Proposed law targets conversion therapy
Conversion therapy could be banned for use on minors in Ulster County under a proposed law.
Conversion therapy — a controversial treatment that aims to change the sexual orientation and gender identity of an individual — could be banned for use on minors in Ulster County.
Minority Whip Jonathan Heppner proposed a local law banning therapists who practice in the county from using conversion therapy, reparative therapy or other practices that seek to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of anyone under the age of 18.
“This is a very concerning practice that has been criticized by every leading medical group,” said Heppner, D-Woodstock.
He said he discovered recently that New York state has not banned the use of the therapy, which many say is ineffective and potentially seriously harmful.
Conversion therapy is the use of psychological or spiritual intervention in an attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual.
According to Heppner’s resolution, the practice has been discredited by “virtually every American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organization,” including the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatric, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.
If adopted by the Legislature, Ulster would become only the second county outside of New York City to ban the therapy. Erie County adopted a law banning its use in February.
Jeff Rindler, the executive director of the LGBTQ Center in Kingston, called conversion therapy “dangerous to our youth and older adults” and said it can cause long-term emotional damage.
“Imagine being a young gay, lesbian or transgender person who is trying to find themselves and going to a therapist and being told that they are wrong,” he said.
He said conversion therapy causes those individuals to “lead a lifestyle of shame, embarrassment and hatred, rather than of acceptance and love.”
In severe cases, he said, conversion therapy has led patients to commit suicide or attempt suicide.
Heppner said the county has taken a number of proactive steps to protect the county’s youth, including banning the sale of tobacco products within 1,000 feet of a school and laws that criminalize cyberbullying. Banning conversion therapy, he said, would continue that trend.
“Why wouldn’t Ulster County join our neighbors from western New York to take this stance and make this statement to ensure a more inclusive community and protections, especially for our youth, where this practice has been known to be most harmful?” Heppner asked.
Both Heppner and Rindler said they have not heard of therapists in Ulster County practicing conversion therapy, but Heppner said the therapy is often practiced in secret.
“You don’t have local psychiatrists putting it on billboards,” he said. “The practice happens a lot in the shadows.”
Rindler said he is in “complete support” of the proposed law, which he called a proactive step and a signal to the LGBTQ community that the county supports them and who they are.
The use of conversion therapy on minors is banned in nine states, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island. On Wednesday, Maryland lawmakers voted to prohibit health professionals from practicing “gay conversion therapy” on minors. The House passed the bill 9527. A spokeswoman for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says Hogan supports the bill.
In 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned public and private health care insurers from covering the practice and prohibited various mental health facilities across the state from using the practice on minors. A law banning conversion therapy on minors passed the state Assembly earlier this year, but has stalled in the state Senate.
A resolution setting a public hearing on the law passed the Ulster County Legislature’s Public Health and Social Services Committee earlier this week and will be taken up by the Laws and Rules Committee on Monday. If passed out of that committee, the resolution setting a public hearing on the proposal will go to the full Legislature on April 17.