Bryant Garcia, Emily Pacenti and Alexandra Smith, graduating seniors at ofLake Worth Community High School, the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts and the G-Star School of the Arts, respectively, have been granted Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Awards, the annual scholarships presented by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
The Council, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, awards the annual scholarship to college bound graduating seniors who have demonstrated an interest in advocacy on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) community.
The Social Justice Award is named after Daniel S. Hall, a local attorney who manages a financial counseling company. Hall, Treasurer of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council since 1990, is the Council's longest serving board member. As the father of three grown children, Hall has always had a strong interest in education. Over the years, has mentored several LGBT students.
Bryant Garcia
In his capacity as vice president and events coordinator of Spectrum, the Gay Straight Alliance at Lake Worth Community High School, Bryant worked on the World AIDS Day Memorial Quilt project at Compass, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Palm Beach Pride and the Equality Prom.
"Bryant has been an outspoken advocate with a passion for serving those in the local LGBTQ community," said PBCHRC Vice President Carly Cass.
Cass has coordinated PBCHRC's scholarship program since its inception in 2015.
In college, Garcia aims to bring awareness to a variety of causes including mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
"I will be forever grateful for the chance PBCHRC is giving me," said Garcia. "Thank you so much for your consideration and your faith in my aspirations."
Emily Pacenti
As a two-term president of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Emily worked together with colleagues Megan Hostetler and Matt Nadel (a recipient of the Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Awards in 2017), the school's administration and guidance department to establish eight gender-neutral restrooms on campus. Emily also curated a performing arts festival to showcase queer talent, including producing a show titled "Walk in Closet," which featured queer performance art, including poetry, dance and live music. She also succeeded in encouraging the school's administration to allow gender nonconforming students to have their preferred names in the yearbook.
Alexandra Smith
Alex Smith, a graduate of the G-Star School of the Arts, became an activist in 2016, when she was accepted as a member of the Palm Beach Youth Leadership Council, a select group of local students advocating for sexual health education in Palm Beach County by means of peer education and traditional organizing tactics. Alex was a featured speaker at various programs, including the prestigious Deeper Well Sex Educators Conference in Atlanta. She also addressed a crowd of more than 4,000 people at the Women's March in West Palm Beach. Alex also has addressed elected officials in support of sexual health education throughout Florida and in Washington, D.C. During her senior year, Alex served as a lead organizer on the Palm Beach Youth Leadership Council and as an active member of Planned Parenthood's Generation Action. She looks forward to continuing her activism in college.
The three $1,000 scholarships will be presented by Daniel S. Hall at the Compass Lavender Graduation, which will be held on June 6 at 5:30 p.m.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance endorses candidates who support LGBTQ initiatives and privacy rights. Endorsements of candidates are made upon consideration of:
How a candidate has voted on LGBTQ issues
How a candidate has supported the Palm Beach County LGBTQ Community
The following candidates have been endorsed by The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance in their campaigns for election or re-election in the November 6, 2018 General Election: U.S. Senate - Bill Nelson U.S. Congress (Dist. 18) - Lauren Baer
U.S. Congress (Dist. 20) - Alcee Hastings U.S. Congress (Dist 22) - Ted Deutch Governor - Andrew Gillum Attorney General - Sean Shaw Chief Financial Officer - Jeremy Ring Commissioner of Agriculture - Nicole "Nikki" Fried Florida Senate (Dist. 30) - Bobby Powell Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 82) - Edward O'Connor Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 85) - Ellen Baker Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 86) - Matt Willhite Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 87) - David Silvers Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 89) - James Bonfiglio Port of Palm Beach (Group 5) - Joseph Anderson Circuit Court Judge (Group 18) - Marybel Reinoso Coleman Circuit Court Judge (Group 25) - Michael McAuliffe County Commissioner (Dist. 2) - Gregg Weiss County Commissioner (Dist. 4) - Robert S. Weinroth Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation (Group 1) - Michelle Sylvester Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation (Group 5) - Eva Webb Board of Supervisors of the Northern PBC Improvement District (Seat 2) - Jim Gibbs County Court Judge (Group 4) - Ashley Zuckerman PBCHRCVA also recommends that you VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 4 to restore voters rights.
The following candidates who have been endorsed by The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance were elected or re-elected since 2016:
U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch U.S. Congresswoman Lois Frankel U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings
State Senator Lori Berman State Senator Bobby Powell State Senator Kevin Rader State Representative Joseph Abruzzo State Representative Lori Berman State Representative Joe Casello State Representative Bill Hager State Representative Al Jacquet State Representative Tina Polsky State Representative David Silvers
State Representative Emily Slosberg
State Representative Matt Willhite County Commissioner Mary Lou Berger County Commissioner Mack Bernard County Commissioner Dave Kerner County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay Clerk of the Circuit Court Sharon Bock Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks Public Defender Carey Haughwout Sheriff Ric Bradshaw State Attorney Dave Aronberg Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher Tax Collector Anne Gannon School Board Member Marcia Andrews School Board Member Frank Barbieri School Board Member Karen Brill School Board Member Barbara McQuinn School Board Member Debra Robinson School Board Member Chuck Shaw School Board Member Erica Whitfield
Port Commissioner Blair Ciklin
Port Commissioner Jean Enright
Port Commissioner Wayne Richards Port Commissioner Katherine Waldron Circuit Court Judge Dina Keever County Court Judge Marni Bryson Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation Board Member Pat Edmonson Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation Board Member Rob Long
Boca Raton City Council Member Monica Mayotte
Boca Raton City Mayor and Council Member Scott Singer
Boynton Beach Mayor Steven B. Grant
Boynton Beach City Commissioner Joe Casello
Boynton Beach City Commissioner Mack McCray
Delray Beach City Commissioner Adam Frankel
Greenacres City Councilwoman Judith Dugo
Greenacres City Councilwoman Paula Bousquet
Haverhill Town Councilman Daniel Sohn
Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo
Lake Worth City Commissioner Andy Amoroso
Lake Worth City Commissioner Scott Maxwell
Lake Worth City Commissioner Herman Robinson
Palm Beach Gardens City Councilman Mark Marciano
Palm Beach Gardens City Councilman Matthew Lane
Palm Beach Shores Mayor Myra Koutzen
Palm Beach Town Councilman Lew Crampton
Palm Beach Town Councilwoman Danielle Hickox Moore
Rivera Beach City Councilwoman Tonya Davis Johnson
Riviera Beach City Councilwoman KaShamba Miller-Anderson
Royal Palm Beach Mayor Fred Pinto
Royal Palm Beach Village Councilwoman Selena Smith
Wellington Village Councilman John McGovern
Wellington Village Councilman Michael Napoleone
Wellington Village Councilwoman Tanya Siskind
West Palm Beach City Commissioner Keith James
West Palm Beach City Commissioner Cory Neering
West Palm Beach City Commissioner Paula Ryan
West Palm Beach City Commissioner Kelly Shoaf
This paid electioneering communication, which is independent of any party, candidate or committee, is produced, sponsored and paid for by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance. Post Office Box 267, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402 (561) 358-0105
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.
"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.
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."
"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.
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."
"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.
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.
And, as the Sun-Sentinelreported
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.
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-Sentinelcovered
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 Sunreported
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.”
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.
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.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Inc. is dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The Council promotes equality, through education, advocacy, direct action, impact litigation, and community outreach.
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. 
Dr. Rachel Needle, a local psychologist, told county commissioners that
the practice of conversion therapy is based on two false premises.
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.
"As a county commissioner, it is my duty to work to ensure the safety of our residents -- especially our children," said
"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 
substance abuse and even suicide, and these risks are particularly
acute for youth," said Carolyn Reyes, Youth Policy Counsel and
Coordinator of 
