07-03-2025
Ohio Statehouse revives bill to ban anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy, as cities take action
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — While an increasing number of Ohio cities are banning anti-LGBTQ+ practices known as conversion therapy, Statehouse lawmakers have revived a bill to prohibit the practices statewide.
Senate Bill 71, proposed in February by Sens. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Beth Liston (D-Dublin), would prohibit healthcare professionals in Ohio from engaging in conversion therapy with minors. The practices falsely claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and have been discredited by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.
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Practitioners of conversion therapy often employ 'aversive conditioning,' which includes the use of electric shock, deprivation of food and liquid, smelling salts and chemical-induced nausea, according to the American Medical Association. A 2021 The Trevor Project survey found that 13% of LGBTQ+ youth nationwide reported being subjected to conversion therapy, with 83% saying it occurred when they were under the age of 18.
If passed, S.B. 71 would require state licensing boards to suspend, revoke or refuse to issue or renew the license of the healthcare professional who was practicing conversion therapy with a minor.
Antonio and Liston reintroduced the bill after Westerville voted in February to become the 13th city in Ohio to can conversion therapy. While some argued the measure infringes on parental rights, many residents spoke in support of the ban, including a former Presbyterian pastor who said during the ordinance's second hearing that her daughter was a victim of conversion therapy. Watch a previous NBC4 report on Westerville's ban in the video player above.
Westerville joined 12 other Ohio municipalities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Reynoldsburg, that have banned the practices. Brandon West, a 23-year-old Lorain resident, championed his home city last year to become the 12th to ban conversion therapy, and has since begun advocating for Cuyahoga County to do the same.
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Those Ohio cities passed conversion therapy ordinances because the Statehouse didn't advance previous proposals to implement a statewide ban. Although former Rep. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) introduced the 'Anti-Conversion Therapy Act' last year in the General Assembly, which would make law in Ohio the same parameters as S.B. 71, the legislation didn't receive a committee hearing.
While Lightbody's proposal, then House Bill 220, received bipartisan allyship, Antonio's and Liston's S.B. 71 has yet to gain Republican support and is only co-sponsored by other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Antonio, who was Ohio's first openly gay Statehouse lawmaker, also lost Republican support earlier this year for a bill to ban discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. Named the 'Ohio Fairness Act,' the legislation was reintroduced for the 12th time and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
The act has also never passed the Statehouse to be signed into law, but has traditionally garnered bipartisan support. Every member of the Senate Democratic Caucus and two Republican senators co-sponsored the bill when it was reintroduced for the 11th time during the summer of 2023. Now, the Fairness Act is also only co-sponsored by members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
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Along with failing to ban conversion therapy, Ohio lawmakers have yet to repeal Ohio's dormant same-sex marriage ban and remove antiquated HIV criminalization laws passed in the 1980s. Instead, the Statehouse has passed a bill to ban certain healthcare for transgender youth and education legislation that opponents say will result in the 'outing' of students, which caused an increased number of LGBTQ+ youth to call a crisis hotline.
S.B. 71 has been assigned to the Senate Health Committee, where it could receive hearings open for public testimony.
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