KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- The Key West City Commission plans to vote on a proposal to make conversion therapy a crime.
The vote is scheduled for Wednesday evening. Commissioner Jimmy Weekley told The Citizen the ordinance would protect "our young people from any damage" from psychologists trying to reverse a patient's sexual orientation with the practice known as conversion therapy.
The ordinance cites many groups who have condemned the practice, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychological Association and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Officials in Miami, Miami Beach and West Palm Beach passed similar measures in 2016. A statewide bill banning conversion therapy on minors failed during the last legislative session.
