FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2018
Contact:
Lauren Gray, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099
NCLR SAYS, “TODAY’S UNANIMOUS VOTE SPEAKS TO THE POWER OF SURVIVOR STORIES AND THE INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE THAT CONVERSION THERAPY IS NOT ONLY INEFFECTIVE—IT DEVASTATES OUR YOUNG PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY”
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — (January 9, 2018) — Today, by unanimous vote, Florida’s Broward County voted to enact an ordinance to protect LGBTQ youth and prohibit the use of conversion therapy on minors. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) submitted testimony to Broward County on the urgent need to stop harmful, dangerous conversion therapy and worked alongside Equality Florida and the Southern Poverty Law Center to push the ordinance forward. More municipalities in Florida have enacted ordinances prohibiting conversion therapy than in any other state.
“Today’s unanimous vote speaks to the power of survivor stories and the indisputable evidence that conversion therapy is not only ineffective—it devastates our young people and community,” said NCLR Youth Policy Counsel and Born Perfect Campaign Coordinator Carolyn Reyes. “NCLR is proud to have submitted testimony and worked hand in hand with Broward County, and NCLR’s Born Perfect campaign will keep working with states and local communities across the country to ensure that LGBTQ youth are protected—no matter where they live.”
Broward County, Florida, includes areas such as Fort Lauderdale, the Everglades, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach.
The practice of so-called “conversion therapy” has been discredited by the American Psychological Association and every other major professional health organization as ineffective, unethical, and dangerous. Conversion therapy has been shown to lead to higher instances of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and even suicide.
NCLR has been standing up on behalf of survivors of conversion therapy for the past 20 years. In 2014, NCLR launched its Born Perfect campaign, marking a commitment to a state-by-state advocacy campaign to end this practice across the country. NCLR has secured legislation protecting youth from these dangerous practices in California, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, Connecticut, Nevada, New Mexico, and Rhode Island—and numerous cities and counties across the country.
Born Perfect is a survivor-led campaign to end conversion therapy created by The National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.