IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
AN ORDINANCE enacting sections 667. and 5575., Jackson County Code, 1984, relating to a ban on conversion therapy for minors, with a penalty provision.
Intro
ORDINANCE NO. 5711, January 30, 2023
INTRODUCED BY Jalen Anderson, Manuel Abarca IV, Sean E. Smith, and Jeanie Lauer,
County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, ex-gay therapy, or sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts, is a range of discredited practices aimed at changing one's sexual orientation or gender identity; and
WHEREAS, a national community of professionals in education, social work, health, mental health, and counseling, including the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), American Counseling Association, American School Health Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, have determined that there is no scientifically valid evidence that supports the practice of conversion therapy; and
WHEREAS, such professionals have determined that there is no evidence that conversion therapy is effective or that an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed by conversion therapy; and
WHEREAS, such professionals have also determined that conversion therapy is not only ineffective, but is substantially dangerous to an individual's mental and physical well?being and has also been shown to contribute to depression, self-harm, low self-esteem, family rejection, and suicide; and
WHEREAS, the AACAP finds no evidence to support the application of any "therapeutic intervention" operating under the premise that a specific sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression is pathological; and,
WHEREAS, based on scientific evidence, the AACAP asserts that such "conversion therapies...
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