimination based on  sexual orientation.

1996 - PBCHRC President Norm Aaron becomes the oldest openly gay American to carry the Olympic Torch.

1996 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man working in the administration of Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, is appointed Executive Director of the Miami Financial Emergency Oversight Board.

1996 - The Atlantic Coast Democratic Club is reorganized as the Lawton Chiles Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club.

1997 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man is appointed Director of External Affairs by Governor Lawton Chiles.

1997 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man is appointed Director of Florida Tobacco Control Pilot Program (a/k/a The Truth Campaign)

1997 - Following the resignation of Lantana Mayor Robert MacDonald, Town Council Member Denise Bleau, an open lesbian, is appointed to serve as Mayor.

1997 - The Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association and the School Board of Palm Beach County amend their collective bargaining agreement to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1998 - Working with PBCHRC, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office establishes a Hate Crimes Task Force with a toll free number for reporting hate crimes.

1998 - PBCHRC provides Anti-Hate cards to the Civil Rights Unit of the Office of the State Attorney in conjunction wit the Hate Crimes Task Force.

1998 - Deidre Newton, an open lesbian, is elected to the Palm Beach County Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

1999 - Atlantis updates its Police Department’s Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace Policy to include sexual orientation.

2000 - Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches moves into new location in Palm Beach Gardens.

2000 - John L. Stryker, part-time Palm Beacher and philanthropist, establishes the Arcus Foundation, the world's leading foundation funding organizations worldwide working to advance LGBT equality.

2001 - In recognition of a lifetime battling for civil rights for all, the Democratic Women's Club of Palm Beach County presents PBCHRC President Norm Aaron with its Humanitarian Award.

2002 - The Palm Beach County Sheriffs' Office offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.
2002 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners amends the County's Equal Employment Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on marital status and sexual orientation.

2002-   Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches holds its first Rainbow Ball.

2002 - Compass holds its first Stonewall Ball.

2003 - West Palm Beach extends lifetime health insurance benefits to the surviving domestic partner of any city employee killed in the line of duty

2003 - The Palm Beach County School Board adopts a policy to protect students against harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.

2003 - Lake Worth amends the city's Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2003 - Voices of Pride, a local gay men’s chorus, is founded.

2003- A gay couple settles their housing discrimination lawsuit against a Boca Raton apartment complex for $75,000.

2003 - Michael Woods, an openly gay man and COMPASS Board Member, is recognized as Special Olympics New Coach of the Year by Special Olympics - Palm Beach County.

2003 - Chuck Wolfe, an openly gay man, becomes CEO and President of The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which has helped elect thousands of openly LGBT candidates to local, state and federal offices.

2004 - The Office of the Clerk and Comptroller offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2004 - The Office of the Supervisor of Elections becomes the first local public employer to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

2004 - The Port of Palm Beach offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2004 - Tom Gerrard, an openly gay man, is appointed to the Manalapan Town Commission.  (He was subsequently elected to the Town Commission in 2005 and 2007).

2004 - Lake Worth offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2004 -  John Herrick, an openly gay man, is elected Treasurer of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County.

2004 - Michael Woods, an openly gay man and COMPASS Board Member, is awarded the Dwyer Award for Excellence in Education by the Economic Council of Palm Beach County and the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County.

2004 - Tom Gerrard, an openly gay man who served on the Manalapan Architectural Commission, is appointed to the Town Commission.

2004 - The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2005 - West Palm Beach establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.

2005 - The Pride Business Alliance is established.

2005 - Tom Gerrard, an openly gay man who had been appointed to the Manalapan Town Commission in 2004, is elected to the Town Commission.

2005 - The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County presents the Community Service Award to PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch.

2005 - Belle Glade amends its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy to include sexual orientation

2006 -    Belle Glade enacts s Special Event Permit Ordinance specifically prohibiting discrimination based on “sexual orientation or gender related grounds.”

2006 - Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - Matthew McWatters, an openly gay man, is elected to serve as Secretary of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee.

2006 - The School District of Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - J.P. Sasser, who was first elected Mayor of Pahokee in 2000, comes out publically as a gay man.  Sasser served as Mayor from 2000 to 2008 and from 2010 to the present).

2006 - The Office of the Supervisor of Elections offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - Betty James, an open lesbian, is appointed Mayor of Cloud Lake.  (James was subsequently elected Mayor in 2008 and served through 2011).

2006 - The Office of the Tax Collector revises its non-discrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2006 - The Office of the Tax Collector offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - Palm Beach County establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.

2006 - Delray Beach offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - The Palm Beach County School Board adopts a Commercial Nondiscrimination Policy which prohibits the School District from doing business with firms which discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other form of unlawful discrimination.

2006 - The Board of Trustees of Florida Atlantic University trustees adopts an Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation covering all classes protected by law.  (Gay men and lesbians at FAU's Palm Beach and Broward campuses would be covered under the regulation because such discrimination is prohibited by county ordinances.)

2006 -  West Palm Beach extends health insurance continuation coverage (COBRA) to city employees with domestic partners.

2006 - Palm Tran offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2006 - At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Palm Beach County School Board Chairman Tom Lynch apologizes for referring to the LGBT community as a  “protected species” at a School Board meeting.

2006 - Tom Lynch decides not to seek re-election to the School Board.

2006 - Mark Foley, who represented Palm Beach County in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 through 2011 resigns from Congress after allegations surfaced that he was gay and had sent suggestive emails and instant to Congressional pages,

2007-  West Palm Beach amends its Equal Opportunity Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression  in private and public employment, housing and public accommodation.

2007 - Lake Worth amends the city's Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

2007, Kerry Gallagher, an open lesbian, is elected Chairman of the Board of The Lord's Place, a nonprofit organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness in Palm Beach County.

2007 - Jupiter offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2007 -  Deidre Newton, an open lesbian and PBCHRC Vice Chair, is appointed to the Florida Financial Literacy Council by Alex Sink, Florida's Chief Financial Officer.

2007 - Juno Beach revises its non-discrimination and harassment awareness policies to include sexual orientation.

2007 - Juno Beach revises the definition of "immediate family" with regard to bereavement leave to include an employee's "significant other."

2007 - Hypoluxo amends its non-discrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2007 - At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, then-state senator Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) and then-state representative Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) introduced bills during the 2007 Florida legislative session to add sexual orientation as a protected class in the Florida Civil Rights Act and the Florida Fair Housing Act. Neither bill was received a public hearing.

2007 - The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office amends it's nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and marital status.

2007 - The Health Care District of Palm Beach County offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2007 - The Solid Waste Authority updates its nondiscrimination policies in early 2007 to include sexual orientation

2007 - The Solid Waste Authority offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.
                            
2007 - Palm Beach County amends its Equal Employment Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

2007 - Tequesta enacts comprehensive policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

2007 - Royal Palm Beach amends its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and its Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2007 - The Palm Beach County Bar Association adopts and LGBT inclusive anti-discrimination policy, becoming the first County bar association in Florida to do so.

2007 - At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink becomes the first constitutional officer in Florida history to officially recognize our families by revising her office's sick leave policy to allow employees to opportunity to use sick leave to care for domestic partners.

2007 - Palm Beach Gardens City Council implements basic domestic partner benefits for city employees.

2007 - The Board of Trustees of Palm Beach Community College rejects PBCHRC’s request to provide domestic partnership benefits for college employees.

2007 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council launches a successful “Puppies, Not Partners” campaign after Palm Beach Community College offers its employees pet health insurance months after the college’s Board of Trustees voted against offering health insurance to employees’ domestic partners.

2008 - Palm Beach Community College offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2008 - At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council then-State Senator (now Congressman) Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) and then-State Senator (now Florida CFO) Jeff Atwater ®-North Palm Beach) co-introduce legislation to amend the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.  The bill is passed by the Florida Senate Commerce Committee, with four Republicans and three Democrats voted to pass the bill, and with one Republican voting  against the bill).  This historic vote remains the only time in the history of the Florida Legislature that a civil rights bill including sexual orientation has ever passed a legislative committee.

2008 - The Palm Beach County School Board expands the definition of "family" in the School District's Leave of Absence policy to include employees' domestic partners and their children.

2008 - The Palm Beach County School Board includes sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression  as protected classes in a comprehensive policy protecting students against bullying and harassment.

2008 - Betty James, an open lesbian, is elected Mayor of Cloud Lake.

2008 - Tequesta revises its collective bargaining agreements and its employee handbook to include domestic partners as members of employee's immediate family.

2008 - Tom Gerrard, an openly gay man is appointed to fill vacancy as Mayor of Manalapan. (Subsequently elected Mayor in 2009, he served through 2011).

2008 - Michael Ira Thayer, an openly gay man, is appointed to serve on the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

2008 - BLAST (Bi, Lesbian and Straight Together) Women of West Palm Beach is founded.

2008 - Kerry Gallagher, an open lesbian, is appointed to the Palm Beach County Homeless Advisory Board.

2008 - The Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity rules that the School District has discriminated against employees with domestic partners by charging them higher health insurance premiums than married couples must pay.  (The School District subsequently settles the cases brought by two lesbian couples).

2008 -   The South Florida Water Management Districts amends its policies to prohibit harassment based on gender identity or expression.

2008 - Kendall Rumsey, an openly gay man, is elected to the Lake Park Town Commission.

2009 - The Palm Beach County Children's Services Council offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2009 - Susan Stanton, a transsexual woman is hired to serve Lake Worth City Manager.

2009 - Seacoast Utility Authority offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2009 - The School District of Palm Beach County includes the children of employees' domestic partners as eligible dependents for health insurance coverage.

2010 - The Palm Beach County School Board revises all of the School District’s  nondiscrimination policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

2010 - Wellington plays host to the world's first international gay polo tournament.

2010 - Kendall Rumsey is appointed Vice Mayor of  Lake Park.

2010 - Michael Fowler, an openly gay man lesbian, was appointed Vice President of Information Management at NextEra (Florida Power and Light).

2010 - Deidre Newton, an open lesbian, is elected to serve as Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee.

2011 - Wellington offers family health insurance coverage for employees with domestic partners.

2011 - Wellington amends their non-discrimination policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

2011 - Deidre Newton, an open lesbian, is appointed by West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Mouio to serve the Mayor’s Transition Team.

2011 - The Boca Raton City Council unanimously votes to opt-out of the Palm Beach County Equal Employment Ordinance, leaving LGBT workers’ in Boca Raton with no legal recourse in cases of employment discrimination.

2011 - The Office of the State Attorney revises its Harassment Policy to include gender identity or expression.

2011 - The Office of the State Attorney revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

2011 - West Palm Beach revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.     

2011 - Openly gay businessman Andy Amoroso is elected to the Lake Worth City Commission.

2011 - The Office of the Public Defender revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

2011 - The Rusty Gordon Democratic Caucus is established.

2011 - Palm Beach County revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

2011 - The Board of Trustees of Florida Atlantic University adds sexual orientation to the school’s Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation.

2012 - NextEra (Florida Power and Light) based in Juno Beach, implements domestic partner benefits for its employees.

2012 - Delray Beach revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

2012 - Palm Beach County amends its Nondiscrimination in Contracting Policy to include gender identity or expression.

2012 - The Palm Beach County School Board creates a 24 member School District Diversity and Equity Committee, which includes a representative appointed by PBCHRC and another appointed by COMPASS, Palm Beach County’s LGBT Community Center.

2012 - The West Palm Beach Housing Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

2012 - The Office of the Clerk and Comptroller revises its Family Medical Leave Policy to provide the same benefits to families based on domestic partnerships as are provided to families based on legally recognized marriages.

2012 - Michael Fowler, an openly gay man lesbian, was appointed to serve on Palm Beach County School District's Technical Advisory Council.

2012 - Florida Atlantic University's Student Government passes a resolution recommending that FAU's Board of Trustees include "gender identity or expression" in the university's Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation.
2012 - Boca Raton refused to sign a contract with the Solid Waste Authority for a County grant to handle emergency response to hazardous materials for the sole reason that the contract required Boca Raton to agree to treat its employees equally without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.  The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners gives Boca Raton 60 days to either sign the contract as presented or forfeit more than $1.2 million in grants over a five year period..  (Boca Raton promptly signs the contract with the LGBT-inclusive language)
                          
2012- Palm Beach County School District Superintendent E. Wayne Gent and the Palm Beach County School Board jointly issue a proclamation declaring October 2012 as LGBT History Month.

2012 - Openly gay Christian recording artist Shawn Thomas is inducted into the GLBT Hall of Fame.

2013 - PBCHRC celebrate's its 25th Anniversary.

2013 - Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits implements a tax equity policy providing eligible employees with domestic partners a $500 annual stipend to offset the additional federal income taxes which assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2013 - Palm Beach County's Constitutional Tax Collector Anne Gannon implements a tax equity policy providing eligible employees with domestic partners a $500 annual stipend to offset the additional federal income taxes which assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2013 - Myra Koutzen, a lesbian, is elected to the Palm Beach Shores Town Commission.

2013 - The Town of South Palm Beach adds "sexual orientation" and "any other legally protected status" to the Town's nondiscrimination statement.

2013 - The Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority adds gender identity or expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

2013 - The Boca Raton Community Relations Board votes unanimously to recommend that the City Council to amend its enabling ordinance to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

2013 - The City of Delray Beach updates its policy against discrimination, harassment and bullying to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression." 

2013 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse municipal employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2013 - In recognition of PBCHRC's 25th Anniversary, the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach invites openly gay poet Richard Blanco to conduct a poetry reading in honor of our organization.

2013 - West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio appoints Robert Telford, a broadcast coordinator for the City's television station, as the Mayor's Liaison to the city's LGBT community.

2013 - Florida Atlantic University offers a domestic partnership stipend to university employees and allows employees to use sick leave to care for their domestic partners.

2013 - PBCHRC Board Member J.P. Sasser is appointed to the LGBT Task Force of the Area Agency on Aging.

2013 - PBCHRC Founder Rand Hoch is appointed to the Standing Committee on Diversity and Inclusion of The Florida Bar.

2013 - In recognition of PBCHRC's 25th Anniversary, The Arts Garage sponsors a special performance of William Randall Beard’s musical Beyond the Rainbow in honor of our organization.

2013 - The Palm Beach Town Council votes 4-1 to implement the full range of domestic partnership benefits for Town employees.

2013 -  Palm Beach County enacts a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse municipal employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2013 - The City of Boca Raton amends its personnel rules and regulations to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

2013 - The City of Boca Raton extends the jurisdiction of the Community Relations Board to include the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.

2013 - The City of Boca Raton extends the full range of domestic partnership benefits to its municipal employees. The benefits include health, dental and vision insurance, continuation of insurance coverage (identical to coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA), funeral leave, domestic violence leave, family sick leave and domestic partner leave (identical to coverage by the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA).

2013 - The City of Palm Beach Gardens offers full domestic partnership health insurance benefits to its municipal employees.

2013 - West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio issues a proclamation declaring November 19, 2013 as "Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Day".

2013 - The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council celebrates its 25th anniversary at The Four Seasons, Palm Beach.

2014 -  The Clerk and Comptroller for Palm Beach County implements a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2014 - Palm Beach Gardens residents Sloan Grimsley and Joyce Albu, along with seven other married, same-sex couples, successfully sue the State of Florida in federal for recognition of their out-of-state marriages.  The couples were seek those public benefits and protections enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples.  The State of  Florida appealed the ruling.

2014 - Lake Worth establishes a Domestic Partnership Registry.

2014 - Lake Worth implements a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers.

2014 -  Openly gay City Commissioner Andy Amoroso organizes a marriage rally at Lake Worth City Hall which draws over 100 marriage equality supporters.

2014 - Myra Koutzen, a lesbian who serves on the Palm Beach Shores Town Commission. becomes Vice Mayor.

2014 -  PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch addresses the American Bar Association conference on diversity issues.

2014 - President Obama invites PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch and PBCHRC Treasurer Dan Hall to attend the LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House.

2014 - Palm Beach County School Superintendent E. Wayne Gent implements an initiative placing gender studies contacts in every school to provide support for LGBT students.

2014 - Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Diana Lewis rules that Florida's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, making her the fourth Florida judge to reach that conclusion.

2014 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts and Equal Benefits Ordinance requiring city contractors to provide the same family benefits to employees with domestic partners and same-sex spouses as they provided to employees whose marriages are recognized by the state of Florida.

2014 - The City of Boynton Beach amends its personnel policies to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

2014 - The City of Boynton Beach extends the full range of domestic partnership benefits to its municipal employees.

2014 - PBCHRC Vice Chair Jess Blackman and Litigation Chair Trent Steele were elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of LGBT Lawyer and Allies.

2014 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners unanimously votes to establish a policy stating that the County shall not do business with, or appropriate funds to, any public or private organization which practices discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or genetic information.

2014 -  The Town of Lake Park updates its Equal Employment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity or expression"

2014 -  PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch and Vice Chair Jess Blackman presented a seminar on discrimination at the “Out of the Closet and In Your Office” legal education conference sponsored by the Florida Association of LGBT Lawyer and Allies.

2014 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners votes to sign on to the briefs in support of recognition of same-sex marriages which have been -- or will be -- filed by Miami Beach and other Florida local governments in all marriage equality cases in the State of Florida.

2014 - The West Palm Beach City Commission unanimously votes to sign on to the briefs in support of recognition of same-sex marriages which have been -- or will be -- filed by Miami Beach and other Florida local governments in all marriage equality cases in the State of Florida.

2015 - Shortly after midnight on January 6, 2015, Mike Edmondson and Keith Musbach become the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Palm Beach County.  Moments after the private ceremony, Sharon Bock, Palm Beach County's Constitutional Clerk & Comptroller holds a mass wedding for lesbian and gay couples.

2015 -  MorseLife, a senior health services provider based in West Palm Beach, became the first privately held fully insured company in the Florida to offer coverage and benefits for married same-sex couples.

2015 - The Port of Palm Beach unanimously voted to include an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination clause in their contract with Bahamas Paradise Cruiseline.  Commissioner Peyton McArthur, a longtime PBCHRC supporter, pledged to have similar language included in all future contracts and agreements with the Port.

2015 - West Palm Beach Police Chief Bryan Kummerlen appointed Lieutenant Gregory Babcock to serve as the police department's liaison to the city's LGBT community.

2015 -  At PBCHRC's request, West Palm Beach City Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution asking the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to update the Palm Beach County  Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation to provide for a more expansive definition of "public accommodation".

2015 - The Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County updated its nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

2015 - The Boynton Beach City Commission enacted an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

2015 - In the wake of Indiana's passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio became the first mayor in Florida to place a travel ban on city-funded trips to Indiana.

2015 - The City of  Riviera Beach amended its Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy to include both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

2015 - The Harvey Milk Foundation presented its Diversity Honors Award to PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch.

2015 - The Greenacres City Council enacted an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

2015 - The Delray Beach City Commission enacted an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

2015 - Florida Atlantic University amended Regulation 5.010, Anti-discrimination and Anti-harassment, to include "gender identity and expression.

2015 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores adopted an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals.

2015 - PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch appointed to the Palm Beach County’s Collective Impact for Education Initiative Leadership Council

2015 - The Town of Haverhill adopted an LGBT-inclusive resolution supporting freedom from discrimination for all individuals.

2015 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners vastly expanded the definition of "places of public accommodation" in the Palm Beach County Ordinance for Equal Opportunity to Housing and Places of Public Accommodation.

2015 - The Wellington Village Council enacted an LGBT-inclusive Civil Rights Ordinance.

2015 - The City of West Palm Beach expanded the definition of "public accommodation" in the West Palm Beach Equal Opportunity Ordinance.

2015 - The School District of Palm Beach County replaced the phrase “personal life style (including sexual orientation)” with the phrases “gender identity and/or gender expression” and “sexual orientation” in the Discrimination and Harassment article in the School District’s collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union.

2015 - The South Florida Water Management District announced that it prohibits transgender workers from being harassed and discriminated against based on both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" even if they work in a jurisdiction that has no LGBT-inclusive rights laws.

2016 -  The Town of Haverhill amended its Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-Harassment Policies to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression".

2016 - Chris Bauchman was hired as the LGBTQ outreach coordinator for Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services in Boca Raton.

2016 - PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch was presented with Palm Beach State College’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award.

2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Merit Services policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

2016 - The Lake Worth City Commission amended the city’s Procurement Code to ensure equal opportunity based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

2016 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores has updated its Anti-Harassment Policy to specifically include "gender identity or expression" among the protected classes.

2016 - The City of West Palm Beach added an LGBT web page, wpb.org/Contact/LGBT-Liaison, to the City’s web site.

2016 - 2016 - The Town of Lake Clarke Shores has updated its Anti-Harassment Policy to specifically include "gender identity or expression" among the protected classes. 

2016 - Tonya Davis Johnson, a lesbian, is elected to the Riviera Beach City Council.

2016 - Myra Koutzen, a lesbian, is elected Mayor of Palm Beach Shores.

2016 - The Harvey Milk Foundation presented its Diversity Honors Award to PBCHRC Secretary Rae Franks.

2016 - PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch  is appointed to serve on the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

2016 - The City of West Palm Beach updates its procurement code to expressly prohibit  discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

2016 - The City of West Palm Beach updates its health care plans to include trans care benefits to municipal employees.

2016 - The 15th Judicial Circuit updated its Civil Rights Complaint Procedure to specifically include complaints of discrimination based on "gender identity or expression"

2016 - The 15th Judicial Circuit updated its Code of Conduct for Non-Judicial Employees to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity and expression.”

2016 - The City of West Palm Beach enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The City of Lake Worth enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The City of Boynton Beach enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners amends the definition of “sexual orientation" in the County’s Equal Employment Ordinance from "male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality, by preference or practice" to   "heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality, whether actual or perceived."

2017 - The City of Delray Beach enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The City of Riviera Beach enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The City of Palm Beach Gardens passes a resolution opposing conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The Village of Wellington enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - The City of Greenacres enacts a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

2017 - Former PBCHRC Vice President Deidre Newton is appointed to the Palm Beach County Fair Housing Board.